KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the 16th-straight year, the Kansas City Chiefs have gathered at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph for training camp.
On Wednesday, Chiefs President Mark Donovan said the team will remain in St. Joseph through at least 2031.
"Let me answer that directly: We absolutely view (training camp) as being in St. Joseph for the next five years," Donovan said in response to a question about the team's long-term training camp plans. "We have a multi-year agreement, and we expect to be here for a long time."
Last December, as part of a multi-billion-dollar agreement with Kansas, the club announced plans to build a $3 billion domed stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, and a new $300 million team headquarters and training facility in Olathe.
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On Wednesday, Donovan said the team's new facilities in Olathe, which are slated to open ahead of the 2031 NFL regular season, will be designed with the ability to host future training camps.
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"With the training facility being built in Olathe, we as an organization have to look at everything we do with options," Donovan said. "That training facility is going to be designed with the ability to host a training camp. We have to have that option."
Donovan said the club would review their training camp options starting around 2029-2030, with the decision based on a variety of factors, some as simple as whether the team's head coach wants to hold training camp away from the normal facility.
Traveling to training camp used to be a staple of teams across the NFL, though Donovan said that many teams are now holding training camp at their main facilities. Donovan says that's what drove the team to incorporate the ability to host training camp into the design of the Olathe facility.
"The way that it is currently planned, it has enough seating to host a big number of our fans for every single practice if we want to," Donovan said of the Olathe facility.
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