The Chiefs are officially headed across the border to Kansas, sealing a two-part stadium deal with state officials Monday that includes a $3 billion domed facility. 

Confirming fast-growing expectations and ending a facility deliberation spanning more than two years on both sides of the Missouri-Kansas line, the NFL team has reached a far-reaching agreement with Kansas. The pact includes:

• An agreement to build the domed stadium somewhere in Wyandotte County, Kan., with a projected opening date in 2031. A specific site has not been selected, but a parcel near the existing Kansas Speedway is one leading possibility. The forthcoming stadium will include a surrounding mixed-use development. 
• A separate development, worth more than $1 billion, to build a team practice facility and headquarters in Olathe, Kan., in the state’s Johnson County. 

Put together, the Chiefs’ stadium situation will somewhat resemble the Cowboys, who have The Star, its training facility and headquarters in Frisco, Texas, and AT&T Stadium in nearby Arlington, with both facilities seeing continued development around them.

Kansas officials on Monday approved a bond measure that will contribute about 60% of the total costs. The Chiefs will fund the other portion.

“[Monday’s] announcement is truly historic. Actually, it’s a little surreal,” Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly said. “Today’s announcement will touch the lives of Kansans for generations to come. Today’s announcement is a total gamechanger for our state.

“Take heed, because Kansas is not a flyover state. We’re a touchdown state,” she said.

Momentous Decision

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and his family, who control the Chiefs, viewed the stadium decision as a generational choice, one carrying massive implications for the franchise, the Kansas City area, and the NFL. The construction of a domed facility will open the Kansas City region to major events such as the Super Bowl, Final Four, and College Football Playoff—competitions currently not possible at the outdoor Arrowhead Stadium. 

Officials on the Missouri side, particularly Jackson County, made a last-ditch effort, including in the last several days, to keep the Chiefs on that side of the border. Ultimately, the large-scale upside of a new facility, and public funding that isn’t subject to a public vote like the failed one in Jackson County last year, were too much to ignore. The Chiefs have been in Kansas City since 1963, when they were still an American Football League franchise.

“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,” said Kansas City, Mo., mayor Quinton Lucas. “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.”

While the move to the western edge of the Kansas City metro area will certainly be a major change for the Chiefs and their fans, the new stadium site will still be within the core region. The Chiefs also plan to maintain a robust tailgate scene that is central to their fan culture.

“The location of Chiefs games will change, but some things won’t change,” Hunt said. “Our fans will still be the loudest in the NFL, our games will still be the best place in the world to tailgate, and our players and coaches will be ready to compete for championships, because on the field or off the field, we are big dreamers, and we’re ready for the next chapter.”

Extending a Trend

The Chiefs follow a fast-growing wave across the NFL of teams building domed stadiums, many of them also joined by mixed-use developments.

The Browns recently reached a settlement with the city of Cleveland that will help pave the way for a planned move to suburban Brook Park, Ohio. The Commanders received final District of Columbia approval in September for its planned return from Maryland. The Bears are seeking a similar facility and development of their own, and recently expanded its pursuit of that to Northwest Indiana. The Broncos are planning a retractable-roof facility for Denver’s Burnham Yard. The Titans have a domed stadium of their own well into construction, and will open that in time for the 2027 NFL season.

The situation in Washington is perhaps the closest counterpart to the Chiefs, as it also involves crossing jurisdictions within the same market territory. Many of those have team contributions toward these other stadiums, however, are far greater than what’s contemplated in the Chiefs’ project. The Chiefs, for their part, branded Monday as the single most important day in the franchise’s business history.

“This is a great day for Kansas City Chiefs fans,” said NFL commissioner Roger Goodell. “This public-private partnership, the result of a thoughtful and deliberate process, will build upon the Hunts’ generational legacy by boldly investing in one of America’s greatest fan bases.”

Heading into the final two weeks of the NFL regular season, there are 14 teams already mathematically eliminated from playoff contention, which is the highest number at this point of the season since the league expanded to 17 games in 2021.

The previous high was last season, when 13 teams were out of postseason contention after Week 16.

Among this year’s contingent with no more postseason hopes are the NFL’s two most-watched teams, the Chiefs and Cowboys, as Dallas was officially eliminated after the Eagles beat the Commanders Saturday night. That’s led to a less-interesting-than-expected Christmas Day doubleheader for Netflix and nightcap for Amazon Prime Video.

Seven teams have already clinched a postseason berth, meaning half the playoff field is set and another seven spots are still up for grabs. The NFC is particularly lopsided, as the only open spot available is for the winner of the NFC South, either the Panthers or Buccaneers.

The growing disparity among this season’s playoff contenders are underperformers comes as half of the Week 17 games will be broadcast to national audiences, including seven standalone windows—the trio of Christmas contests, a Saturday doubleheader, and the standard Sunday Night Football and Monday Night Football broadcasts. 

In the late Sunday afternoon window, Fox will have Eagles-Bills, and will only have competition from Giants-Raiders (both tied for the league’s worst record at 2–13) on CBS.

But only three of those nationally-televised games feature two teams with winning records. Overall, six of out of 16 matchups in Week 17 are between teams with losing records, while five include two teams with winning records. 

Creating more meaningful late-season matchups has been a priority for NFL commissioner Roger Goodell, who this past offseason made a case to eliminate guaranteed home games for division champions and instead seed conference playoff participants strictly on win-loss records. The proposal, which was ultimately tabled, would theoretically give more incentive to playoff-bound teams in the final weeks of the season with more seeding fluctuation possible. 

This year’s eventual NFC South champion is likely to host a team with a better record, with potential for the same scenario to play out with the NFC East champion Eagles and eventual AFC North winner.

It’s been a season full of viewership records for the National Football League, but its current highwater mark for streaming is nearly a year old, and could be safe for at least a little while longer.

The NFL will have a streaming-based tripleheader on Christmas, with Netflix showing the Cowboys and Commanders, followed by the Lions and Vikings. Amazon will then close out the holiday with a Broncos-Chiefs game in primetime. Each will be attempting to break the viewership average of more than 24 million, set last year for the Netflix Christmas doubleheader, that represents the biggest audience in league history for a streaming game. 

Based on what has been a banner year in linear viewership for the NFL, one might have expected that mark to have already fallen—particularly as streaming also continues to capture a greater share of overall media consumption. 

The league is up 8% in overall viewership to 18.6 million per game through Week 15, its highest mark at this point in the season since 1989. Each of the NFL’s domestic rights holders has posted a series of audience milestones during the season, peaking with a Thanksgiving Day game between the Chiefs and Cowboys that averaged more than 57 million viewers and set a regular-season record.

The NFL streaming record, however, has stayed intact. Among the factors surrounding that situation:

• A Sept. 5 game between the Chiefs and Chargers from Brazil was shown on YouTube for free, and there were widespread hopes that the open nature of the platform and the game presentation would produce a record audience. Instead, the game became muddled in an industry controversy regarding YouTube’s use of a non-accredited viewership measurement process, which after revisions produced an average audience for the game of 19.7 million. 
• Amazon has been on a major growth wave this season for Thursday Night Football, with its season-to-date average of 14.96 million up 13% from last year and better than any network to have those rights. Despite that escalation, and a regular-season record of 19.4 million for a Dec. 4 game between the Cowboys and Lions, the Thursday night package remains among the smallest of the NFL broadcast windows. 
• The three Christmas games now look far worse than when they were unveiled in May. Four of the six teams involved are officially out of playoff contention, the Lions are clinging to a 8% chance, and only the Broncos have punched their postseason ticket. Conversely, the Christmas 2024 doubleheader on Netflix involved four teams that would all go on to last season’s playoffs. 

The next big possibility for another NFL streaming record could be in the playoffs, as Amazon will show another game in the wild-card round. A Steelers-Ravens game from last year’s opening round averaged 22.1 million on the platform, and remains Amazon’s biggest NFL audience to date.