Dem rep blasts Chiefs owner after team announces Kansas move
Rep. Brendan Boyle, D-Pa., ripped Kansas City Chiefs team owner Clark Hunt after the organization announced it plans to relocate by the 2031 season.
The Chiefs plan to build a state-of-the-art stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, with the support of NFL Commissioner Roger Goodell and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly.
"Clark Hunt: the biggest Welfare King in America. Billions of taxpayer money going to this billionaire, while working people suffer. Just a disgrace," he wrote on X.
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Boyle’s issue seemingly revolves around the plan for the Chiefs’ move.
Kansas outbid Missouri, and the former state’s STAR (Sales Tax and Revenue) bonds will be covering up to 70% of the cost of the new stadium. Missouri did approve a plan this past summer that would pay up to half of the cost of the new stadiums for not only the Chiefs, but MLB’s Kansas City Royals as well.
Voters in Jackson County, the jurisdiction that owns the Truman Sports Complex in Missouri, blocked an extension of a 3/8-cent sales tax, which would’ve funded improvements to Arrowhead Stadium while helping finance a new Royals stadium. As such, both franchises were forced to look at other options, and the Chiefs made a big decision. Furthermore, it motivated Kansas lawmakers to act.
"The benefit to the entire region will be monumental," Hunt said in his announcement. "A stadium of this caliber will put Kansas 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."
To further Hunt’s statement above, a domed stadium makes the new Chiefs home not just a possible Super Bowl destination, but would also play host to many other sporting and cultural events in the future.
Kansas lawmakers voted unanimously to allow the state to cover 60% of the cost of the new stadium, a new training facility and a retail and entertainment space. The bonds will be paid off with state sales and liquor tax revenues in a defined area around it.
Hunt and his family are worth $1.6 billion, according to Forbes.
It won’t be the first time the team has moved. The Chiefs were originally the Dallas Texans and they won the American Football League championship before moving to Kansas City, Missouri, in 1963. The team played at Kansas City Municipal Stadium.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.