Photos by Brent Martin
By BRENT MARTIN
St. Joseph Post
A 10-year run has come to an end and whether the Kansas City Chiefs continue to hold their training camp in St. Joseph is up in the air.
Chiefs President Mark Donovan tells reporters other communities are interested in hosting the training camp.
“We’ve had a great relationship,” Donovan says of Missouri Western State University and St. Joseph. “We expect a great relationship going forward. Just to manage expectations, as we have grown there has been more and more interest from other venues. Some of them are not realistic, but know that we really enjoy St. Joe. There is a lot of efficiency here. There is a lot of comfort here.”
The Chiefs wrapped up training camp at Missouri Western Thursday.
The state of Missouri gave the Chiefs $10 million in tax credits 10 years ago to lure them from Wisconsin back to Missouri. The money went to constructing the training camp complex behind Spratt Stadium and the indoor training complex beside the stadium.
Missouri Western reached a five-year agreement with the Chiefs to host the camp in St. Joseph. The two extended the deal in a second, three-year agreement, followed by another extension, this time, two years.
“So, now we’re kind of in that new era,” Missouri Western Athletic Director Josh Looney tells St. Joseph Post. “That 10-year clock has expired and we knew on the two-year piece that it lined up with year 10 and that was purposeful I think for the Chiefs and for Missouri Western in knowing that, hey, 10 years, let’s evaluate what the last decade has looked like for both parties and go from there.”
Donovan says no decision has been made, yet. He says the Chiefs will review offers from other communities to move camp away from St. Joseph, yet.
“Our relationship with St. Joe and with Missouri Western specifically is really good,” Donovan says. “And, we’ve had our stumbles, we’ve had our obstacles we’ve had to overcome and we just find ways. So, that’s how we’ll do this. We’ll just take a step back after the camp. We’ll sit down. We’ll talk about what’s out there. We’ll talk about what they want to do and then we’ll make a decision.”
The Chiefs wrapped up training camp on Thursday. As the players left the field and the fans made their way to the parking lot and on their way home, workers began the task of disassembling the camp.
Looney says an NFL training camp breaks down into two areas: the public side which the fans see and the football side which the Chiefs value. Looney says he’s proud of the product the university provides the Chiefs.
“Our goal is to give them a competitive training environment that prepares them to win a championship, because at the end of the day they wouldn’t keep coming back to Missouri Western if they felt it didn’t offer them a competitive advantage,” Looney says. “I tell you, this year, our 10th camp, it was obviously record setting on the fan side, but was as smooth of an operation that we’ve had on the football operation side.”
Huge crowds turned out for the training camp this year, record breaking crowds with one weekend setting a record only to be surpassed by the next week. A record weekday crowd of 6,500 attended a Wednesday morning practice, in the rain. But, of course, that was the day quarterbacks, including NFL MVP Patrick Mahomes, was scheduled to sign autographs.
Looney says the 10-year run at Missouri Western ended strong and he feels good about the chances the Chiefs will return.
“From a Missouri Western perspective, we feel we’re in a great, strong position and obviously the Chiefs are going to do their due diligence in seeing what’s out there, but will other communities bid, well, sure. Why wouldn’t they? This is a franchise that is in a Super Bowl window right now.”
KFEQ Sports Director Dave Riggert contributed to this story.
