By MATT PIKE
As the Kansas City Chiefs opened up their 16th year of Training Camp on the campus of Missouri Western State University, Chiefs President Mark Donovan again applauded the relationship between the two.
"We really appreciate that it is a community effort and the entire community of St. Joe, every civic organization, the citizens, our fans who are here, we really appreciate the welcome they give us and the energy they give our players and coaches every single day," Donovan told reporters.
But, as exciting as the opening of Chiefs Training Camp in St. Joseph is, there is still the question of the future of camp at MoWest. The Chiefs will be opening a new stadium in 2031 in Kansas, as well as a new practice facility in Olathe. And as more and more NFL teams move Training Camp to their own facilities, will the Chiefs follow suit? Even over the next five years as they await the new practice facility opening.
Donovan adamently says though that the Chiefs will not follow suit, and through the next five years, as long as the agreement holds, Chiefs Training Camp will be held at MoWest.
"I think one of the things that has been really great about this relationship, and again, I'll go back to history, right? When we first signed this deal, there were a lot of questions on if we were going to be here for five years, right, and to be here 16 years later and say, ‘we're still here and we still enjoy it and it still works for us.’ It has to work for them, too. And over the years, I think what we've done is establish a really good rhythm in how we look at this on both sides," Donovan explains. "A really good understanding of each other's businesses, and if you follow our business, you see a lot of things have changed over the years, specifically the number of teams that have gone back to their training facility versus going away, it's increased exponentially."
"And my limited knowledge, just in learning it from the folks in Missouri Western and some other universities that we work with, is their world has changed dramatically as well. When you think about the funding and the government funding and things that they need to do. So, I think that base, that foundation, understanding each other's business is really important as we go forward. "
Donovan says there have been some things adjusted within the agreement to adjust to the funding and that the Chiefs have done more within the past year than they have ever done as an organization to support MoWest. As they do at the end of each year, Donovan says himself and people from the Chiefs will sit down with people from MoWest to discuss what went well and what things can be adjusted.
"At the end of the year, we'll sit down and say what went well, what are the things we can work on, what are challenges you face, what are the challenges we face, and then hopefully we'll continue on," Donovan says. "We have a multi-year agreement, and we expect to be here for a long time."
With the facility being built in Olathe however, that does present the Chiefs options in the distant future. Donovan acknowledges that the organization will be sure to look at and discuss those options as well.
"That training facility is going to be designed with the ability to host training camp. We have to have that option," Donovan says. "Who knows where we are in five years. But that decision, will be made year four and year five as we go into that building because, depending on the head coach, does he still want to go away, does he see the efficiency? Those things will factor in. We just have to have the options.”
The current design for the new practice facility is being designed so that fans will be able to attend Training Camp, if by chance come 2031 it does get moved to Olathe Donovan says.
"We've looked across the league at how other teams have done this with their training facilities and one of the things we've done is design it so it has enough seating," Donovan points out. "Now, it won't be a college stadium necessarily, but it will be enough seating to host a big number of our fans for every single practice if we want to.”
But for now, MoWest remains the home of Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp. 17 more practices will be held at the Mosaic Life Care practice fields, following the first practice on Wednesday. Camp will run through August 20th.
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