Missouri board approves training-camp deal for Chiefs

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. -- Missouri officials approved a deal Thursday to bring the Kansas City Chiefs' training camp back to Missouri for at least 10 years.

The package from the Missouri Development Finance Board guarantees the Chiefs will train in Missouri over that span in exchange for $25 million in tax credits. If the Chiefs don't follow through, they would owe penalties to the state.

The board approved the tax credits in December, but Gov. Jay Nixon's administration said the deal covered only five years.

The Chiefs currently train at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls. They plan to move their summer camp to Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph next year.

The Chiefs explored moving their camp to Kansas City or towns in northwest Missouri or southeast Kansas before settling on St. Joseph, about 40 miles north of Kansas City.

"It was important to our family to conduct camp closer to our fans in mid-America," said Chiefs Chairman Clark Hunt, whose late father founded the team.

Copyright 2009 by The Associated Press