As is often the case in sports, one fan base’s gain is another fan base’s loss.
It just usually doesn’t involve the same exact team.
News broke earlier this week that the NFL’s modern-day dynasty, the Kansas City Chiefs, would be crossing state lines and ditching Kansas City, Missouri, for Kansas City, Kansas.
The work is just beginning, but we’re excited to bring our vision to life with the State of Kansas in 2031. pic.twitter.com/Ca2QmA9H8n
— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) December 22, 2025
(The team has played in Missouri since 1963 after relocating from Texas.)
It’s especially rough news for Missouri fans, as the normally competitive Chiefs are having an off-year that has seen superstar quarterback Patrick Mahomes suffer a torn ACL and star tight end Travis Kelce finally lose a step as he gets up there in age.
The issue at hand, as is often the case when NFL franchises relocate, revolves around building a new stadium.
According to ESPN, Kansas will supply the Chiefs with a state-of-the-art $3 billion domed stadium, alongside a new $300 million practice facility.
It’s effectively the same reasons that the then-St. Louis Rams left Missouri for Los Angeles and a shiny new stadium in Inglewood, California, in 2016.
But just because it’s happened less than 10 years ago doesn’t make this any less bitter of a pill to swallow.
Just ask Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe:
The State of Missouri is the best home for the Kansas City Chiefs.
State leaders did our part in putting together an attractive and competitive package that was a good deal for Missouri taxpayers and for the Chiefs.
Missouri’s incentives would have empowered the Chiefs…
— Governor Mike Kehoe (@GovMikeKehoe) December 22, 2025
“The State of Missouri is the best home for the Kansas City Chiefs,” Kehoe, a Republican, flatly stated. “State leaders did our part in putting together an attractive and competitive package that was a good deal for Missouri taxpayers and for the Chiefs.
“Missouri’s incentives would have empowered the Chiefs organization to grow and invest in the unparalleled Arrowhead experience, creating a true legacy stadium for the next generation.
“Unfortunately, team ownership has decided to abandon [team founder] Lamar Hunt’s legacy at the iconic Arrowhead Stadium, a place that Chiefs fans have rallied around since 1972. At Arrowhead, every game feels like a Super Bowl. No new stadium will replicate that.
“I join Chiefs Kingdom in expressing my strong disappointment with this decision.”
That disappointment permeating that blistering condemnation was echoed by other local Missouri officials.
“While the Chiefs aren’t going far away and aren’t gone yet, today is a setback as a Kansas Citian, a former Chiefs season ticketholder and lifelong Chiefs fan,” Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, said per ESPN.
Lucas added, “Business decisions are a reality, and we all understand that, but Arrowhead Stadium is more — it’s family, tradition and a part of Kansas City we will never leave.”
The Chiefs are expected to move into their new Kansas-based stadium ahead of the 2031 NFL season.
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