New Kansas City Chiefs Stadium – design description

Who are the Kansas City Chiefs?

NFL team Kansas City Chiefs was founded in 1959 in Dallas (as Dallas Texans) and was one of the founding teams of the then AFL. In 1963, the team was relocated to Kansas City and adopted its current name. The team has triumphed in the Super Bowl four times (in the 1969 as well as 2019, 2022 and 2023 seasons).

Where are the Kansas City Chiefs playing so far?

The Kansas City Chiefs play their games at Arrowhead Stadium, which opened in 1972 and today ranks among the oldest in the NFL. The facility is located in the eastern suburbs of Kansas City and has a distinctive shape, with semi-circular cutouts in the stands located behind the endzones. The capacity of the stadium is more than 70,000 spectators.

What plans did the Kansas City Chiefs initially have for the stadium?

Arrowhead Stadium's lease expires in 2031, but the Chiefs had started thinking about their future long before. On February 8, 2024, a design for the largest renovation in Arrowhead Stadium's history was presented. The renovation would not significantly change the form and character of the stadium, but would allow it to be used for decades to come.

The modernization work would begin in 2027 and be completed in 2030 or 2031. The assumed cost of the renovation was $800 million, quite a lot considering that the project did not involve any revolutionary interventions. The Chiefs were going to put up $300 million for the investment, the missing $500 million was to come from public funds.

The plan was conceived at a time when the Kansas City Chiefs were on fire, having won three Super Bowls in the past five years.

On April 2, 2024, a local referendum was held on the matter of public funding. The Arrowhead Stadium modernization issue was combined with a plan to build a new stadium for the baseball team Kansas City Royals (MLB). However, Missouri voters rejected a ballot measure that would help pay for a stadiums projects, which almost certainly meant their failure.

Will the Kansas City Chiefs move to a neighboring state?

In late April 2024, the Kansas State Legislature debated legal changes to support professional sports teams in the construction of major sports facilities.

The debate concerned Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds designed to support large commercial, entertainment and tourism projects. These bonds can finance up to 50% of a project's value, and after the changes, large stadiums could be financed even at 100%.

The Chiefs and Royals stadiums are located in Jackson County, Missouri. Faced with the negative result of the April 2 referendum and the lack of funding from local authorities, an alternative for them may be to move to the state of Kansas (the Kansas City metropolitan area lies on the border of the two states, hence moving west to the other state does not necessarily mean leaving the agglomeration).

Unofficially, the proposed changes were prepared specially for the Chiefs and Royals and were supposed to encourage them to move. On the occasion of the first debate, the changes failed to pass, but the issue was revisited, and on June 18, 2024, lawmakers voted in favor of a new law that finally allows up to 70% of the project's value to be financed with state bonds. Three days later, on June 21, the bill was signed by Kansas Governor Laura Kelly.

When was the concept for a new stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs unveiled?

The first renderings of a new stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs appeared on April 30, 2024, during the first debate in the Kansas legislature. The concept was prepared by the renowned Manica Architecture in cooperation with developer Robb Heineman.

Where would the new stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs be built?

The new stadium would be built in Wyandotte County, Kansas, next to the interchange of the I-70 and I-435 (opposite Kansas Speedway, next to which the soccer stadium Children's Mercy Park is also located), in the western suburbs of the Kansas City metropolitan area.

For the Chiefs, this would mean a move of more than 20 miles to the west. Although the team would move to a neighboring state, it would actually remain within the same metropolitan area.

What does the concept of a new stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs entail?

The stadium is to be fully roofed, and its exterior facade will be molded to resemble the distinctive shape of the stands at Arrowhead Stadium. The roof and exterior walls are to be largely glazed, letting in a lot of light.

Inside there will be large screens, and the stands will be divided into several levels. Aided by artificial lighting, the pitch's turf will be all-natural. The capacity of the arena has not been given, but presumably, as in the case of the Arrowhead Stadium modernization project, it should be no lower than 70,000 spectators.

The facility is to be built in a sparsely urbanized area with a lot of open space, allowing for plenty of car parks to be created around the stadium. A residential and commercial complex, a set of training facilities for the Chiefs, and an amphitheater are also to be built around the arena.

Will a new stadium be built for the Kansas City Chiefs?

With the approval of a new law by the state of Kansas in June 2024, the vision of building a new stadium for the Chiefs seems very real. However, it is estimated that the Chiefs will still have to contribute around $500-700 million to the investment, which is expected to cost in the region of $2 billion.

Since Arrowhead Stadium's lease does not expire until 2031, the team still has plenty of time to analyze various options. It is also possible that, despite the negative result of the referendum, the authorities of the state of Missouri will offer the Chiefs some favorable offer, although it will certainly be hard to beat the very attractive option of subsidizing the construction of a new stadium to the tune of as much as 70% of the amount.