KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The Kansas City Chiefs appear to be one step closer to crossing state lines and finally leaving their longtime home at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri for a new, possibly covered, stadium in Kansas.
With a year-end deadline approaching, the Legislative Coordinating Committee is scheduled to meet Monday in Topeka, Kan., where it will consider approval of the STAR bond, which would provide up to 70 percent of funding for the stadium project to help attract an NFL franchise to the state.
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The Chiefs and Kansas City Royals have played at side-by-side stadiums in Jackson County, Missouri, for more than 50 years. But those leases expire in January 2031, and the two teams have been making plans for the future for years.
Last year, Jackson County voters soundly rejected a local sales tax extension that would have helped fund the $800 million Arrowhead renovation in downtown Kansas City and the $2 billion Royals Ballpark District. Since then, the Chiefs and Royals have pursued different plans, although momentum seems to be building toward their move to Kansas.
A possible destination for the Chiefs is The Legends, a regional shopping mall and business district in Kansas City, Kansas. There’s plenty of land for stadiums and mixed-use commercial areas, but there are also fixtures like the Kansas Speedway, Hollywood Casino and Children’s Mercy Park (home of Major League Soccer’s Kansas City Athletic Club).
The location is also ideal as it is at the intersection of Interstate 70 and Interstate 435, allowing for relatively light traffic.
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“Kansas is in active discussions with the Kansas City Chiefs about the prospect of building a new stadium and other facilities in Kansas,” the Kansas Department of Commerce said in a statement. “A final agreement has not yet been reached, but this would be a huge economic win for Kansas and benefit Kansans for generations to come. We are actively pursuing this opportunity.”
It would also be a huge loss for Missouri and Gov. Mike Kehoe, who lost the St. Louis Rams to Los Angeles a decade ago. He supports a special legislative session in June that would authorize bond issuance to cover up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums, in addition to tax credits of up to $50 million per stadium and unspecified aid from local governments.
Missouri’s move comes after Kansas lawmakers approved their own bond plan to try to acquire the two franchises.
Chiefs president Clark Hunter has long said he would prefer to renovate Arrowhead Stadium, a stadium beloved of his father, the late team founder Lamar Hunter. But by building an enclosed facility, the Chiefs would have access to revenue streams Arrowhead Stadium doesn’t have, such as new luxury seating and the ability to host year-round sporting events.
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That could mean fulfilling another of Lamar Hunt’s dreams: hosting a Super Bowl.
While the Royals won’t be discussed during Monday’s LCC meeting, that doesn’t mean they can’t cross state lines, too. There’s support for the team’s move to the suburb of Overland Park, Kan., and to a tract of land known as the Aspiria Campus, which was once Sprint’s headquarters and now houses offices for multiple companies.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who has campaigned to keep two professional sports franchises on the Missouri side of the state line, issued a statement Thursday night saying the city would not negotiate publicly.
“As the city and our Missouri partners continue discussions with our longtime partners in the Chiefs and Royals, we remain steadfast in our commitment to reaching an arrangement that is in the best interest of our community and our team’s greatest success on and off the field,” the statement read.
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