KANSAS CITY, Mo. — In part two of a KSHB 41 News exclusive, anchors Dia Wall and Kevin Holmes sat down with several Kansas City, Missouri, officials to discuss a multitude of topics surrounding the upcoming NFL Draft in 2023.
Wall and Holmes spoke with KCMO Mayor Quinton Lucas, Chiefs president Mark Donovan and KC Sports Commission president Kathy Nelson.
In part two of the round table, they discussed the logistics behind planning for the NFL Draft.
Holmes: So, what’s the cost to put on such a grand scale with that? Who foots the bill?
Lucas: Don’t admit it! [Lucas said as he laughed]
Nelson: Well I mean, the costs will fluctuate, of course depending on things we can do in-kind, and I want to keep that number maybe close a little bit.
Holmes: Give me a ballpark. Give me a wide range, a range wider than Arrowhead if you must.
Nelson: Say it’s a couple of million to put this on.
Wall and Holmes: A couple million? That’s all?
Nelson: Well, the NFL will pay for most of this and then the city will step up with a lot of in-kind services.
Wall: Girl, Kansas City is gonna love that.
Lucas: Well you know what. I will say this. Though we’re happy to do that, you know, if you’re a big-time, major-league city, these are the sorts of things you bring, and the attendant benefit that you get from business relationships, so many other community items are key for us.
Holmes: We often talk about the airport. It’s opening about a month before the NFL Draft. We’re talking about the streetcar expansion. But as a Kansas City resident, I gotta tell you, a lot of folks are wondering about the roads now. What are the infrastructure adjustments we may not know about?
Lucas: Well, I will say particularly on roads and infrastructure, we have quadrupled our spending on resurfacing, and repavement. So that’s something we’re proud of. Tens of millions of dollars are going into improvements. You’re going to see that through the summer, and we’ll continue the kind of core government services delivery. The way I see it really is, somebody who flies into KCI, and is going to experience the NFL Draft is going to see a new airport, with wonderful services. If they’re staying downtown, the plaza, anywhere in the region, Missouri or Kansas; I think they’re going to see a great infrastructure network set up. If they want public transportation, we have that from them, certainly Ride Share. And others will play a role. I think that this is something that we can be incredibly proud of.
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