By TOMMY REZAC
St. Joseph Post
Kansas City Chiefs training camp in St. Joseph is drawing ever closer.
Staff and equipment have started arriving from One Arrowhead Drive to the Missouri Western campus. Missouri Western athletic director Andy Carter says the Chiefs’ arrival is always a highly anticipated moment each summer - a moment that takes weeks of preparation and many people’s assistance.
"It takes a lot of preparation for our campus and community to get them here and treat them in the way they've grown to expect from us at a high level," Carter said on KFEQ Radio's The Hotline. "It's about a three-week buildup of products and equipment and people arriving, and then in 24 hours, poof! They're gone on the end of it."
This year will mark the 14th season of training camp at Missouri Western.
Chiefs quarterbacks and rookies will report and begin practice on July 16, with the first full practice open to the public on July 21. There’ll be 19 team practices in all with camp wrapping up on August 15.
Carter says the Chiefs appreciate coming to St. Joseph, not only because of proximity, but also because of how the community embraces camp each year.
"Close enough that if they have to go back for something, it's not a big deal," Carter said. "Even their admin people and executives can run up for a day and go back. But, I think it's also the commitment by the community and University leadership that this is important."
Talk of the Chiefs leaving Missouri has ramped up this year with Kansas trying to lure the team across the river.
Voters in Jackson County, Missouri this past April voted down a sales tax renewal that would have funded Arrowhead Stadium renovations and a new Royals ballpark in downtown Kansas City.
Carter says he doesn't know what will happen if the Chiefs leave the Show-Me State, but says there's been talks with the Chiefs about signing a multi-year agreement to keep training camp in St. Joseph for at least a few more years.
"What I can speak to is, they still need a place to train," Carter said of the Chiefs' future. "We've had some conversations about a three or five year agreement that keeps them here when they figure that part out. That's 100% their decision on where they're going to go."
Kansas governor Laura Kelly signed legislation in June that will help both professional sports teams pay for new stadiums if they move to Kansas.
The Chiefs' and Royals' current lease at the Truman Sports Complex runs through 2031.
Regardless of what happens next with the stadiums, Carter says the pageantry and anticipation of training camp is very real and exciting, considering what the players go through.
"This is part of their job," Carter said. "They're going to work and some of them are here to fine tune themselves for the season. Some are here, trying to make the club. There's high stakes over the weeks that they're here."
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