Touchdown State

On December 22, Governor Laura Kelly and Kansas City Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt announced that the Chiefs will build a new $3 billion state-of-the-art domed stadium in Wyandotte County northwest of the intersection of I-70 and I-435 West. Scheduled to open in 2031, the project will include a mixed-use entertainment district near the stadium and a new team headquarters, training facility, and mixed-use development at a site in Olathe.

Governor Kelly said that this project will be “creating thousands of jobs, bringing in tourists from around the world, attracting young people, and, most importantly, we’re continuing to make Kansas the best place in America to raise a family. [It’s] a signal to America and the world that our state’s future is very bright.” Kelly added that Kansas “is not a flyover state. It’s a touchdown state.” 

According to Mr. Hunt, “The benefit to the entire region will be monumental. A stadium of this caliber will put Kanas City in the running for Super Bowls, Final Fours, and other world-class events. 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.”

Bipartisan support in the Kansas Legislature was key to approval of 60 percent state funding through sales taxes and STAR bonds. There will be no new taxes and no impact on the state budget.

Coincidentally, the December 8 New Yorker included a feature article, “Only Fans: The stadium goes luxe” by John Seabrook, describing the evolution from municipal stadiums prior to the 1970s to today’s luxury buildings like SoFi (a financial services company) in greater Los Angeles. SoFi is the NFL’s largest with a capacity of 100,000. It’s privately-funded cost was at least $5 billion, and SoFi pays around $30 million a year for naming rights.

Houston’s Astrodome, the world’s only domed stadium when it opened in 1965, began the evolution of stadiums from community centers for ordinary fans to luxury experiences with cushioned seats, gourmet food, and leased private suites. Prices soared—a family of four now pays an average of about $1300 to attend an NFL game—and the Astrodome’s Skybox suites turned nosebleed seats from the cheapest to the most costly. It wasn’t long before new stadiums moved luxury suites to lower levels. 

Kansas City’s Truman Sports Complex, opened in 1972, revolutionized the stadium concept by recognizing that football and baseball field geometries are incompatible. Arrowhead seats more than 76,000, the fourth largest in the NFL, and includes a several-story “apartment” with leased suites.

The Truman Complex made Kansas City the nation’s sports-architecture talent center with several firms, including Populous, the largest stadium designer, headquartered here. Populous designed the Buffalo Bills new stadium opening this year. Gensler, the world’s largest architecture firm, recently opened a Kansas City office. 

Stadium design is challenging: the oval shape leads to odd angles and spacing for seating, so designers use computer programs to produce a range of options that can identify the most profitable seating pattern from standard to premium to suites. Seabrook wrote that in stadiums, “every inch of the space, and every sight line—not only to the field but also to the sponsor’s logos—is monetized. Stadiums may be the most rigorously monetized spaces on earth.” And economic studies consistently show that “owners, not taxpayers, derive most of the financial benefits.”

Will the new Chiefs stadium have more premium seating and amenities to cater to the wealthy, or will it buck the national trend and keep prices affordable for most fans? A director of Populous, Jonathan Mallie, says that any sports venue “should be something for everybody.” The Hunt family has a long record of being close to the community and has promised that cherished traditions like tailgating will be respected. Make it so.