KSHB 41 reporter Elyse Schoenig covers the cities of Shawnee and Mission. She also focuses on issues surrounding the cost of health care, saving for retirement and personal debt. Share your story idea with Elyse.
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The Kansas City Chiefs have selected two finalists to design their new stadium in Wyandotte County, Kansas.
Longtime fans told KSHB 41's Elyse Schoenig they hope the new stadium will preserve the club's legacy and fan base.
Manica and Populous are the final candidates to design the team’s new $3 billion domed stadium. This announcement comes about a month after the team reached a deal with Kansas officials to move the team from Kansas City, Missouri.
The goal is to open the new stadium by the start of the 2031 NFL season.
"Kansas City has one of the deepest pool of sports architecture firms of anywhere in the country, and we've got two great ones that we're going to continue to work with over the next several months, and select one to do the design of our new stadium, which we're really excited about," Chiefs Chairman and CEO Clark Hunt said Tuesday on "Good Morning Football."
Manica got its start when David Manica left Kansas City-based HOK Sport (now named Populous) to open his own firm in 2007. The firm has made its mark in designs for Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas, the new Nissan Stadium in Nashville and Chase Center in San Francisco. Manica has also completed design projects outside the United States.
Kansas City-based Populous has been a global leader in sports facility design for decades. Its most recent projects include the new Highmark Stadium in Buffalo, Tottenham Hotspur Stadium in London and Kai Tak Sports Park in Hong Kong.
The exact location for the Chiefs' new stadium remains undetermined, but officials have been exploring sites near Interstate 70 and Interstate 435 in Kansas City, Kansas. The area already includes the Kansas Speedway, Sporting Park and other entertainment venues.
For Chiefs superfan Catherine Baskett-Cook, who has decades of memories at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, the new design must prioritize the fan experience that makes the venue special.
"We need to protect our legacy, not cash in on it," Baskett-Cook said.
She emphasized the importance of keeping regular fans close to the action instead of filling prime areas with luxury suites.
"We're all there, all different backgrounds, all different purposes of life, all different economic statuses going on, and it's all checked at whatever gate, whatever door," Baskett-Cook said.
Fellow superfan Lynn Schmidt wants the new stadium to capture the sounds that have made GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium known as the loudest stadium in the world. Schmidt also wants the team to keep tickets affordable for longtime supporters.
"It's absolutely imperative that we have that sound, that we're able to design something that allows that sound," Schmidt said. "It's nice to have it closer than what it used to be, but I hope that I can still afford to be there at those games."
For fans who passed along their love for the Chiefs to their children, like Baskett-Cook, the stadium represents more than just a building.
"The Lamar Hunt Trophy gets passed over," Baskett-Cook said. "Somebody said this year, 'Man, that's painful. It's being passed.' I said, 'You know what? Actually, it's not, because we always are part of that trophy.'"
As the design process continues, fans hope whoever is selected will remember that a stadium is nothing without the people who fill it.
The club said Tuesday’s announcement marked the first of “numerous updates expected” in 2026 surrounding the Wyandotte County stadium project. Tuesday's announcement did not specifically indicate when the club will make a final selection between Manica and Populous.
This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.
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