Chiefs training-camp deal approved

? The Kansas City Chiefs will move their training camp from Wisconsin to Missouri for at least a decade under a revised deal approved Thursday by a state finance board in Missouri.

Missouri will provide $25 million in tax credits to the Chiefs, part of which will help finance a new indoor training facility at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph.

In exchange for the state aid, the Chiefs must hold their summer camp in Missouri for at least 10 years, beginning in 2010, or else pay the state penalties.

The Chiefs have trained at the University of Wisconsin-River Falls since 1991, when they relocated from William Jewell College in a Kansas City suburb to escape Missouri’s heat and humidity.

The Missouri Development Finance Board originally approved the Chiefs tax credits in December under former Republican Gov. Matt Blunt.

After taking office in January, Democratic Gov. Jay Nixon’s administration raised concerns that the written agreement signed with the Chiefs didn’t match the terms that had been presented to the board.

Nixon’s administration specifically objected to wording that required the Chiefs to train in Missouri for just five years with an option for five one-year extensions, instead of a flat 10-year commitment.

The revised agreement approved Thursday requires the Chiefs to train in Missouri for at least 10 years, even if they don’t stay at Missouri Western State University.

“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.

Under the revised deal, the Chiefs are to contribute $10 million toward construction of the indoor practice facility, which they would use for only a few weeks each August.