After more than 50 years in Arrowhead, are the Chiefs going to relocate? That’s what it seems like after the team got a resounding no from Jackson County, Missouri residents for a sales tax proposal aimed at contributing toward financing significant upgrades to Arrowhead Stadium as well as a new ballpark for MLB’s Kansas City Royals. But Mayor Quinton says, ‘Hold your horses.’
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As the Chiefs and Royals have publicly deliberated their choices leading up to the end of their leases at Truman Sports Complex in 2031, discussions about a potential relocation, particularly by the Chiefs, have intensified. Approval of the tax by Jackson County would have probably quelled such speculation, but now things are only getting weirder, with even the mayor of Dallas now batting to bring the Chiefs to his state.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, though, is not willing to give up without a fight. Addressing the rumors about the supposed impending relocation of the teams on X, Lucas said,
“I hear rumors, including even from the Mayor of Dallas. Don’t believe the noise. We are committed to retention of our teams with vastly lower expenses–think needed infrastructure build out–than even an intra-metro move. Both teams will be in KCMO in 2040 and long after.”
What Mayor Q is batting for is a change in proposals, something that the citizens of Jackson County will be on board with. Whereas Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt had said after the vote”We would not be willing to sign a lease for another 25 years without the financing to properly renovate and reimagine the stadium,” via the Associated Press.
Now, the Chiefs could either try again, as the Mayor wants, with a revised proposal, or they could listen to offers from other cities. If a relocation were to ever happen for the Chiefs, it’s still a long way away, considering the lease only expires in 2030. Even then, it’s unlikely that they’ll move to Dallas. What’s more likely is the team moving closer to home.
What Can Be the Next Landing Spot for The Chiefs?
In the hypothetical situation that the Chiefs leave behind the iconic Arrowhead stadium for greener pastures elsewhere, is it more likely that they from the Missouri side of Kansas City to the Kansas side?
According to the Kansas City Star, former Kansas House Speaker Ron Ryckman Jr. is making an effort and getting involved with people interested in moving the Chiefs. Kansas Democratic Governor Laura Kelly has also openly entertained the notion of attracting the Chiefs to her state.
But this comes with one caveat: there’s no stadium in Kansas. Will Kansas voters be willing to fund an entire stadium, when the people of Missouri weren’t even ready to pay for renovations of the stadium of a team that’s brought home two consecutive Super Bowls?
