When Lamar Hunt founded founded the Amercan Football League in 1960, the story goes he lost a million dollars his first year as the owner of the Dallas team that moved to Kansas City in 1963.
His father, H.L. Hunt, one of the richest men in the country at the time, supposedly said that if he kept losing a million a year, he would go broke in 150 years.
Of course, it turned out to be a great investment. The Chiefs are still owned by the Hunt family and are worth an estimated $4.3 billion. Not that the Hunts plan to sell.
But the Chiefs are threatening to move if voters on April 2 don’t approve an extension of a 3/8 cent sales tax that is set to expire in 2031. A yes vote would extend the tax for 40 years and it would give the Chiefs $500 million to help renovate Arrowhead Stadium. The Hunts would chip in $300 million. The Royals would get $700 million towards the building of a new stadium.
Since voters are often reluctant to approve money for stadiums for billionaire owners, the Chiefs decided to play the moving card.
When Chiefs president Mark Donovan was asked what the options would include, he said, “I think they would have to include leaving Kansas City, but our goal here is that we want to stay here.”
Are the Chiefs bluffing? Would they really consider moving and if so, where would they move to?
Now it is up to the voters to decide if they want to find out if the Chiefs are bluffing.
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