Missouri Senators Propose New Legislation in Hopes of Keeping Chiefs in State

Kansas City has hosted the Arrowhead Invitational, also known as the AFC Championship Game, in five of the last six seasons. The Chiefs’ Missouri venue also has hosted NFL games since 1972, when Andy Reid was a Los Angeles teenager selling Dodger Dogs at Chavez Ravine.

Their 53-year-old home has the Chiefs at the center of a political debate as intense as anything the Kansas-Missouri border has seen since the 1850s.

Last April, Jackson County voters rejected a ballot measure that would’ve helped the Chiefs renovate GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, and construct a new downtown ballpark for the Kansas City Royals. Now, Missouri lawmakers are working to keep the Chiefs from leaving for Kansas.

Last week, State Sens. Maggie Nurrenbern and Kurtis Gregory filed bipartisan legislation to establish a sports complex authority in Clay County, north of Jackson County.

Meanwhile, House Speaker Jon Patterson continues to push Jackson County leaders to produce new strategy to counter a proposal from Kansas, which has been enticing the Chiefs and Royals since the failed vote last spring.

“The time is running out,” Patterson said Thursday. “It’s time for a plan and course of action. And I do want to reiterate, I do think this is going to be something that has to happen in the county first and then the state.”

It’s an awkward situation for the Chiefs, the NFL’s most successful team since drafting Patrick Mahomes in 2017. Reid and Mahomes have led the organization to five Super Bowl berths over the last six seasons, including the Chiefs’ first three NFL titles in half a century.

But that success hasn’t translated into long-term stadium security. The Chiefs are held hostage by political factions that have conspired to thwart a Royals move to Clay County for more than a year. The lease for both teams, the Chiefs at Arrowhead and the Royals at Kauffman Stadium, expires after their 2030 seasons.

Clay County presiding commissioner Jerry Nolte said last fall that he’d love to explore a new Chiefs training and practice facility in his county but chose not to divulge too much information.

“I think that it would be something that would be impactful to the Northland and to Clay County,” Nolte said in October, “so I would be very interested in having those discussions. It’s really a little premature to comment on too many of those kinds of conversations.”

Ensure you follow on X (Twitter) @KCChiefsOnSI and never miss another breaking news story again.

Please let us know your thoughts when you like our Facebook page WHEN YOU CLICK RIGHT HERE.