For the first time since 2009, the Kansas City Chiefs will not hold their annual training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.
All 32 NFL teams were told by Commissioner Roger Goodell on Tuesday to hold training camps at their home facilities this summer because of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Chiefs were one of ten teams last year to hold their training camp away from their own facility and have been at MWSU for ten straight years. In February, Kansas City announced a three-year deal with Missouri Western to continue training in St. Joe and enhance facilities on campus.
The Chiefs have not made an announcement at this time, but Missouri Western did release a statement on Tuesday, "The University has been in active discussions with the Chiefs in planning for training camp to return to MWSU this summer. We're awaiting confirmation of any NFL policy."
Mosaic Lifecare is the official sponsor of camp and they also released a statement on Tuesday, "No official confirmation that the Chiefs are not coming this summer."
It was a record-breaking training camp in 2019 as more fans attended the camp than any training camp in history. More than 62,000 fans turned out during the three-week training camp, shattering the old record of 55,000 set in 2010.
The 2019 total is nearly double the number of fans (33,000) who showed up to watch training camp in 2018 and and 2020 was expected to surpass last year after the Chiefs Super Bowl victory in February.
In addition, NFL teams will not be allowed to hold joint training camp practices with other teams, according to the memo sent to NFL teams.
"We believe that each of these steps will enhance our ability to protect the health and safety of players and your football staffs and are consistent with a sound approach to risk management in the current environment," Goodell said in the memo.
"The NFLPA was strongly in favor of these two decisions, which were made to limit exposure risks by avoiding the need for clubs to clean and maintain two facilities, by limiting the need for players and club staffs to travel to another location (sometimes located at a considerable distance from the home facility, and by limiting travel and contact between players on different clubs in the context of joint practices," Goodell added. "These steps are being taken for the 2020 preseason to address the current conditions and are not expected to be in place in 2021."