NFL off-the-field news recently reported that the Kansas City (Missouri) Chiefs have announced a billion-dollar indoor stadium deal set to open in the next decade. It means that the NFL franchise, originally based in Dallas and then, since the 1960s, in Missouri, will be pulling up stakes and migrating westward to their “Land of Oz”; that is, the land from which Dorothy Gale hailed:

Today we are excited to take another momentous step for the future of the franchise, Hunt’s announcement reads. We have entered into an agreement with the State of Kansas to host Chiefs football beginning with the 2031 NFL season.

Image created using AI.

The reason is simple:

Gov. Laura Kelly and the Kansas City Chiefs today announced that an agreement has been reached to build a domed stadium and a mixed-use entertainment district, as well as a new team headquarters, training facility and mixed-use development in Kansas. The project will be a massive economic win for the state, with the construction phase alone creating over 20,000 jobs and $4.4 billion in economic impact for Kansas. From there, the stadium will bring over $1 billion in annual impact.

Meanwhile, the Chicago Bears’ CEO Kevin Warren revealed to the team’s fans that the team is flirting with the idea of leaving the “City of Broad Shoulders” for the broad pastures of Arlington Heights or, worse, moving entirely out of Illinois and settling next door in Indiana, which already has the Colts:

“We need to expand our search and critically evaluate opportunities throughout the wider Chicagoland region, including Northwest Indiana,” Warren wrote. “This is not about leverage. We spent years trying to build a new home in Cook County. We invested significant time and resources evaluating multiple sites and rationally decided on Arlington Heights.”

The Bears’ ownership appears at a crossroads due to costs, taxes, and bureaucracy in Brandon Johnson’s Chicago and J.P. Pritzker’s Illinois.

For a league going more global, it sure looks like the teams are doing their version of “white flight” and departing big cities because of big governments and even bigger taxes for the cheaper ‘burbs. Throw in increases in crime, pollution, and traffic, and football owners have enough reasons to move to a new frontier. Then, throw in the lure of billions of dollars, and it’s a can’t-lose scenario for the owners.

Sports franchises have long exploited their affiliations with cities, states, or regions to secure better financial arrangements, whether through sweetheart stadium deals in which taxpayers foot the bill, larger concessions and parking percentages, or other revenue streams. Teams hold John Q. Citizen hostage with the threat of moving their beloved team unless they ante up.

Politicians love luring teams into their purview because it yields political power, prestige, and popularity as rewards.

And if the taxpayers tell the club to take a hike, off the team goes in the dead of night, traveling hundreds, even thousands of miles away to their new home, to garner a new set of fans starving for a team to call their own. This continues until the franchise adopts the same strategy to exploit a new city and its populace.

It’s happened numerous times in the past four decades, with Baltimore moving in the middle of the night for Indianapolis before the 1984 season. A decade later, Cleveland vacated the “Mistake on the Lake” and filled the void left by the Colts in Baltimore.

The Chicago Cardinals (last championship win: 1948) relocated to St. Louis, then to Arizona, while the Cleveland Rams relocated to Los Angeles, then to St. Louis, won a Super Bowl, and then moved back to LA.

Worse, the Raiders, which won two Super Bowls in Oakland, moved to LA, won another, moved back to Oakland, and then moved to Las Vegas.

Want more examples?

Think Chargers and Titans.

Even other clubs that have maintained their allegiance to a region have moved. The Giants and Jets are still officially New York teams, but fans in Long Island and the five boroughs must now use the GW Bridge or the Lincoln Tunnel to travel to East Rutherford, NJ, to see their teams play in MetLife Stadium, an edifice that has a façade resembling a garbage can.

NFL fans must wonder how Green Bay remains, for it’s the smallest market in the smallest city in all the major sports franchises.

Ironically, the Packers remain the last true link to the league’s origins and its romance. They may not be “technically” the oldest or the first (that would be the Cardinals), but Green Bay has been its only postal address for over a century. Of course, that could change if Goodell strikes a deal that the franchise and league can’t refuse.

The pursuit of money for money’s sake is nothing new for the league, especially its current commissioner. Roger Goodell is always following the money and funneling new revenue to his clients, the 32 NFL owners. No multibillion-dollar deal by another sports league is ignored. Each serves as a catalyst for a better one for his league. Thus, the NFL’s new negotiations are opened, especially after new deals are forged by others. For example:

The NFL signed an 11-year, $111 billion media rights deal in 2021 with media partners Amazon, CBS, ESPN/ABC, FOX, and NBC to distribute NFL games. The deal kicked in 2023 and runs through the 2033 season.

However, the deal contains a league opt-out clause after the 2029-30 season for all of its media partners except Disney…”

“I think our partners would want to sit down and talk to us at any time, and we continue to dialogue with them. I like that opportunity,…

Goodell’s comments follow the NBA‘s $76 billion media deal and the NHL‘s $7.7 billion agreement, numbers that highlight just how valuable live sports have become.

There’s nothing wrong with making money, for capitalism is a crucial component of our nation’s success. It brings progress, innovation, inspires creativity and individualism, and provides opportunities for one and all.

However, making money is one thing, but there seems to be a sense that the NFL is milking every one, as the teams extract (maybe even gouge) every last penny, nickel, and dime from their fan base, their loyal customers, and the taxpayers, even as the ones paying up and making the sacrifices are the same people who will never grace the extravagant luxury boxes constructed in the new state of the art stadiums of the Chiefs or Bears.

Rather, they’ll be rooting from home in their mancaves, viewing their favorite team on a big screen TV, priced out of even the cheapest seats to watch the game.