I’m from St. Louis. I feel your pain at the Chiefs’ move, Kansas City | Opinion

So, the Chiefs have announced their plan to move to Kansas and build a new $3 billion stadium and other facilities.

Someday, from a team economic standpoint, this relocation will be easier to understand. But for now, Chiefs fans, I feel your pain.

As a native of St. Louis, I’ve lost two NFL franchises to other states. I would be lying if I told you that I was not crushed when the football Cardinals moved to Arizona in 1988 and the Rams relocated back to Los Angeles in 2016. I was devastated then. Today, I am ambivalent about billion-dollar owners doing whatever they need to do to make even more money.

I’ve never been a fan of tax subsidies and incentives for wealthy sports owners. I’ve always felt if they wanted a new stadium, they should build one on their own dime. I fully supported Jackson County voters rejecting a $1 billion sales tax to help keep the Chiefs and Royals in Kansas City.

I do empathize with Chiefs fans as the Kingdom mourns this pending move to Wyandotte and Johnson counties. I urge you to enjoy the next five years of the team’s stay at venerable Arrowhead Stadium.

Chiefs are football loyalty

Somewhere down the line, the organization’s decision to relocate to a bordering state will all make sense — a billion-dollar incentive pledge from Kansas lawmakers would have been hard for any business owner to turn down.

Not all is lost here, though. The two pro teams I grew up rooting for moved halfway across the country. While I truly believe the Chiefs belong to Kansas City and should have stayed put, relocating across the immediate state line isn’t the worst thing ever, as Star contributing columnist Joel Mathis wrote.

To some, it may seem illogical that the Chiefs will play home games in Kansas in the near future. To others — mainly residents of the Sunflower State — calling one of the league’s most storied franchises home is a coup.

As a football fan, I believe in loyalty. I have not once rooted for the Arizona Cardinals or the L.A. Rams. They left the city I knew best, so why would I cheer for those teams?

When people ask me if I am a Chiefs fan, I tell them no. Although I considered joining The Kingdom a time or two, I never did because it didn’t feel right inside.

Fandom is serious business and I never wanted to be considered a frontrunner — sports parlance for a bandwagon fan — because of all the success the team has enjoyed the last decade.

I remain ambivalent about NFL teams anyway. I don’t live and die with any of them. I could be described as a jilted lover who has been left at the pro football altar twice — a third time would have been unfathomable. Thank goodness, I chose not to bleed red and gold, or I’d be in bad shape at the moment.

Full circle with Rams

I’ll leave you with this: In September, I went to a Rams game at SoFi Stadium in the L.A. suburb of Inglewood. It was my first such game since the team moved there. I wore an old Marshall Faulk jersey from the team’s time in St. Louis. I swore to never don Rams gear again after they left, and I didn’t for almost 10 years. It felt good to reach that level of closure I didn’t know I needed.

Because of civic pride, I’m still not a Rams fan, but being inside that spacious, state-of-the-art stadium on a gorgeous Sunday afternoon soaking up the California sunshine, I was reminded that the NFL is a bottom line business. From that perspective, I truly understand why owner Stan Kroenke moved there — the value of the franchise increased from $930 million to $10.43 billion, according to The L.A. Times.

Based on that, it’s hard to deny the shrewdness of Kroenke’s decision despite sabotaging the St. Louis franchise so poorly that he settled with the city for $790 million after allegations of fraud and breach of contract.

I am sure most KC fans will flock to the team’s news digs. And I would imagine the organization itself will benefit financially from a new stadium and surrounding entertainment district.

I just wish the Chiefs didn’t have to leave Kansas City to do it.

This story was originally published December 23, 2025 at 5:06 AM.