EARL WATT
• Leader & Times
Arrowhead Stadium has been the home of the Kansas City Chiefs in Missouri since it was built in 1972. But the ownership of the Chiefs has been working on a plan to upgrade, and Missouri hasn’t been playing ball.
Last year, Jackson County, Mo., voters turned down a tax plan to help renovate Arrowhead and Kaufman stadiums, and that opened the door for the Chiefs ownership to look at alternatives.
And they didn’t have to look far. Just on the west side of the Missouri River, the Kansas side of Kansas City was more than ready to entertain a possibility of an NFL team making the move to the Sunflower State, and the Republican-led Kansas Legislature joined forces with the Democratic governor to put politics aside and join forces to create a deal to lure the Chiefs into the end zone on the Kansas side of the border.
By redesigning the STAR bond offerings, the Kansas City Chiefs have put together a plan for a domed stadium that would bring the Chiefs and potentially the Super Bowl to Kansas.
According to a report on talksport.com, the team’s ownership is leaning toward Kansas, but to do that, the team reached out to legislative leaders to extend the time frame of the STAR bond plan.
“We are excited about the potential for this project, which would represent the largest economic development initiative in the State’s history,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan said in a letter to Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson. “Just as important, the presence of an NFL franchise in the State will serve as a powerful engine for immediate and long term-growth — driving national attention, sustained tourism, and billions more in private development across the State.”
But Gov. Laura Kelly has been slow to respond to the Chiefs, and that could result in a fumble if Kansas does not extend the STAR bond timeframe.
“We remain fully committed to this opportunity and have invested substantial time and resources into moving the project further,” Donovan wrote in his letter to Masterson. “We have engaged in multiple rounds of detailed proposals and revisions with the administration. We have had no response to our last proposal from the administration for six weeks, though we recognize the many demands of State leadership and remain optimistic about where advanced discussion could lead. Extending the Secretary (of Commerce’s) authority will allow that process to continue productively and will preserve Kansas’s ability to secure the most significant economic development initiative in its history.”
According to Masterson, the Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council makes final approval of any agreement, and Masterson responded to Donovan by calling a meeting of the LCC for July 7 and plans to recommend and extension of the offer through the end of 2025. Masterson also said the legislative leadership is ready to take action should the Kelly Administration not be responsive.
“In addition, if responses from the administration continue to not be sufficient or timely, the LCC may choose to engage more deeply in the process,” Masterson wrote in his response to Donovan. “The LCC ultimately approves any agreement, and so it is important that the ball continues to move down the field. As you rightly pointed out, this is a historic opportunity to bring the NFL to Kansas along with vibrant economic development, and it is vital to continue communication as we head towards the goal line.”
The current proposal would have the Chiefs build a $3 billion stadium in Kansas, and if all parties approve, groundbreaking could take place before the end of 2025.
