The team’s lease with Jackson County, Missouri ends in eight years.
Questions, questions, questions and no answers in the now on-going saga of the future of the Truman Sports Complex in Jackson County, Missouri. The complex houses the National Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs and Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals. The Royals’ owner John Sherman said that he wants to move his business into a downtown Kansas City location by 2032 when his lease with Jackson County to use the stadium is completed or earlier. Meanwhile his Truman Sports Complex neighbor, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt is taking his time in deciding what is best for his business in 2031 after his lease with Jackson County ends. Hunt may look to stay in the complex but he apparently is going to have an option across the state line in Kansas.
Kansas Governor Laura Kelly is looking at the possibility that a state fund established from sports gambling revenues could be used to attract Hunt’s attention and discuss a plan to build a football stadium that could house Hunt’s NFL business. But that fund is underperforming and is not producing the type of revenue envisioned when Kansas approved sports betting. Whatever Hunt is planning is not known at this point. In July, 2022 Hunt said his business was doing the analysis in figuring out what were his best options. The Arrowhead Stadium lease expires in January 2031. Hunt said that his preference was to renovate the stadium in its current location. The business is not leaving the complex and intends to honor its lease according to team president Mark Donovan. If Sherman does take his Royals business downtown the baseball stadium will be demolished and that could give Clark an opening to build a village around his stadium that could be renovated again. It is early in the Chiefs stadium game.
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