Chiefs ownership claims it will know in a year if it wants a new stadium.
The National Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt really does not want to leave his present stadium but some decision on the future home of his Chiefs business will have to be made in the next year or two. Hunt likes the stadium but the modern NFL stadium has all sorts of bells and whistles that produce revenue that a renovated 50-year-old stadium might not be able to offer. The football team’s lease to use the present stadium with Jackson County, Missouri ends in 2031. “That would be our number one priority,” Hunt said. “We’re going to evaluate all our options, obviously. We’ve got to figure out what’s best for the franchise, what’s best for the fan base.”
In April, the Chiefs ownership group stepped right up to the podium and said that it is time for change. Whether that change is a renovation of a stadium that underwent massive renovations starting about 15 years ago or a new place in Kansas City or across the Missouri state line in Kansas was being determined according to the team president Mark Donovan. Donovan spoke to a Kansas City business group meeting that it is time to start exploring the team’s stadium future in the Kansas City market. Donovan told the Kansas City group to “take a breath” and “we’ve got a lot of work to do.” Donovan added that the Chiefs organization is going to take a close look at the team’s present home to see how well the 50-year-old renovated structure is doing. Clark Hunt said nothing new other than he likes his stadium right now and that there is an evaluation going on. Hunt may be sentimental about the facility but there is a financial consideration and he might have a suitor not too far away across the state line in Kansas that wants his business.
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