Chiefs vs Ravens DELAYED as lightning storm strikes before kickoff

Kansas City Chiefs and Baltimore Ravens had the opening game of the NFL delayed by 20 minutes as a lightning storm struck Arrowhead Stadium.

The game was scheduled to start at 7:20pm local time but the storm put that back by 20 minutes, to 7:40pm. 

NBC caught a sensational picture of a bolt of lightning appearing to hit the Kansas City Royals ballpark, which is next door to Arrowhead Stadium.

Both sets of players had their warmups disrupted. The had to leave the field and return to the locker room and fans were told to clear their seats. The stadium is a bowl and there is not much shelter around for supporters.

Fortunately for those lucky enough to have a ticket, the weather was scheduled to be clear for the rest of the evening once the storm passed. 

Taylor Swift made her arrival at Arrowhead Stadium just moments before the rain began to fall – with the singer on hand to cheer boyfriend Travis Kelce in action for the Chiefs. 

And the Chiefs themselves joked they had jinxed the start of the game. Earlier on Thursday, they posted a picture of an empty Arrowhead Stadium with the caption: ‘The calm before the storm.’ 

As the weather turned bad, they retweeted the post with the caption: ‘We didn’t mean literally…’