Starting in 2031, Kansas — and Johnson County, in part — will be home to the Kansas City Chiefs.
The team and state officials unveiled the momentous news at a press conference last month, just before the holidays.
The team plans to build a new $3 billion domed stadium in Wyandotte County, as well as relocate its headquarters and training facility to Olathe, which is expected to cost an additional $1 billion.
The project’s costs are being divided 60-40 between the state and team, with Kansas pledging at least $2.4 billion in various tax incentives and public funds for the project. (Some economists say the actual long-term impacts on public coffers could be even higher.)
Olathe Mayor John Bacon called the move a “game changer,” and Olathe Chamber of Commerce CEO Tim McKee said having the team’s HQ in town will be “revolutionary” for local business and Olathe schools, which are promised benefits, including use of a new stadium of some kind.
But much of the public discussion about the project since its unveiling in December has been on what Kansas is giving up to draw the Chiefs across the state line and whether that is worth it.
Now that we’ve all had more time to digest the news, we want to know what you think.
We recently did something similar, asking our readers about the possibility of the Royals moving to Overland Park. Though unscientific, it gave us a broad sense of where Johnson Countians’ heads were at when it came to that team’s deliberations.
We hope this survey gives us the same kind of gut-check information about the Chiefs’ pending relocation.
You’ll see three questions below.
The first is a quick multiple-choice question that allows you to share a big-picture view of where you fall on the Chiefs stadium deal, yea or nay or somewhere in between.
After that, readers can weigh in with an open-ended response, telling us more about why you feel the way you do. Please provide your first and last name and where in Johnson County you live.
Finally, the third question offers a special chance for Olathe residents to weigh in about what they think the impacts of a new team facility in their city will have.
Chiefs open-ended response
Chiefs question for Olathe residents