Chiefs’ Ambitious Facility Plans Hinge on Stadium Future

NEW ORLEANS — The Chiefs may build a new training facility that could cost as much as $425 million, not counting a prospective surrounding commercial district, team president Mark Donovan said Wednesday. The venue’s location depends in part on the team’s stadium after its lease expires in 2031—in Missouri like its current home, Arrowhead Stadium, or across the state line in Kansas.

“It’s probably $250 to $450 [million] depending on what you’re going to do,” Donovan said. I mean, think about what Minnesota did, right? They built a brand-new training facility, and then they put … outside it a 5,000-seat stadium, like if you did that, that’s a different number than if you just built new facilities.”

Renovating Arrowhead would cost around $800 million, and new stadiums could be up to $2 billion or more. So the extra expense of the new training facility is not an insignificant add. It’s not clear how that cost will fit into the ultimate financial package the Chiefs arrange with local and state officials in Missouri, or if they relocate to Kansas.

If the team moves to Kansas, the training facility could be in either state, Donovan said. However, if the result is to put the venues together, then the new quarters would also relocate states.

As the Chiefs business grows—the team recently announced a new studio to produce football-themed entertainment—the need for more space is pressing. “We’re just out of space right now,” he said.

With the Chiefs in their fifth Super Bowl in six years, team owner Clark Hunt has taken a more public role this week—meeting with reporters, doing TV interviews, and attending Super Bowl Opening Night. That’s no accident; it’s part of a strategy to become a brand-name team.

Donovan pointed out that when the Cowboys play, the cameras inevitably show their owner Jerry Jones, who is the face of the team.

“Clark sees what Jerry’s doing, what Robert’s doing,” he said, referring to Patriots owner Robert Kraft. “The challenge for us is like, how do we do that? It starts with little things, like every single Cowboys game, they show Jerry Jones in his suite, right? So why aren’t they showing Clark? So that’s a conversation.”