FILE - A general overall interior view of GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium during the first half of an NFL football game between the Kansas City Chiefs and the Detroit Lions, Sept. 7, 2023 in Kansas City, Mo. Top Kansas legislators have intensified efforts to woo the Super Bowl champion Chiefs by offering to let the professional football franchise shape a plan for using state bonds to finance a new stadium in Kansas.
Their actions came as a new Kansas nonprofit group, Scoop and Score, launched a campaign for bringing the Chiefs from Missouri to Kansas. The group started an online petition aimed at the Legislature, sent texts saying the Chiefs “deserve a permanent home in Kansas,” and registered 20 lobbyists to represent it at the Statehouse, including a former House speaker and some of the state’s most prominent contract lobbyists.
“Your insights and expertise are invaluable in shaping the success of this project,” Hawkins and Masterson said in their letter. “Your organization’s stature and experience in professional sports will help shape our understanding and ensure that this initiative aligns with the interests of all stakeholders involved.”included Ron Ryckman Jr., a Kansas City-area businessman who served as Kansas House speaker from 2017 through 2022.