The Chiefs have played at Arrowhead Stadium since 1972 and have a lease in place to remain there through 2031. The team’s future home beyond that is uncertain.
The Chiefs and Royals share the Truman Sports Complex, which is located 8.8 miles from downtown, and the NFL team’s future is tied to the MLB team’s potential move downtown. Jackson County voters go to the polls in April to decide whether to extend the 3/8th-of-a-cent sales tax that funds improvements to Kauffman Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium.
“The partnership with the Royals has been great,” team president Mark Donovan said Friday, via Charles Goldman of USA Today. “It’s really, really critical to both of us that we have a good partnership as we go through the decision-making process. We’ve been consistent every time that we’ve spoken that it is a process. It’s an important process and we’re still in the process, but we’re making progress.”
Donovan reiterated that the preference is to renovate Arrowhead Stadium.
“We’ve gone through the process, and we’ve made some progress there,” Donovan said. “There are still three viable options on the table that we’ve got to do the due diligence on — renovate and 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 [to renovate]. Having said that, it’s going to take a significant annual investment to keep that building structurally sound. The other thing we’ve learned, good and bad, is just like any project there are some days when you get that phone call that’s like, ‘Hey, we just found this. It might be an issue.’ We’re talking about a core sample of cement that was poured in 1970. Those issues could be significant and they could factor into the decision.”
Arrowhead Stadium will undergo $50 million worth of upgrades over the next three years to get it ready to host the 2026 FIFA World Cup.
