KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs President Mark Donovan said Friday that within the next six months, the team will need to have a good idea on where its future home will be.
When thinking about deadlines for a decision, Donovan said it all depends on if the team is exploring renovations at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium or a new facility.
"Those are two different timelines," Donovan told reporters during a press conference after training camp in St. Joseph on Friday. "If you're renovating Arrowhead, you're looking at an existing structure, so it's little bit smaller lead time you need there. If you're building something new, either in Missouri or Kansas, it extends that lead time by about a year and a half."
In order to feel like the team is in a good spot, Donovan said the team is hoping to have something figured out by the end of the year.
"We feel like we're in that window right now," Donovan said. "We feel like we need to get something done in the next six months to figure out and be in a good position, so that's the timeline we're working."
As Kansas lawmakers passed a bill to allow the state to explore using STAR Bonds to build a stadium for the team, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson has repeatedly said his office would do all it can to keep the team in place.
But Parson's tenure ends in January, so it's not known what commitments or deals Missouri makes with the team would stick when the next governor takes office, something the Chiefs are keeping in mind.
"I think they're working very diligently to try to figure out what makes sense," Donovan said. "Until they have an idea on Aug. 4 where they stand with who is going to be the presumptive governor, they really can't go too far. But I will say that we are in some pretty significant conversations with leadership on the Missouri side."
The future of team has been up in the air since April, when Jackson County voters rejected a 3/8-cent sales tax that the team would've used to renovate GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
Putting forth another proposal before voters isn't off the table, Donovan said, though conversations on a new vote haven't been substantive.
"I think if you look at the history in Jackson County, and the way things have been done in the past, if we follow the same path, it would be difficult to really create a partnership like this that does not include a public vote," Donovan said.
If the team were to explore a proposal, the team would do it in a way that's "much more final" before putting it to a vote.
"We have committed, and I've had this conversation at multiple levels on the Missouri side, if we go to a public vote, we'll do it in a way which is much more final before we get to the vote," Donovan said. "We'll have a lot of the facts, a lot of the details determined before we go."
He continued, "I think it's important to acknowledge that we'd have to have agreements on the state side, as well as on the county side, and have support frankly from the county."
Still, as the team continues hearing from leaders on all levels in Kansas and Missouri, Donovan reiterated the team needs to have an idea on where its future will be soon.
"I think six months from today, we're going to have to have a really good idea where we are," he said." We might not be done, done, but we need to have a really good idea."
Watch Donovan's press conference below:
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