Could the Kansas City Chiefs soon become the No. 2 team in Missouri and lose the top spot to the UFL’s Battlehawks?
For months, there have been rumblings that if the Chiefs didn’t get the concessions they wanted from the state to renovate Arrowhead Stadium, they would take their football and go elsewhere. Yet, for the franchise that has become the biggest brand in Missouri, few thought it would actually happen.
Well, in December, after getting courted by Kansas with huge tax breaks to build a new stadium, the Chiefs announced they are leaving Kansas City, Missouri, and taking their brand to the state next door. The news stunned fans in MO and apparently enraged many state lawmakers.
“I’m really pissed about it, and I’ve had Democrats, Republicans, reaching out that they’re really pissed about the fact that this sort of wheeling and dealing occurred behind our backs.” State Senator Rick Brattin said this week about the NFL team’s unexpected decision following good-faith negotiations.
That anger among Missouri lawmakers took a new turn on Thursday that takes things in a hilariously petty direction.
KC Chiefs the No. 2 Team in Missouri to UFL’s Battlehawks?
According to KY3 News in Kansas City, St. Charles County Senator Nick Schroer is putting forth a resolution this week that proposes the state makes UFL team the St. Louis Battlehawks Missouri’s official football team immediately.
The proposal is soaked in hurt feelings and will do nothing to change the KC Chiefs’ planned move to Kansas in 2031. However, the idea is sure to be well-received by UFL decision makers and the Battlehawks.
While the UFL has not gained much traction as a spring pro football league — even after being formed from a merger of the USFL and XFL — the one positive thing they have is the Battlehawks. After the Rams left for Los Angeles in 2016, football fans in St. Louis have been yearning for another pro team.
Since bringing pro football back to the city, Battlehawks games have been the only XFL or UFL matchups that bring in big crowds consistently, as the city has embraced the team. If the spring league can benefit from bitter feelings about the KC Chiefs’ move, then good for them.
