Here’s What Next for Chiefs After Selecting Kansas as New Stadium Site

NASHVILLE, Tenn. -- In one of their final actions prior to moving forward with Kansas as the site of their new home, chairman and CEO Clark Hunt and president Mark Donovan got a private tour.

On Sunday morning, they donned hard hats and walked through the new Nissan stadium rising over the older Titans facility.

Expected to host at least one Super Bowl after it opens in 2027, that new venue is probably the best templates for the path on which the Chiefs are about to embark. With groundbreaking in February 2024, that domed venue is expected to open in time for the 2027 season. That means a three-year construction timeline.

Just 24 hours later, Hunt and Donovan were posing for photos with Kansas governor Laura Kelly, holding up a No. 31 Chiefs jersey. It wasn’t to recognize rookie linebacker Jeffrey Bassa, but rather the year the team is expected to move into its new covered home, 2031.

The team’s Arrowhead Stadium lease expires after the 2030 season.

new nissan stadium — New Nissan Stadium, Dec. 21, 2025 | Zak Gilbert

Monday’s developments

The Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council (LCC) on Monday afternoon unanimously approved the use of sales tax and revenue (STAR) bonds to fund up to 70 percent of the new stadium’s construction. A special funding mechanism, STAR bonds allow public entities to issue advance dollars and repay them through future revenue from sales tax created by the development – obviously after construction is completed.

It's essentially a debt scheduled for repayment as taxes assessed to those who’ll visit the new stadium and its surrounding stores, restaurants, hotels and other businesses in the new entertainment district.

laura kell — Gov. Laura Kelly shares remarks and reads a proclamation during the Governor's Martin Luther King Jr. Program in the Kansas Statehouse on Thursday, Jan. 16, 2025. | Evert Nelson/The Capital-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

A large portion of the Chiefs’ fanbase is hoping the team leaves plenty of parking spaces for tailgating.

What’s next

The Chiefs in October selected CAA ICON to help with critical next steps, essentially serving as a clearinghouse and communications hub for the largest players in the stadium-design space.

After gathering feedback from fans and meeting with other teams building new facilities -- such as the Titans on Sunday – they’ll lean on that firm to manage the overwhelming next steps, called request for qualifications (RFQ). The process includes fielding the first visual renderings of a new domed stadium in Kansas.

CAA ICON has played significant roles in NFL projects such as the new Nissan Stadium in Nashville, Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas and U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis.

“We haven’t determined what our potential dome stadium in Kansas is going to look like,” president Mark Donovan said Oct. 6 before the Chiefs game in Jacksonville. “These guys are going to help us pick the firm that’s going to work with us, just like Populous did on renovation.

“This is a step. It’s a big step. This costs a lot of money to do, and we're investing to make that happen. Doing the next version of the renovation is another step in the process. So, we're going to continue down both paths until we know exactly what we're going to do, and then we'll make a decision and go.”

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