Kansas City Chiefs should consider St Louis for training camp
By Ben Almquist
This is the final year of agreement between the Kansas City Chiefs and Missouri Western University for training camp. The Chiefs should consider St Louis as a potential future location.
While the focus of training camp is on getting the team ready for the upcoming season, it is also a great chance to reach out to the fan base. For the Kansas City Chiefs, that means packing up for St Joseph, Missouri for several weeks. The facility at Missouri Western is great for fan interaction. However, a better opportunity may lie in St Louis.
Clark Hunt has made no bones about the fact that he wants to corner that Missouri market. Since the Rams moved to Los Angeles, there has been a bit of a vacuum in St Louis. As an already in-state team, the Chiefs make a lot of sense to fill that void. They have a great opportunity to move on that starting in 2018.
As it stands, this is Kansas City’s last year at Missouri Western University for training camp. However, recent reports say that both sides are motivated to extend a lease. That may be true, or it may just be smoke and mirrors. The truth is that you don’t really know when it comes to negotiations like this.
Ladies and Gentlemen, Anthony Sherman has arrived at camp. pic.twitter.com/VNdMR89Lnx
— Chiefs Reporter (@ChiefsReporter) July 27, 2017
Is It The Best Deal?
Of course it makes a lot of sense for Missouri Western. Holding Kansas City Chiefs training camp at their facilities is certainly a nice little economic boost for the school and town. However, does it make sense for the Chiefs to stay there?
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The wide open facilities make for great fan interaction, and allow for a significant media presence during practices. So on the public affairs side of things, St Joe’s is a solid location. However, there are many schools with those kinds of facilities that would be equally fan and media friendly.
What Missouri Western doesn’t offer is exposure. If Clark Hunt want to expand his team’s brand, then it doesn’t do any good to hold camp in the heart of Chiefs country. It would be far more beneficial to push the boundaries into a more neutral territory. That is exactly what the St Louis area would offer.
With the added exposure of six prime time games this year, and a pretty good team, the Chiefs are in a good position to add a lot of fans. Expanding their influence to the rest of the state really does make a lot of sense for them.
The Kansas City Chiefs have a lot to be excited about for the 2017 season. This is a talented team with some high aspirations. For the first time in a long time, the Chiefs are poised to get a lot of national exposure. Expanding team operations into the southern part of the state could increase that exposure quite a bit.