Chiefs Owner: Arrowhead Plans Tied To Royals’ Stadium Decision

The Kansas City Chiefs have no plans to find a home outside of Arrowhead Stadium anytime soon — but efforts to continue modernizing the 51-year-old venue remain in a holding pattern until the Royals determine where they’ll build their new $2 billion ballpark.

Kansas City’s Truman Sports Complex houses both Arrowhead Stadium and the Royals’ Kauffman Stadium, but the MLB team is in all likelihood moving to a new location. The biggest factor for the Chiefs appears to be which county the Royals end up in — and the Royals missed a self-imposed deadline this summer to select a single site.

“We’ve been in communication with the Royals, and we’ve been waiting for them to make a decision as to whether they’re going to stay in Jackson County or whether they’re going to go to Clay County,” Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said. “Once they make that decision, that will help us with our process as we move forward.”

Remaining in Jackson County would mean further collaboration with the Chiefs on lease agreements, while moving to Clay County would leave the Chiefs to operate independently.

Hunt says the Chiefs would like to renovate Arrowhead to “extend its life” and would prefer another 25-year lease when the current one expires in 2031. The Royals would like to move into their new ballpark by 2028.

A Royals’ move could allow the Chiefs to build a variety of mixed-use developments next to Arrowhead.