Chiefs owner Clark Hunt reveals why team chose to leave Missouri to house new $3 billion dome

The Show Me State apparently didn’t show the Chiefs enough to convince them to stay.

Chiefs owner Clark Hunt attributed his decision to take his team from Missouri to Kansas in 2031 due to the former not resolving issues in time and having too many parties involved with the stadium discussions.

Hunt announced Monday the plans to play in a new $3 billion domed stadium in Wyandotte County in Kansas in 2031.

“We had a great dialogue with Missouri all the way through the end of last week,” Hunt said Monday. “Just frankly, not everything was resolved that needed to be resolved. The big difference is we were working with one party here, the state of Kansas, and the state of Missouri we were working with the Governor’s office, the county and also the city. We just didn’t get there from a timing standpoint.”

The Chiefs had been negotiating with Missouri regarding a new stadium to upgrade Arrowhead Stadium and like most discussions regarding stadiums, it came down to the dollars.

Kansas lawmakers OK’d sales tax and revenue (STAR) bonds to cover 70 percent of the cost of the new stadium, per ESPN, which is estimated around $2.4 billion, and the bonds will then be paid off via state stales and liquor tax revenues that come from the area around the new venue.

While there had been plans for an $800 million renovation plan for Arrowhead alongside the Royals, who are planning to replace Kauffman Stadium, Jackson County (Mo.) voters rejected by a 58-42 percent margin extending a three-eighth sales tax to help pay for the remodeling of the football stadium, per ESPN.

Hunt said his family will put forward $1 billion for further development, of which some can be incentivized via those STAR bonds, ESPN reported.

Clark Hunt with Kansas Governor Laura Kelly on Monday. AP

Chiefs president Mark Donovan reportedly said the new venue will have at least 65,000 seats, with the current setup for roughly 76,400 occupants.

Arrowhead Stadium has hosted Chiefs games since 1972.

“The benefit to the entire region will be monumental. A stadium of this caliber will put Kansas City in the running for Super Bowls, Final Fours, and other world-class events,” Hunt wrote in a letter. “A brand new training facility and headquarters will allow the Chiefs to continue to attract top talent. And the vision for a new mixed-use district will rival that of any sports-anchored development anywhere in the country.”

Arrowhead Stadium. Getty Images

The Chiefs have called Missouri home since 1963 after moving from Dallas, but will now join the Rams as the second team in recent history to leave Missouri.

As part of the move, the Chiefs reportedly will build a new $300 million training facility.

Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe indicated his state won’t go down without a fight, and he previously backed a measure to cover up to 50 percent of the new stadium, plus other benefits, per ESPN.

“They thought new and shiny was better than old and reliable,” Kehoe said, according to the outlet.

“We won’t give up. We’ll look for cracks in the armor and find out if there’s a Missouri Show-Me solution through our sports act.”