The Chiefs’ new home in Kansas just got a lot more real. The team has finally named the companies that will actually build it, and the countdown to 2031 is officially on.
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On Wednesday, November 11, the Chiefs announced that Clark Construction Group and AECOM will serve as the construction team for their new domed stadium in Wyandotte County. The two companies are working together as a joint venture called Clark | AECOM.
“We are excited to have the Clark | AECOM team join us for our transformational stadium project,” Chiefs president Mark Donovan said.
Donovan also made it clear why the Chiefs like this pairing for the job.
“They understand our vision and have the expertise required for this scale of project,” Donovan said.
The Chiefs said Clark | AECOM will take the initial design and turn it into a “buildable, permitted, budgeted, and constructible project.” That is a big job for a stadium that is expected to seat about 70,000 fans and cost around $3 billion.
The group will also lead the plan for competitive bidding, including finding qualified subcontractors and suppliers. The team says it will give the Chiefs more certainty around scope, budget, and scheduling.
The design itself is still being polished as Architects MANICA and HNTB refine the seating bowl, the premium spaces, the back-of-house operations, and the site infrastructure.
The builders will now advise on materials, installation and timelines. Their input will shape the plan before the work begins.
Lee DeLong, the CEO of Clark Construction Group, said his company is all in.
“We share a deep commitment to delivering a world-class venue that will serve Chiefs Kingdom for decades to come,” DeLong said.
Ken Johnson, an executive vice president and the Sports Market leader at AECOM Hunt, said the size of the job is exactly why his team wants it.
“NFL stadium projects present some of the most complex challenges in our industry, and that’s where our team thrives,” Johnson said.
The timeline is simple. Site work is set to begin in 2027, and the Chiefs are aiming to open the doors in 2031. The stadium will sit near The Legends and Kansas Speedway in Kansas City, Kansas.
All of that is the construction side of the story. But for a franchise that has called Arrowhead, the NFL’s third-oldest stadium, home since 1972, the bigger question is whether the new place can feel like the old one.
Patrick Mahomes Said He Had No Say, and Clark Hunt Is Promising Noise
Patrick Mahomes has been honest about how much he loves Arrowhead. In an interview with CNBC in July 2025, before the Chiefs picked Kansas, he explained what the stadium means to him.
“Arrowhead is a special place. It’s a special place that doesn’t come around a lot of times. It’s my favorite place to play in the NFL, not just because it’s my team, but you can feel the history of it when you play,” Mahomes said.
He also made it clear the decision was never up to him. “I don’t really have a choice in the matter anyways,” Mahomes said.
Mahomes also had kind words for Kansas, saying the state would “build us a great stadium and facility and be the top of the top.” The Chiefs made it official in December 2025, announcing they would play in Kansas starting with the 2031 season.
The money behind it is big. Kansas lawmakers approved STAR bonds that can cover up to 60 percent of the $3 billion stadium’s cost, with public financing capped at $1.8 billion. Hunt and his family also committed an additional $1 billion toward development in Kansas.
In July, the Chiefs released the first renderings. The stadium will have a fully enclosed, translucent roof and more than 20,000 parking spaces. Its curved exterior and scalloped upper decks in each end zone echo Arrowhead.
Hunt has said many of the details are still being finalized. But he knows noise is what made Arrowhead famous. He promised that the new building has not forgotten it.
“The whole building will be built for noise,” Hunt said.
He also said the stadium “will still be the best place in the world to tailgate.”
For now, the Chiefs will keep playing at Arrowhead. The next chapter starts when Clark | AECOM breaks ground.