Kansas legislators approve bonds, bond district for Chiefs stadium; owners announce move
COLUMBIA, Mo. (KMIZ)
The Kansas Coordinating Council on Monday unanimously approved bonds and a bond district for a new stadium to support the Kansas City Chiefs.
The council approved the measure during a session on Monday.
State officials later appeared with Chiefs ownership at a Topeka, Kansas, news conference to announce the team's move.
Talk around the Chiefs possibly being on the move has been heightened this year. Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe had called a special session over the summer to approve incentives for the Chiefs and Royals to build new stadiums.
The Chiefs will play their final season in Arrowhead in 2030, and will relocate to Kansas following the end of the current stadium lease, under the Kansas bonding plan. The move to the new Wyandotte County stadium and district is expected to be in 2031.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said during an afternoon news conference that the team and the state government had reached an agreement to bring the Chiefs across the border.
The move means "We're not a flyover state, we're a touchdown state," Kelly said.
The Chiefs have been at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri since 1972.
Missouri Democrats were quick to blame Kehoe for his "mishandling of efforts to keep the Chiefs in Missouri" in a statement released Monday afternoon. Missouri legislators approved tax breaks for the Chiefs during a special session earlier this year.
Missouri House Minority Leader Ashley Aune (D-Kansas City) tied Monday's developments to Kehoe's plan to eliminate income tax.
“With no income tax, the tax credits at the center of Missouri’s proposal would become largely worthless," Aune said. "Since the fate of the Royals remains in play, the governor must stop undercutting the value of Missouri’s stadium package and get a deal done.”
Kehoe said that the state doesn't consider the Chiefs' move a done deal at this point. He said the Chiefs informed him of the decision Monday morning.
Check back for updates to this breaking news story.
