TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas City Chiefs announced Monday that they will leave Arrowhead Stadium, their longtime home venue in Missouri, for a new, $3 billion 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 council of Kansas lawmakers voted unanimously to allow for sales tax and revenue (STAR) bonds to be issued to cover up to 70% of the cost of the stadium and accompanying mixed-use district. The bonds, which are estimated to be around $2.4 billion, will be paid off with state sales and liquor tax revenues generated in a defined area around it.
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said the family will commit $1 billion in additional development, a portion of which can also be incentivized by the STAR bonds.
“We made a decision as a family that this was the right opportunity and the best for the organization for several reasons,” Hunt said in a statement. “It’s about the fans. My dad [Lamar Hunt, who founded the franchise] was always about the fans and thinking about the future.
“This will give Chiefs kingdom a state-of-the-art facility for multiple generations, a building that can last for at least 50 or 60 years. We believe it’s the best thing for the region. It will give Kansas City the opportunity to bid on events that we can’t host right now, like the Super Bowl, the College Football Playoff and the NCAA Final Fours.”
The site for the new stadium has not been decided, but Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said it will be in Wyandotte County. The Chiefs are interested in having the stadium built in Kansas City, Kansas, near the Kansas Speedway and a retail and entertainment district known as The Legends. The area is home to Children’s Mercy Park and is also the home of MLS club Sporting Kansas City.
According to Chiefs president Mark Donovan, the venue will have at least 65,000 seats, or about 10,000 fewer than Arrowhead Stadium. Donovan said the Chiefs will soon hire an architecture firm to begin designing the new stadium, a process that could take up to 18 months. Construction is expected to take up to three years. The team will also build a new $300 million training facility in Olathe, Kansas.
Kansas lawmakers believe the Chiefs’ move will lead to more than 20,000 new jobs in the state and more than $4 billion in economic impact.
“It’s a little surreal,” Kelly said. “Today’s announcement will touch the lives of Kansans for generations to come. Today’s announcement is a total game changer for our state.”
The move by the Chiefs is a massive blow to Missouri lawmakers and Gov. Mike Kehoe, who had been working on their own funding package to prevent a third NFL franchise — and the second in a decade — from leaving its borders. The Rams left St. Louis for Los Angeles in part due to their inability to secure funding to help replace The Dome at America’s Center.
“They thought new and shiny was better than old and reliable,” Kehoe said after the Chiefs’ announcement. “We won’t give up. We’ll look for cracks in the armor and find out if there’s a Missouri Show-Me solution through our sports act.”
Kehoe 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.
“We had a great dialogue with Missouri all the way through the end of last week,” Hunt said. “Frankly, not everything was resolved that needed to be resolved. The big difference is we’re working with one party here, the state of Kansas. In Missouri, we’d been working with the Governor’s office, [Jackson County] and also the city. We just didn’t get there for the timeline.”
Almost two years ago, the Chiefs planned an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead in a joint effort with the Royals, who are also planning to build a new venue to replace Kauffman Stadium. The facilities sit a couple of hundred yards across the parking lot from each other, and both teams have leases with Jackson County, Missouri, that expire in January 2031. At the time, Hunt said he and his family would contribute $300 million to the project.
Last year, Jackson County voters soundly rejected the extension of the local three-eighths-cent sales tax that would have helped to pay for the renovations at Arrowhead while also helping to fund a new ballpark for the Royals in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The margin of defeat for the teams was overwhelming, with 78,352 people voting no (58%) and 56,606 voting yes (42%).
“While the Chiefs aren’t going far away and aren’t gone yet, today is a setback as a Kansas Citian, a former Chiefs season ticketholder and lifelong Chiefs fan,” Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, said in a statement. “Business decisions are a reality, and we all understand that, but Arrowhead Stadium is more — it’s family, tradition and a part of Kansas City we will never leave.”
Hunt has long said his preference was to renovate Arrowhead Stadium, which was beloved by his father, team founder Lamar Hunt, until his death in 2006. It is considered one of the jewels of the NFL, alongside Lambeau Field in Green Bay, and is revered for its tailgating scene and home-field advantage; it currently holds the mark recognized by the Guinness World Records for the loudest stadium roar.
This summer, Arrowhead will host six World Cup matches, including some in the round of 32 and quarterfinals.
“We all feel some pain on leaving Arrowhead,” Hunt said of fans who feel betrayed by the team’s decision. “One of the great things about Arrowhead is the tailgating experience. We’re going to cherish every season there. It’s going to be special for our family, the organization, and all the fans. We all have so many special memories there. We’re really going to celebrate Arrowhead because it deserves that.”
Lamar Hunt established the Chiefs on Aug. 14, 1959. The team was originally based in Dallas and known as the Texans, but Hunt was persuaded by then-Kansas City Mayor H. Roe Bartle to relocate the team to Missouri with promises of tripling the team’s season-ticket sales and expanding the seating capacity of Municipal Stadium.
In 1972, the Chiefs moved into Arrowhead at the Truman Sports Complex just east of downtown Kansas City. The stadium has undergone renovations numerous times through the years, allowing it to stay relevant in a changing sports landscape. But economic development around the stadium has been almost nonexistent. The venue itself — the NFL’s third oldest — is starting to show wear and tear, too.
Donovan said Monday that Clark Hunt and his relatives voted unanimously late last week to move the Chiefs to Kansas.
“They really reflected on their father,” Donovan said. “A lot of those meetings were about, ‘What would dad do?’ They were unanimous that he would want to do this. He would want to increase and enhance the fans’ experience and create more fan engagement.
“Our fans need to hear that it was a hard decision. This is an emotional decision for everyone. We understand and respect that it’s emotional for our fans. It’s going to take some time. Change is hard. We appreciate that. I think over time, people will see this is the best decision for everyone involved, including our fans.”
With a new stadium, Hunt acknowledged the Chiefs can increase their number of luxury suites and amenities to help boost the franchise’s revenue.
“The design principles will be very specific,” Donovan said. “Even in the earliest discussions we’ve had — and we got this from our fans in the surveys that we did — it must be loud. We believe there are designed ways that can make [the new stadium] even louder [than Arrowhead].
“It must take into account that tailgating is one of the most important parts of our entire experience. It’s what we’re best at, it’s what we’re celebrated for, and it’s what our fans are proud of. That will be part of the design. Those are the two most compelling pieces of it. We want to make a world-class stadium that makes a statement.”
Hunt believes the biggest prize the Chiefs’ new domed stadium will bring is Kansas City hosting its first-ever Super Bowl.
“We’re going to bid really, really hard for it,” Donovan said. “We think this puts us on the map to be able to competitively compete to bring that event here.”
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
