Chiefs news: Training camp at St. Joseph will have to wait until 2021

Due to safety measures for the coronavirus, the Chiefs will conduct any training camp at Arrowhead in 2020.

The writing has been on the wall for some time that NFL training camps were going to experience some level of change this offseason given the safety measures being taken around the league to help maintain the spread of the coronavirus.

Now the league has made it official this week that every franchise will not be traveling at all for training camp, if that’s the normal routine. Instead, every team will be holding every bit of training camp in their home facilities.

For the Kansas City Chiefs, this means that the team’s agreement to travel to Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Mo. for training camp is going to be put off for a year.

No details have emerged from either the school or the franchise as to how this affects the ongoing agreement to hold the annual summer practices on site. The current contract runs through 2022 with an option for two more years after that. Perhaps the team will extend their current agreement one more year for the sake of making up for this year. This would take the potential terms through 2025 if the option is picked up.

While fans might be frustrated by the move, it’s not as if the Chiefs even have a choice in the matter regarding where or when they might practice. And the NFL should consider itself lucky in terms of the major sports that they might be able to squeeze out a full season at all given the situation other leagues are in like the NBA, NHL and MLB.

Two major aspects that will experience major shifts in training camp will likely be media coverage and fan experience. Will fans be invited at all to Arrowhead? Will the Chiefs find a way to still make key connections for families and fans and their favorite players and coaches? And what about media access to players? If the spread of the virus is such a concern, it’s hard to imagine the Chiefs letting anyone near the roster in order to maintain control and stave off a potential spread.

This is going to be a weird year for the NFL, but that’s true of everyone in every aspect of life these days. The Chiefs will have to adjust their approach for training camp, but even the fact that they might have camp is good news for all of us hoping for the escape and entertainment provided by the NFL.