TOPEKA, Kan. — The Kansas Metropolis Chiefs introduced Monday that they’ll go away Arrowhead Stadium, their longtime residence venue in Missouri, for a brand new, $3 billion domed stadium that can be constructed throughout the Kansas-Missouri state line and be prepared for the beginning of the 2031 season.
The announcement got here shortly after a council of Kansas lawmakers voted unanimously to permit for gross sales tax and income (STAR) bonds to be issued to cowl as much as 70% of the price of the stadium and accompanying mixed-use district. The bonds, that are estimated to be round $2.4 billion, can be paid off with state gross sales and liquor tax revenues generated in an outlined space round it.
Chiefs proprietor Clark Hunt stated the household will commit $1 billion in extra growth, a portion of which may also be incentivized by the STAR bonds.
“We decided as a household that this was the fitting alternative and one of the best for the group for a number of causes,” Hunt stated. “It is in regards to the followers. My dad [Lamar Hunt, who founded the franchise] was all the time in regards to the followers and enthusiastic about the long run.
“It will give Chiefs kingdom a state-of-the-art facility for a number of generations, a constructing that may final for no less than 50 or 60 years. We imagine it is one of the best factor for the area. It is going to give Kansas Metropolis the chance to bid on occasions that we will not host proper now, just like the Tremendous Bowl, the Faculty Soccer Playoff and the NCAA Closing Fours.”
The positioning for the brand new stadium has not been determined, however Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly stated will probably be in Wyandotte County. The Chiefs are taken with having the stadium inbuilt Kansas Metropolis, Kansas, close to the Kansas Speedway and a retail and leisure district referred to as The Legends. The world is residence to Kids’s Mercy Park and can also be the house of MLS membership Sporting Kansas Metropolis.
In response to Chiefs president Mark Donovan, the venue can have no less than 65,000 seats, or about 10,000 fewer than Arrowhead Stadium. Donovan stated the Chiefs will quickly rent an structure agency to start designing the brand new stadium, a course of that might take as much as 18 months. Building is anticipated to take as much as three years. The group can even construct a brand new $300 million coaching facility in Olathe, Kansas.
Kansas lawmakers imagine the Chiefs’ transfer will result in greater than 20,000 new jobs within the state and greater than $4 billion in financial impression.
“It is a little bit surreal,” Kelly stated. “As we speak’s announcement will contact the lives of Kansans for generations to return. As we speak’s announcement is a complete sport changer for our state.”
The transfer by the Chiefs is an enormous blow to Missouri lawmakers and Gov. Mike Kehoe, who had been engaged on their very own funding package deal to forestall a 3rd NFL franchise — and the second in a decade — from leaving its borders. The Rams left St. Louis for Los Angeles partially attributable to their incapability to safe funding to assist exchange The Dome at America’s Middle.
“They thought new and glossy was higher than outdated and dependable,” Kehoe stated after the Chiefs’ announcement. “We can’t hand over. We’ll search for cracks within the armor and discover out if there is a Missouri Present-Me answer by way of our sports activities act.”
Kehoe had backed a particular legislative session in June to authorize bonds, protecting as much as 50% of the price of new or renovated stadiums, plus as much as $50 million of tax credit for every stadium and unspecified assist from native governments.
“We had an amazing dialogue with Missouri throughout the tip of final week,” Hunt stated. “Frankly, not every thing was resolved that wanted to be resolved. The large distinction is we’re working with one get together right here, the state of Kansas. In Missouri, we might been working with the Governor’s workplace, [Jackson County] and in addition town. We simply did not get there for the timeline.”
Virtually two years in the past, the Chiefs deliberate an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead in a joint effort with the Kansas Metropolis Royals, who’re additionally planning to construct a brand new venue to exchange Kauffman Stadium. The amenities sit a few hundred yards throughout the parking zone from one another, and each groups have leases with Jackson County, Missouri, that expire in January 2031. On the time, Hunt stated he and his household would contribute $300 million to the undertaking.
Final yr, Jackson County voters soundly rejected the extension of the native three-eighths-cent gross sales tax that might have helped to pay for the renovations at Arrowhead whereas additionally serving to to fund a brand new ballpark for the Royals in downtown Kansas Metropolis, Missouri. The margin of defeat for the groups was overwhelming, with 78,352 individuals voting no (58%) and 56,606 voting sure (42%).
“Whereas the Chiefs aren’t going far-off and are not gone but, right this moment is a setback as a Kansas Citian, a former Chiefs season ticketholder and lifelong Chiefs fan,” Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas Metropolis, Missouri, stated in a press release. “Enterprise choices are a actuality, and all of us perceive that, however Arrowhead Stadium is extra — it is household, custom and part of Kansas Metropolis we’ll by no means go away.”
Hunt has lengthy stated his desire was to renovate Arrowhead Stadium, which was beloved by his father, group founder Lamar Hunt, till his loss of life in 2006. It’s thought-about one of many jewels of the NFL, alongside Lambeau Discipline in Inexperienced Bay, and is revered for its tailgating scene and home-field benefit; it at present holds the mark, acknowledged by the Guinness World Data, for the loudest stadium roar.
This summer time, Arrowhead will host six World Cup matches, together with some within the spherical of 32 and quarterfinals.
“All of us really feel some ache on leaving Arrowhead,” Hunt stated of followers who really feel betrayed by the group’s resolution. “One of many nice issues about Arrowhead is the tailgating expertise. We’ll cherish each season there. It will be particular for our household, the group, and all of the followers. All of us have so many particular reminiscences there. We’re actually going to have fun Arrowhead as a result of it deserves that.”
Lamar Hunt established the Chiefs on Aug. 14, 1959. The group was initially based mostly in Dallas and referred to as the Texans, however Hunt was persuaded by then-Kansas Metropolis Mayor H. Roe Bartle to relocate the group to Missouri, with guarantees of tripling the group’s season-ticket gross sales and increasing the seating capability of Municipal Stadium.
In 1972, the Chiefs moved into Arrowhead on the Truman Sports activities Complicated simply east of downtown Kansas Metropolis. The stadium has undergone renovations quite a few occasions by way of the years, permitting it to remain related in a altering sports activities panorama. However financial growth across the stadium has been nearly nonexistent. The venue — the NFL’s third oldest — is beginning to present put on and tear, too.
Donovan stated Monday that Clark Hunt and his kinfolk voted unanimously late final week to maneuver the Chiefs to Kansas.
“They actually mirrored on their father,” Donovan stated. “Numerous these conferences have been about, ‘What would Dad do?’ They have been unanimous that he would wish to do that. He would wish to enhance and improve the followers’ expertise and create extra fan engagement.
“Our followers want to listen to that it was a tough resolution. That is an emotional resolution for everybody. We perceive and respect that it is emotional for our followers. It will take a while. Change is tough. We admire that. I believe over time, individuals will see that is one of the best resolution for everybody concerned, together with our followers.”
With a brand new stadium, Hunt acknowledged the Chiefs can enhance their luxurious suites and facilities to assist increase the franchise’s income.
“The design rules can be very particular,” Donovan stated. “Even within the earliest discussions we have had — and we acquired this from our followers within the surveys that we did — it should be loud. We imagine there are designed methods that may make [the new stadium] even louder [than Arrowhead].
“It should keep in mind that tailgating is without doubt one of the most necessary elements of our complete expertise. It is what we’re greatest at, it is what we’re celebrated for, and it is what our followers are happy with. That can be a part of the design. These are the 2 most compelling items of it. We wish to make a world-class stadium that makes a press release.”
Hunt believes the most important prize the Chiefs’ new domed stadium will carry is Kansas Metropolis internet hosting its first Tremendous Bowl.
“We’ll bid actually, actually arduous for it,” Donovan stated. “We expect this places us on the map to have the ability to competitively compete to carry that occasion right here.”
The Related Press contributed to this report.
