FILE – ST LOUIS, MISSOURI – MAY 04: AJ McCarron #10 of the St. Louis Battlehawks passes the ball as Ethan Westbrooks #95 of the Houston Roughnecks applies pressure during the second quarter at The Dome at America’s Center on May 04, 2024 in St Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Michael Thomas/UFL/Getty Images)(Michael Thomas/UFL | Getty Images)

So, the Kansas City Chiefs are planning to play in their new stadium in Kansas by 2031, which means the State of Missouri won’t have an NFL team. Oh well, now you know how it feels to lose an NFL team. If you live in Kansas City, you’ll still have the Chiefs, but for the State of Missouri, it will lose three pro football teams in under four decades. St. Louis lost two NFL teams in less than 30 years, when the Cardinals relocated to Arizona in 1988, and the Rams departed, only to return to Los Angeles in 2016. Lawmakers are holding out hope that the Chiefs will change their minds, but it’s most likely not going to happen. So what are Missouri lawmakers doing in the first month of 2026? They’re introducing a bill that would honor the St. Louis Battlehawks as the state’s “official football team” as the Kansas City Chiefs prepare to relocate across state lines to Kansas, yes, I kid you not. St. Charles State Sen. Nick Schroer presented the resolution in proposal to make the Battlehawks, Missouri’s official football team instead of the Kansas City.

“It not only removes the designation of the Kansas City Chiefs as Missouri’s football team, but it also solidifies that ‘Kaw’ is the law by making this law and recognizing that the St. Louis Battlehawks are indeed Missouri’s official football team,” Schroer said.

Personally, I like the idea, but why not go a step further by pushing the NFL towards awarding an expansion team in St. Louis? The Rams had left on bad terms.  It had come to light that the team was covertly planning to move to Los Angeles, despite the city’s good-faith efforts to keep the team, which fell on deaf ears with the NFL owners. Remember Ram’s owner, Stan Kroenke’s scathing application to move the team, he “was critical of St. Louis for its population decline, questioned the region’s economic future, and called into question whether it could support [the Cardinals and Blues] as well as an NFL franchise?” Sure, Kroenke and the NFL opted to settle for $790 million, closing that chapter of the city-league relationship.  But sports fans in St. Louis want an NFL team and have proven they can, and when the Pro Football returned through the XFL, now the UFL, the Battlehawks recorded the league’s top five most attended games last season, and on top of that, crushed their own attendance record with over 38,000 fans in attendance. Despite competing against the baseball Cardinals’ Opening Weekend series against the Marlins and the hockey Blues, all three teams brought in over a collective 100,000 fans.

With the Chiefs planning to play in Kansas in 2031, Missouri politicians should push to bring the NFL to St. Louis and with the New Stadium built in St. Louis County. Yes, St. Louis County, because let’s face it, I don’t believe city leaders want anything to do with a new stadium with a hint of forking up taxpayers’ money. I believe that if a new stadium is going to be built, then build it in Maryland Heights or Fenton, Missouri. I would like to see Worldwide Technology owner Dave Stewart, who is worth well over a billion dollars, become the majority owner of an expansion team. St. Louis deserves an NFL team due to the support of the St. Louis Battlehawks, and Missouri politicians are making the right move to get behind the team. Now that the Chiefs are leaving Kansas City, perhaps Missouri businesses can also help by sponsoring the team by posting build boards and selling Battlehawks merchandise at local Walmart stores. After all, once the Chiefs start playing in Kansas, their games will no longer be shown in St. Louis. So, this is the right move by Missouri Lawmakers in making the Battlehawks Missouri’s team. Now let’s push for the Battlehawks to become the 33rd team in the NFL.