Travis Kelce Details ‘Heartbreaking’ Reaction to Chiefs Stadium Move

Travis Kelce has complicated feelings about the Kansas City Chiefs leaving Arrowhead Stadium for good.

“The owners get so much more opportunity [by] getting to the outskirts of the city, and it’s hard to argue with those opportunities,” Kelce, 36, said on the Wednesday, February 11, episode of his “New Heights” podcast. “We’re dealing with it right now in Kansas City.”

The Chiefs announced in December 2025 that they planned to build a new NFL stadium in Kansas. (Arrowhead Stadium, meanwhile, is situated in Kansas City, Missouri, just across the border.)

“Today is an extraordinary day in the history of the Kansas City Chiefs,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt said in a statement at the time. “We are excited to partner with the State of Kansas to bring a world-class stadium to our fans. This project represents another step in our legacy of innovation and our fan-first mentality, which started with my father, Lamar Hunt.”

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The statement added, “The stadium, practice facility, and surrounding development will benefit the entire region, and further elevate Kansas City in the eyes of the country and the world.”

The stadium, however, isn’t slated to be fully built and operational until 2031.

“We’re going over to Kansas, but at the same time, if you look at that deal in terms of an owner? That’s one of the greatest opportunities you could ever get as an owner,” Kelce said on Wednesday. “I think it’s going to be unbelievable once it’s finally set in stone, but it is going to be kind of heartbreaking, knowing that the Chiefs are going to move away from Arrowhead and that … Missouri side of Kansas City. It’s part of the old professional sports. It is a business at the end of the day.”

Kelce has spent his entire NFL career playing for the Chiefs, even leading his teammates to three Super Bowl victories. The tight end, however, has not officially decided whether the 2025-2026 NFL season will be his last.

“I think I’m still searching for those answers,” Kelce said in a December 2025 interview with Tony Gonzalez. “The way this ended with a sour taste in my mouth, I feel I need to make the right decision for me. I feel like I have a lot of love for this game. If I came back it’d just be to answer that flame that I still love this thing.”

He continued, “If it was just Sundays, I could play till I was 50. Obviously, there’s so much that goes into it. Arrowhead being Arrowhead, the atmosphere [and] playing in front of them, those will be memories that I cherish [when] I’m old and gray. … It’s special, man, and I love playing for them.”

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The next month, Kelce hinted when he planned to make his decision.

“First things first, I love this team,” he told reporters in January. “I’m proud of the way we finished it even though it ended the way it did. Guys still showed up, gave it their all, and that’s all you can ask for.”

According to Kelce, he planned to spend time with his teammates and his family to “figure things out.”

“Either it hits me quick or I’m gonna need a little time,” he stated. “We’ll see.”