The Chiefs’ future is very much in doubt after Jackson County, Missouri, voters overwhelmingly rejected a sales tax extension that would have renovated Arrowhead Stadium. Before Tuesday’s vote, Chiefs president Mark Donovan had threatened the team could leave if the measure didn’t pass.
Where would they go if they did move?
Dallas mayor Eric Johnson, who repeatedly has pitched his city as a candidate for an NFL expansion team, posted an invitation to the Chiefs on social media.
“Welcome home, Dallas Texans!” Johnson wrote, adding a smiley face emoji and a hashtag suggesting the team could play in the Cotton Bowl in South Dallas’ Fair Park.
“Dallas was named the top sports city in the United States because we play to win,” Johnson said in a Wednesday to the Dallas Morning News on Wednesday, referencing last year’s Sports Business Journal best sports cities ranking. “As I have said previously, our market is big enough, growing enough, and loves football more than enough to support a second NFL team — especially a franchise [and an owner] with deep roots here.”
Chiefs owner Clark Hunt lives in Dallas, and the franchise was founded by his father, Lamar, in Dallas in 1959. The Texans played three seasons in Dallas in the American Football League, winning the championship in 1962, before moving to Kansas City.
The Cowboys have been the lone team in Dallas-Fort Worth since, but they have not played in Dallas proper since leaving the Cotton Bowl for Texas Stadium in Irving in October 1971. They now play at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, much to the displeasure of some Dallas residents and city officials.
Dallas, though, would face the same problem as Kansas City — finding public funds to build an NFL-worthy stadium. That’s how the Cowboys ended up in the suburbs. Johnson also would face opposition from Cowboys owner Jerry Jones, who two years ago publicly shot down Johnson’s idea of an expansion team for Dallas.
Johnson declined to answer the Dallas Morning News’ question about whether he or the city planned to engage in relocation discussions with Hunt, who owns Major League Soccer’s FC Dallas franchise.
The Chiefs’ lease at Arrowhead Stadium expires after the 2030 season.
