ST. JOSEPH, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs consider Arrowhead Stadium stays structurally sound and like to renovate their well-known facility within the coming years, even when the neighboring Royals undergo with plans to construct a brand new ballpark elsewhere.
The NFL franchise and its Major League Baseball counterpart have performed on the Truman Sports Complex because the early Nineteen Seventies, when Arrowhead opened simply throughout the parking zone from Kauffman Stadium. Both have undergone large renovations over time, the newest tying them to a brand new lease with Jackson County that expires in January 2031.
Yet the Royals have made it clear that they intend to construct a brand new stadium, both in downtown Kansas City or neighboring Clay County, and that they’re aiming for a spring vote to resume a gross sales tax that will assist to fund the development.
That leaves the Chiefs to resolve whether or not they are going to pursue extra renovations to Arrowhead Stadium or likewise construct anew.
“If the Royals decide to stay in Jackson County, we’ve had discussions about how we do that together. And if they go, then that is a variable and we’ve got to be ready to either continue on that path or pivot,” Chiefs President Mark Donovan mentioned Friday.
“Our team has done a really good job at just being ready. And I feel like we’re pretty well prepared for whatever happens.”
Donovan underscored the choice of chairman Clark Hunt to stay in Arrowhead Stadium, although. It was Hunt’s father, Lamar Hunt, who based the franchise and relocated it from Dallas to Kansas City for the 1963 season.
“We’ve gone through the process and made some progress there,” Donovan mentioned on report day for Chiefs veterans for coaching camp. “There are still three viable options on the table that we’ve got to do the due diligence on: renovate-upgrade, build new on-site or build new somewhere else. All three of those options are still part of our dialogue. We’ve learned a lot in this process. The good news is we think the building itself is actually, structurally pretty sound. Which gives us the opportunity.”
“Having said that,” Donovan added, “we’ve learned it’s going to take a significant annual investment to keep that building sound.”
While the Royals would use their share of a renewed tax to fund their new ballpark, the Chiefs would use their share not just for upgrades to Arrowhead Stadium but additionally to offset the annual repairs that’s sure to rise because the constructing ages.
Another complication for the Chiefs is the truth that they’re on account of host World Cup video games at Arrowhead Stadium in 2026, and meaning some pricey alterations to the 51-year-old constructing over the following three years in order that it meets FIFA requirements.
“That would be really fast-forwarding everything to try to tie it all together,” Donovan admitted. “The question then becomes, ‘What are we going to do for the World Cup to be compliant to host that amazing event that potentially we could keep or benefit from or not have to redo?’ Versus, ‘We’ve got to make the building requirement-proof for World Cup, and we have to do that absolutely perfect, (but) we also have to play a football season pretty quickly after that, and we want our fans to have the best possible experience.’ So, we can’t really sacrifice the football experience because we did some things for the World Cup.”
While the futures of the Royals and Chiefs are carefully linked, they differ in a single very obvious manner: on-field success.
The Royals started the day with the second-worst document within the majors – with little cause to hope for enchancment – leading to widespread fan apathy towards a $2 billion ballpark and mixed-use village no less than partially funded by the general public. Meanwhile, the Chiefs are coming off their third Super Bowl look in 4 years and simply hoisted one other Lombardi Trophy.
“Yeah, it’s a special time to be a part of the Chiefs organization, right? It’s a special time to be a Chiefs fan,” Donovan mentioned. “It’s also a really special time to be a part of this community. We’re proud of being a part of this community and being a contributor to this community. Kansas City is on a really, really good trend when you look at what we’re doing.”
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