12/19/25 11:16:00
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12/19 11:15 CST Kansas City Chiefs close to leaving Arrowhead Stadium for new
home in Kansas
Kansas City Chiefs close to leaving Arrowhead Stadium for new home in Kansas
By DAVE SKRETTA
AP Sports Writer
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) --- The Kansas City Chiefs appear to be mere days away
from taking a big step toward a move across the state line, and eventually
leaving their longtime home at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri for a new and
likely covered stadium in Kansas.
With a year-end deadline approaching, the Legislative Coordinating Council is
scheduled to meet Monday in Topeka, Kansas, where it will consider approving
STAR bonds that would fund up to 70% of a stadium project to help lure the NFL
franchise to the state.
The Chiefs and the Kansas City Royals have played for more than 50 years in
side-by-side stadiums in Jackson County, Missouri. But those leases are due to
expire in January 2031, and the two franchises have been working for years on
their future plans.
Voters in Jackson County soundly defeated a local sales tax extension last year
that would have helped to finance an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead and a
$2 billion ballpark district for the Royals in downtown Kansas City. Since
then, the Chiefs and Royals have pursued separate plans, though momentum
appears to be growing behind both of them moving to Kansas.
The likely destination for the Chiefs is The Legends, a regional shopping mall
and commercial area in Kansas City, Kansas. There is plenty of land available
for a stadium and mixed-use commercial district, but it also has anchors in
place, such as Kansas Speedway, the Hollywood Casino and Children's Mercy Park,
the home of Major League Soccer club Sporting Kansas City.
The location is also ideal because it stands at the crossroads of Interstates
70 and 435, allowing for relatively easy traffic flow.
"The state of Kansas is in active discussions with the Kansas City Chiefs about
the prospects of building a new stadium and other facilities in Kansas," the
Kansas Department of Commerce said in a statement. "No final agreement has been
reached, but this would be a massive economic win for Kansas and benefit
Kansans for generations to come. We are aggressively pursuing this opportunity."
It would also be a massive loss for Missouri, which lost the St. Louis Rams to
Los Angeles a decade ago, and Gov. Mike Kehoe. He had backed 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 of tax credits for each
stadium and unspecified aid from local governments.
Missouri's move came after Kansas lawmakers had approved their own bond package
in an attempt to land the two franchises.
Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt has long said that his preference would be to
renovated Arrowhead Stadium, which was beloved by his father and team founder,
the late Lamar Hunt. But by building an enclosed facility, the Chiefs would
have access to revenue streams not available at Arrowhead Stadium, such as new
luxury seating and the ability to host year-round sporting events.
That could mean fulfilling another dream of Lamar Hunt: hosting a Super Bowl.
While the Royals will not be discussed during the LCC meeting Monday, that
doesn't mean they couldn't be moving across the state line as well. There is a
groundswell of support for the team to move to the suburb of Overland Park,
Kansas, and a tract of land known as the Aspiria Campus that once served as the
headquarters for Sprint and now houses the offices of several companies.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, who has been working to keep both of the
professional sports franchises on the Missouri side of the state line, issued a
statement Thursday night saying that the city doesn't negotiate in public.
"As the city and our Missouri partners continue discussions with our long-term
partners at the Chiefs and the Royals," the statement read, "we remain
steadfast in working toward an arrangement in the best interest of our
community and the greatest success of our teams on and off the field."
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