The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs announced Monday that they will leave their longtime home at Arrowhead Stadium for a new domed stadium that will be built across the Kansas-Missouri state line and be ready for the start of the 2031 season.
The announcement came shortly after a board of Kansas lawmakers voted unanimously in a packed room at the state Capitol to allow the issuance of STAR bonds to cover up to 70% of the cost of the stadium and its mixed-use district.
The bonds will be repaid with state sales and alcohol tax revenues generated in a defined space around it.
“The location of Chiefs games will change,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said after the meeting, “but some things won’t change. Our fans will still be the loudest in the NFL, our games will continue to be the best place in the world to watch, and our players and coaches will be ready to compete for championships, because on and off the field we are big dreamers and we are ready for the next chapter.”
The Chiefs plan to build their $3 billion stadium project in Kansas Metropolis, Kansas, near the Kansas Speedway and a commercial district known as The Legends. The space is home to Youngsters’s Mercy Park, the home of MLS membership Sporting Kansas Metropolis, and Legends Subject, the home of the Kansas Metropolis Monarchs minor league baseball team.
The Chiefs also plan to build a $300 million practice facility in the Kansas Metropolis suburb of Olathe, Kansas.
“Today’s announcement is truly historic. In fact, it’s a little surreal,” Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said. “Today’s announcement will touch the lives of Kansas Citians for generations to come. Today’s announcement represents a total turning point for our state.
“We’ve always been Chiefs fans,” Kelly said. “We are now the Chiefs family.”
Kansas Lt. Gov. David Toland, the state’s commerce secretary, said he committed to issuing $2.4 billion in bonds to cover 60% of the project’s roughly $4 billion cost. State officials also expect the creation of more than 20,000 new construction jobs.
While the final location of the stadium has not been decided, Chiefs president Mark Donovan said it will seat about 65,000, which is about 10,000 fewer fans than Arrowhead Stadium. This follows a widespread trend in professional sports to build stadiums and arenas that have fewer overall seats but more amenities, luxury seating and premium spaces.
“We have a lot of work to do. We’re still early in the process,” Hunt said. “In the coming months we will hire an architect and a contractor and work on a five-plus year timetable to build a new stadium.”
The Chiefs’ move is a blow to Missouri lawmakers and Gov. Mike Kehoe, who had been working on their own funding package to prevent a third NFL franchise and second in a decade from leaving their borders; the Rams left St Louis for Los Angeles in part due to their inability to obtain financing to help replace The Dome at America’s Middle.
Kehoe had supported a special legislative session in June to authorize bonds covering up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums, plus up to $50 million in tax credits for each stadium and unspecified aid from local governments.
“They thought new and shiny was better than old and reliable,” Kehoe said after the Chiefs’ announcement, adding that the membership was in talks with Missouri officials about staying in a renovated or rebuilt Arrowhead Stadium until last week.
“We will not give up. We will look for the chinks in the armor and find out if there is a Present-Me solution in Missouri through our sports act.”
The Chiefs originally planned an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium in a joint effort with the Royals, who are similarly planning to build a new facility to replace Kauffman Stadium. The facilities are about a couple hundred yards away, across a parking lot, and both teams have leases with Jackson County, Missouri, that expire in January 2031.
Last year, Jackson County voters soundly rejected a local sales tax extension that would have helped pay for football stadium renovations while also funding a new ballpark for the Royals in downtown Kansas Metropolis, Missouri.
The Royals were not discussed by Kansas lawmakers Monday, but momentum appears to be building behind their move across the state line. An affiliate of the membership has already purchased the mortgage on a tract of land in Overland Park, Kansas.
“Even though the Chiefs aren’t going far and aren’t gone yet, today is a setback for a Kansas citizen, former Chiefs season ticket holder and lifelong Chiefs fan,” said Quinton Lucas, mayor of Kansas Metropolis, Missouri. “Business decisions are a reality and we all understand that, but Arrowhead Stadium is more: it’s family, tradition and a part of Kansas Metropolis we will never leave.”
Hunt has long said his preference was to renovate Arrowhead Stadium, beloved by his father and team founder, the late Lamar Hunt. It is considered one of the jewels of the NFL, along with Inexperienced Bay’s Lambeau Subject, and is revered for its tailgating scene and home field advantage; currently holds the Guinness World Document for the loudest stadium roar.
This property, Arrowhead Stadium will host six World Cup matches, including the round of 32 and quarter-final matches.
Lamar Hunt founded the Chiefs on August 14, 1959. The team was originally based in Dallas and was known as the Texans, but Hunt was convinced by then-Kansas Metropolis Mayor H Roe Bartle to move the team to Missouri with the promise of tripling the team’s season ticket sales and expanding the capacity of the municipal stadium.
In 1972, the team moved to Arrowhead Stadium at Truman Sports activities Complicated, just east of downtown Kansas Metropolis.
The stadium has undergone numerous renovations over the years, allowing it to remain relevant in an ever-changing sporting landscape. But there has been little economic development around the stadium, the facility itself is starting to show signs of wear and tear and there is a limit to the number of luxury suites and amenities the franchise can use to raise revenue.
While the Hunt family has long loved Arrowhead Stadium, they have warmed to the concept of a replacement in recent years.
Not only would it address many of the flaws of the Chiefs’ historic home, but a new structure with a fixed or retractable roof would allow them to use it year-round. That would mean the potential to host more concerts and events, college soccer games, the Closing 4 and perhaps one of Lamar Hunt’s longtime dreams: a Tremendous Bowl.
“Chiefs fans on both sides of the state line can tell you that the success we have enjoyed together has elevated the profile of the entire region,” Clark Hunt said. “Sports are an integral part of the fabric of this community. If you travel and go to New York or Los Angeles or Europe or South America, you don’t have to tell people which side of the state line you’re from. You tell them you’re from Kansas Metropolis, and there’s a good chance their response might have something to do with the Chiefs.”
