Kansas City Chiefs have a “hard chance” to move to their original home in Dallas, said Mayor Eric Johnson. The athletics.
Johnson is officially lobbying for a second NFL team near his hometown. And he sees the Super Bowl champion Chiefs as a logical candidate.
Johnson, who has been on the job since June 2019, pushed the Chiefs to consider Dallas after Jackson County voters rejected a tax to help the Chiefs and Kansas City Royals.
“Welcome home, Dallas Texans,” Johnson said on the X, referring to the franchise’s first name.
“The relationships are so deep, the history is so rich,” Johnson said The athletics. “We can really put together deals that make sense for them to come here.”
Before the existence of the Chiefs Kingdom or the franchise’s four Super Bowls, American businessman Lamar Hunt founded an American Football League (AFL) franchise called the Dallas Texans. The Texans began playing in the 1960 Cotton Bowl against the Cowboys. Hunt moved the franchise to Kansas City in 1963 and renamed the team the Chiefs.
Six decades later, Lamar Hunt’s son Clark Hunt is the current owner of the Chiefs. Clark Hunt is a Dallas native who lives in the city’s affluent Highland Park neighborhood with his wife, Tavia, and three children. He is also the chairman and CEO of MLS franchise FC Dallas.
Johnson said he would talk to Hunt, but declined to say whether he had talked about the Chiefs’ move. “I’m not really free to say that I have a good line of communication with Clark Hunt,” Johnson said. And this line of communication remains.
Johnson argues there is a good economic argument for a team in Dallas as well. The Cowboys play in nearby Arlington, about 20 miles away. According to the US Census Bureau, the population of Dallas-Fort Worth has increased by 23.1 percent since 2010. This was the highest for any metropolitan area in the United States during that period, according to Census Dallas-Fort Worth. It could become the third largest metro area in the country by the 2030s.
That puts Dallas behind Los Angeles and New York — cities that each have two NFL franchises.
“As the NFL looks at the next round of expansion, you won’t find a city in America that doesn’t currently have an NFL franchise, which is a more profitable or fast-growing market to put a team in,” Johnson said.
Johnson said he and Cowboys owner Jerry Jones talked about a second Dallas team a few years ago when he was in town. In the year Pushing to organize Men’s World Cup Games in 2026. Jones rejected the idea of a second local NFL team.
“You can be sure the NFL won’t support another team because they get the value of the game and the NFL. [the] Dallas Cowboys as one of the marquee teams Jones told the Dallas Morning News in 2022..
according to The most recent reviews from Forbes, the Cowboys are the most valuable NFL franchise at $9 billion. Johnson believes a second NFL team near Dallas could benefit Jones financially.
“You never say that because he’s a businessman and he’s in the business of making money,” Johnson said. “There’s a strong argument to be made that the value of a Cowboys franchise is not tied to the city it plays in or the city it’s affiliated with. This time it’s an international event.
“It’s none of our business. We are concerned about the interests of these organizations. I believe there is an argument that would not hurt Jerry Jones and would benefit the Jones family and the Dallas Cowboys to have two NFL franchises, one in each conference, competing every week and being the epicenter of football. Pay attention to this market.
Since 2010, there have been three major locations in the NFL: the Rams moved from St. Louis to Los Angeles (2016), the Chargers also moved from San Diego to LA (2017) and the Raiders moved from Oakland to Las Vegas (2020). ).
For a second NFL team to play in Dallas, there needs to be a stadium and a pool of players. Johnson said Hensley Field, a 738-acre city-owned site that once housed the Dallas Naval Air Station, could be its future home. The waterfront property said it has the potential for a mixed-use development and an adjacent unit that would be “an economically vibrant district of the city that will bring new opportunities for its residents and workers.”
Johnson, which rejected the recall effort made last monthhas long been pushing for another major sports team for the city.
Two years ago, Johnson assembled an ad hoc committee to attract and retain groups of all kinds. He said the group meets regularly.
Even after the failed vote, Kansas City’s taste for activism was uncertain. The proposed sales tax was projected to raise about $2 billion, including money to help renovate Arrowhead Stadium, the 52-year-old structure that will host the 2026 FIFA World Cup. The deal to keep the Chiefs at Arrowhead expires in 2031.
Developers in the state of Kansas have proposed a shorter movement in the past few years. In those discussions, developers identified several sites that would be attractive for a modern NFL stadium and training facility. One logical destination might be Kansas City, Kan., near Kansas Speedway and Children’s Mercy Park, home of Sporting Kansas City.
“We’re disappointed,” said Premier League president Mark Donovan following the failed vote. We feel we have made the best offer for Jackson County. We look forward to extending the teams long-standing partnership with this county.
“Moving forward, we will do, and intend to do, what is best for our fans and our company.”
As for Johnson, he will continue to push the idea for a second NFL franchise for Hensley Field.
“There is a deal to be made here,” he said.
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(Mayor Eric Johnson photo: Shelby Tauber/Bloomberg via Getty Images)