Chiefs' move to Kansas leaves Missouri fans heartbroken over another NFL franchise leaving

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The state of Missouri is losing its third NFL franchise and the second in the past decade, and the decision by the Chiefs on Monday to depart their longtime home at Arrowhead Stadium for a new domed facility in Kansas may hurt the most.

The Chiefs announced their intention to move after Kansas lawmakers approved a bond package earlier in the day to help pay for the new facility. It will be built near Kansas Speedway and a retail district known as The Legends in Kansas City, Kansas — only about 30 miles from Arrowhead Stadium, but a distance that has perhaps never felt so far.

''Years ago as a kid, my family was homeless for a while and we lived in a motel not too far from the stadium," said Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, shortly after the team's announcement. "I knew we struggled, but I believed nothing was cooler than living within a stones' throw of what I thought then and today is the greatest stadium in football.

''Like a lot of parents in Chiefs Kingdom, my single mother scraped some money together to get me to Arrowhead for my first game — 300-level upper deck for a 30-7 preseason loss to the Buffalo Bills in 1993. I've been hooked ever since.''

Missouri lawmakers had been desperately trying to keep the Chiefs with their own funding package. They held a special legislative session in June backed by Gov. Mike Kehoe that authorized 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.

Lucas also had been working with local lawmakers in recent days on a counterproposal to keep the Chiefs in Missouri.

''We understand our very fair but very responsible financial offer of taxpayer support was surpassed by an even more robust public financing package in Kansas,'' he said. ''The Chiefs have a business to run and today made a business decision. We wish them well.''

The previous two NFL teams to leave Missouri were in St. Louis. The Cardinals, who came from Chicago in 1960, left for the Phoenix area in 1988 and now play in a state-of-the-art stadium in Glendale, Arizona. The Rams arrived from Anaheim, California, in 1995, then headed to Los Angeles in part because of their inability to secure funding to replace The Dome at America's Center.

The Rams recently built SoFi Stadium in the suburb of Inglewood, California, at a cost of more than $5 billion.

Other professional sports franchises to jilt Missouri include the Athletics of Major League Baseball, who left Kansas City for Oakland, California, following the 1967 season; the Kings of the National Basketball Association, who moved to Sacramento, California, in 1985; and the Kansas City Scouts of the National Hockey League, who eventually became the Colorado Rockies.

Sporting Kansas City, a club in Major League Soccer, once called Arrowhead Stadium home. It now plays its games on the Kansas side of the state line at Children's Mercy Park, close to where the Chiefs are expected to build their new stadium.

''I feel like Kansas won the Super Bowl,'' said Ty Masterson, the president of the Kansas Senate.

The Chiefs and Kansas City Royals have played for more than five decades at the Truman Sports Complex, where Arrowhead and Kauffman stadiums sit a couple hundred yards apart. Both are revered, the NFL stadium for its tailgating experience and loud home-field advantage, and the Major League Baseball stadium for its picturesque backdrop of glittering outfield fountains.

Both teams have had plenty of recent success there, too.

The Chiefs, who at 6-9 have been eliminated from playoff contention this season, had appeared in the past three Super Bowls and the previous seven conference title games. They have some of the biggest stars in the game, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes, who has led the Chiefs to three Super Bowl titles in five trips to the big game.

The Royals, who won their second World Series in 2015, returned to the playoffs following the 2024 season. They are led by Bobby Witt Jr., one of the bright young stars of the game, and are coming off a second consecutive winning season.

One of the prevailing questions now is whether the Royals will follow the Chiefs across the Kansas-Missouri line.

Through an affiliate, the Royals have purchased the mortgage for a tract of land in the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, Kansas.

Chiefs fans have concerns

The announcement of the Chiefs' moving to Kansas generated widespread reaction among fans. Some were concerned about the price of tickets in a new facility, others about traffic flow and construction, and still others about the legacy of Arrowhead Stadium.

''I don't think it is the greatest idea,'' said Dustin Allen, who lives in Blue Springs, Missouri, and was visiting Union Station in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, on Monday. ''I think that where they have it is a very nice spot. I will say that the traffic over there is always fun. I think it's nice to have them downtown in some way, shape or form.''

Mike Robinson, a season ticket-holder from Kansas City, Kansas, was visiting a science museum inside the train station with his son.

Analaysia Miller, a Chiefs fan from Kansas City, Kansas, didn't have a strong opinion about the move since the team isn't leaving entirely. The new stadium will be about 35 miles (56 kilometers) west of the old one.

''It is just whatever they want to do,'' she said as she visited Union Station with her three children. ''As long as they are still in our city, representing for our city. That's all that matters to me.''

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Associated Press writers John Hanna, David Lieb and Heather Hollingsworth contributed.

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