Olathe won the bid to secure the Kansas City Chiefs headquarters and practice facility. But Lenexa and Shawnee leaders also had discussions with the Chiefs to bring the team’s headquarters and practice facility to their cities, KMBC 9 Investigates has confirmed through an open records request and statements from city officials.Those discussions started shortly after Jackson County voters rejected a sales tax in April 2024 to keep the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. They ultimately fizzled as Olathe made its push to secure the team.The new revelations give a deeper glimpse into the behind-the-scenes discussions about the multi-billion-dollar project to move the Chiefs from Missouri to Kansas.LENEXAKansas City Chiefs officials invited Lenexa city leaders to the team’s offices to discuss potential locations in late 2024, Lenexa city manager Becky Yocham told KMBC 9 Investigates last week.Those preliminary discussions, as Yocham called them, came just months after Jackson County voters declined to extend an existing sales tax to fund improvements at Arrowhead Stadium.Weeks after meeting team leaders, Lenexa pitched the Chiefs two general locations for a practice facility and headquarters:The northwest and northeast corners of K-10 Highway and K-7 Highway. The northeast corner of K-10 Highway and S. Ridgeview Rd.City leaders also referred the team to owners for at least one of those sites, according to Yocham. Lenexa Community Development Director Scott McCullough, on September 26, 2024, sent detailed maps of the locations and regulatory factors to consider to the team’s attorney, according to an email obtained by KMBC 9 Investigates through a Kansas open records request.On October 14, 2024, Lenexa’s Mayor Julie Sayers sent Chiefs President Mark Donovan an email, along with other real-estate representatives and the team’s attorney.“I understand we’ve exchanged a couple of emails between staff and your legal team, but I wanted to check in directly to see if there is anything else we can do to continue the conversation about the sites in Lenexa?” Sayers asked. Sayers, on Friday, referred KMBC 9 Investigates’ questions about the city’s discussions to the city manager. “We do this sort of conversation with potential developments in our community all the time,” Yocham said. “Obviously, it’s notable it was the Chiefs, but we treated this like we do any similar inquiry, and it just didn’t go anywhere like many such inquiries don’t.”SHAWNEEShawnee Mayor Mickey Sandifer confirmed to KMBC 9 Investigates on Tuesday that Shawnee city leaders also had discussions with the Chiefs to bring the team’s headquarters and practice facilities to that city. Sandifer and a spokesman did not provide the locations of the potential land where the team might have gone.“As Mayor Sandifer confirmed, yes, the City leaders did have extremely initial conversations with the Chiefs organization,” said city spokesman Doug Donahoo. “However, because nothing was ever formalized, we have no additional details to provide.”OLATHEOlathe’s mayor announced plans to bring the Chiefs’ headquarters to town in a December 22nd press conference in Topeka with state and team officials. That same day, the team announced it would bring a new stadium to Wyandotte County.The Chiefs announced its Olathe location will have mixed-use developments “that could include sports, entertainment, dining, shopping, office, hotel, and residential properties.”The development could also include a stadium Olathe Public Schools, Mayor John Bacon told KMBC in December.“I think the exciting part for me is the economic development that will occur around it, like the restaurants,” Bacon said in December.Two sources who did not wish to be identified due to ongoing negotiations have confirmed to KMBC 9 Investigates that the Chiefs are exploring land directly south of the Garmin Olathe Soccer Complex for its headquarters and practice facility, along S. Ridgeview Rd., just south of K-10 Highway.An email to a Kansas City Chiefs spokesman was not immediately returned on Tuesday.

OLATHE, Kan. —

Olathe won the bid to secure the Kansas City Chiefs headquarters and practice facility.

But Lenexa and Shawnee leaders also had discussions with the Chiefs to bring the team’s headquarters and practice facility to their cities, KMBC 9 Investigates has confirmed through an open records request and statements from city officials.

Those discussions started shortly after Jackson County voters rejected a sales tax in April 2024 to keep the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium. They ultimately fizzled as Olathe made its push to secure the team.

The new revelations give a deeper glimpse into the behind-the-scenes discussions about the multi-billion-dollar project to move the Chiefs from Missouri to Kansas.

LENEXA

Kansas City Chiefs officials invited Lenexa city leaders to the team’s offices to discuss potential locations in late 2024, Lenexa city manager Becky Yocham told KMBC 9 Investigates last week.

Those preliminary discussions, as Yocham called them, came just months after Jackson County voters declined to extend an existing sales tax to fund improvements at Arrowhead Stadium.

Weeks after meeting team leaders, Lenexa pitched the Chiefs two general locations for a practice facility and headquarters:

The northwest and northeast corners of K-10 Highway and K-7 Highway. The northeast corner of K-10 Highway and S. Ridgeview Rd.

City leaders also referred the team to owners for at least one of those sites, according to Yocham.

Lenexa Community Development Director Scott McCullough, on September 26, 2024, sent detailed maps of the locations and regulatory factors to consider to the team’s attorney, according to an email obtained by KMBC 9 Investigates through a Kansas open records request.

On October 14, 2024, Lenexa’s Mayor Julie Sayers sent Chiefs President Mark Donovan an email, along with other real-estate representatives and the team’s attorney.

“I understand we’ve exchanged a couple of emails between staff and your legal team, but I wanted to check in directly to see if there is anything else we can do to continue the conversation about the sites in Lenexa?” Sayers asked.

Sayers, on Friday, referred KMBC 9 Investigates’ questions about the city’s discussions to the city manager.

“We do this sort of conversation with potential developments in our community all the time,” Yocham said. “Obviously, it’s notable it was the Chiefs, but we treated this like we do any similar inquiry, and it just didn’t go anywhere like many such inquiries don’t.”

SHAWNEE

Shawnee Mayor Mickey Sandifer confirmed to KMBC 9 Investigates on Tuesday that Shawnee city leaders also had discussions with the Chiefs to bring the team’s headquarters and practice facilities to that city.

Sandifer and a spokesman did not provide the locations of the potential land where the team might have gone.

“As Mayor Sandifer confirmed, yes, the City leaders did have extremely initial conversations with the Chiefs organization,” said city spokesman Doug Donahoo. “However, because nothing was ever formalized, we have no additional details to provide.”

OLATHE

Olathe’s mayor announced plans to bring the Chiefs’ headquarters to town in a December 22nd press conference in Topeka with state and team officials. That same day, the team announced it would bring a new stadium to Wyandotte County.

The Chiefs announced its Olathe location will have mixed-use developments “that could include sports, entertainment, dining, shopping, office, hotel, and residential properties.”

The development could also include a stadium Olathe Public Schools, Mayor John Bacon told KMBC in December.

“I think the exciting part for me is the economic development that will occur around it, like the restaurants,” Bacon said in December.

Two sources who did not wish to be identified due to ongoing negotiations have confirmed to KMBC 9 Investigates that the Chiefs are exploring land directly south of the Garmin Olathe Soccer Complex for its headquarters and practice facility, along S. Ridgeview Rd., just south of K-10 Highway.

An email to a Kansas City Chiefs spokesman was not immediately returned on Tuesday.