Fans cheer after the performance of the Star-Spangled Banner during the AFC Championship Game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Buffalo Bills on Sunday, Jan. 26, 2025, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Emily Curiel ecuriel@kcstar.com
Several Missouri officials expressed shock and frustration Thursday afternoon after the Kansas City Chiefs asked Kansas lawmakers to extend that state’s stadium-funding incentives program past its Monday deadline.
A spokesperson for Gov. Mike Kehoe, however, framed the potential extension of Kansas’ plan as a positive in Missouri’s push to keep the Chiefs.
Chiefs’ President Mark Donovan made the extension request in a letter to Kansas Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, on Thursday. Top Kansas lawmakers are scheduled to meet on July 7 to discuss extending the program, which would pay for up to 70% of a new stadium for the Chiefs in Kansas.
The letter comes just two weeks after Missouri lawmakers approved a sweeping stadiums funding plan in the hopes of preventing the Chiefs and Royals from leaving for Kansas. The Missouri proposal would allow the state to pay for up to 50% of new stadiums for the teams.
“Well, that’s a shot in the gut,” Missouri Rep. Chris Brown, a Kansas City Republican who handled the Missouri proposal in the House, said after learning of the letter. “I didn’t see that coming. I thought the Chiefs were fairly secure staying right where they’re at.”
Sen. Kurtis Gregory, a Marshall Republican who sponsored the funding plan in the Senate, said he was frustrated by the news. But he added that he understood that the Chiefs were a business.
“They’ve been able to chew on this Kansas offer for what — a year now?” Gregory said when informed of the letter. “And, you know, I firmly believe if they wanted to be in Kansas, they would have already signed the paperwork.”
Despite the surprise among some lawmakers, the Chiefs told The Star on Thursday that Donovan spoke with Kehoe and some state legislators ahead of the letter becoming public.
In the letter from Donovan, which was released publicly by Masterson on Thursday, the Chiefs’ president cited progress in negotiations with Kansas. The Kansas program, known as a STAR bonds plan, was originally set to expire on Monday.
“We believe the foundation is in place for something truly historic — not only for our team but for the future of the state’s economy and national profile,” Donovan wrote in the letter addressed to Masterson and eight members of the Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council.
The LCC, in response, said it intended to call the July 7 meeting. Masterson also said he planned to oblige the Chiefs’ request and extend the deadline through the end of 2025 instead of a full year.
The meeting will occur after the Monday deadline for the STAR bonds plan, but the LCC is permitted to retroactively extend the deadline. Masterson said in a news release that Donovan’s letter “indicates that the drive to bring this historic project to Kansas is moving down the field.”
The letter and news of the Kansas plan’s likely extension appeared to catch several Missouri lawmakers off guard Thursday afternoon. Missouri legislators were largely under the impression that the Kansas plan had a hard expiration date and would not be extended.
“That’s disappointing,” Brown, the Kansas City Republican, said. “Real disappointing.”
Kehoe expresses optimism
Other lawmakers and officials in Missouri appeared to frame the intention of the letter as the Chiefs simply trying to negotiate a better business deal.
“It looks like a continued effort to get the best deal by comparing competing offers,” said Missouri Senate President Pro Tem Cindy O’Laughlin, a Shelbina Republican. “We’ll continue to work toward retaining the Chiefs.”
The spokesperson for Kehoe, Missouri’s governor, said in a statement to The Star that Kehoe “believes this is a result of the work of legislators to pass a competitive offer during special session.”
“This request means that Missouri is still in the game to retain these teams and critical economic drivers,” the spokesperson, Gabby Picard, said. “Now, it’s up to the local levels to do their part to ensure we keep the Chiefs and Royals within our state’s borders.”
Shortly after the letter became public, the Kansas City Council met in closed session for 20 minutes to discuss what Mayor Quinton Lucas cryptically described as “sports and facilities” before the council embarked on a two-week summer break.
Council members made no public mention of what they discussed behind closed doors when they returned to the council chamber in City Hall for the start of their regular weekly legislative meeting.
Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas said late Thursday afternoon that the city has assembled what he claimed was “a unique, comprehensive, and unmatched offer to secure the future for the Royals Downtown in what would be one of the finest and most beautiful facilities and districts in baseball.”
Lucas was less specific on what if anything the city might provide for the Chiefs.
He said the city “will continue its active engagement” with the Chiefs, but provided no specific details. Lucas said Kansas City would ensure the, “necessary financing and development support to provide a first-class facility for Chiefs football, practice, and entertainment for fans year-round.”
The Star’s Jonathan Shorman, Sam McDowell, Mike Hendricks and Matthew Kelly contributed reporting