Kansas City Chiefs announced Monday that they will leave their longtime home at Arrowhead Stadium for a new domed stadium that will be built on the Kansas-Missouri border and will be ready for the start of the 2031 season.
This announcement was made shortly after the council meeting Kansas Lawmakers voted unanimously in a packed room at the State Capitol to authorize the issuance of STAR bonds covering up to 70% of the cost of the stadium and surrounding mixed-use district.
The bonds would be repaid using state sales and liquor tax revenue generated in the designated area around them.
“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 stadium.” NFLOur games will continue to be the best place in the world to retreat to, and our players and coaches will be ready to compete for championships because on or off the field, we are big dreamers and ready for the next chapter.”
The Chiefs intend to build their $3 billion stadium project in Kansas City, Kansas, near Kansas Speedway and the shopping district known as Legends. The area is home to Children's Mercy Park, home of the MLS club. Sporting Kansas Cityand Legends Field, home of the Kansas City Monarchs minor league baseball team.
The Chiefs also plan to build a $300 million training facility in the Kansas City metro suburb of Olathe, Kansas.
“Today's announcement is truly historic. It's actually a little surreal,” Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said. “Today's announcement will impact the lives of Kansans for generations to come. Today's announcement is a complete game changer for our state.”
“We’ve always been Chiefs fans,” Kelly said. “We're the Chief's family now.”
Kansas Lieutenant Governor David Toland, the state's commerce secretary, said he has committed to issuing $2.4 billion in bonds to cover 60% of the roughly $4 billion cost of the project. State officials also project more than 20,000 new construction jobs.
While the final location for the stadium has not yet been determined, Chiefs president Mark Donovan said it will seat about 65,000 people, which is about 10,000 fewer fans than Arrowhead Stadium. It follows a trend in professional sports to build stadiums and arenas with fewer 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. “We will hire an architect and contractor in the coming months and begin working on a five-plus year construction schedule for the new stadium.”
The Chiefs' decision comes as a major blow to Missouri lawmakers and Gov. Mike Kehoe, who worked 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 secure funding to replace the Dome at America's Center.
Kehoe supported a special legislative session in June to authorize the issuance of bonds covering up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums, plus up to $50 million in tax breaks for each stadium and unspecified assistance from local governments.
“They thought new and shiny was better than old and reliable,” Kehoe said after the Chiefs' announcement, adding that as recently as last week the club was in talks with Missouri officials about staying in a renovated or rebuilt Arrowhead Stadium.
“We will not give up. We will look for cracks in the armor and find out if there is a Missouri Show-Me solution through our sports act.”
The Chiefs originally planned an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium with the Royals, who also plan to build a new facility to replace Kauffman Stadium. The facilities are located a couple hundred yards apart 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 a football stadium renovation and would have also helped finance a new stadium for the Royals in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
The Royals weren't discussed by Kansas lawmakers Monday, but their own move across state lines appears to be gaining momentum. The club's affiliate has already purchased a mortgaged piece of land in Overland Park, Kansas.
“While the Chiefs are not going far and have not gone yet, today is a setback for a Kansas resident, former Chiefs season ticket holder and lifelong Chiefs fan,” said Quinton Lucas, Mayor of Kansas City, Missouri. “Business decisions are a reality and we all understand that, but Arrowhead Stadium is more than that: it’s a family, a tradition and a part of Kansas City that we will never leave.”
Hunt has long said his preference is to renovate Arrowhead Stadium, which was loved by his father and team founder, the late Lamar Hunt. It is considered one of the crown jewels of the NFL, along with Lambeau Field in Green Bay, and is revered for its tailgate scene and home field advantage; it currently holds the Guinness World Record for the loudest crash in a stadium.
Arrowhead Stadium will host six World Cup matches this summer, including round of 16 and quarter-final matches.
Lamar Hunt founded the Chiefs on August 14, 1959. The team was originally based in Dallas and known as the Texans, but then-Kansas City Mayor H. Rowe Bartle convinced Hunt to move the team to Missouri with promises of tripling the team's season ticket sales and expanding the capacity of Municipal Stadium.
In 1972, the team moved to Arrowhead Stadium at the Truman Sports Complex east of downtown Kansas City.
Over the years, the stadium has undergone numerous renovations, allowing it to remain relevant in a changing sporting landscape. But there has been little economic development around the stadium, the facility itself is beginning to show wear and tear, and the number of luxury suites and amenities a franchise can use to boost revenue is limited.
Although the Hunt family has long loved Arrowhead Stadium, they have become enthusiastic about the idea of replacing the stadium in recent years.
Not only will this solve many of the shortcomings of the Chiefs' longtime home, but the new building, with a fixed or retractable roof, will allow them to use it year-round. This will mean the possibility of more concerts and events, college football games, the Final Four and perhaps one of Lamar Hunt's lifelong dreams: the Super Bowl.
“Chiefs fans on both sides of the state line can tell you that the success we have achieved together has raised the profile of the entire region,” Clark Hunt said. “Sports are woven into 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 what side of the state line you're from. You tell them you're from Kansas City, and there's a pretty good chance their answer might have something to do with the Chiefs.”
