Spratt Memorial Stadium, also known as Craig Field at Spratt Stadium, is a 7,500 seat stadium in

St. Joseph, Missouri St. Joseph is a city in and the county seat of Buchanan County, Missouri. Small parts of St. Joseph extend into Andrew County. Located on the Missouri River, it is the principal city of the St. Joseph Metropolitan Statistical Area, which includ ...

, United States, on the campus of

Missouri Western State University Missouri Western State University is a public university in Saint Joseph, Missouri. As of 2019, it enrolled 5,413 students. History Missouri Western State University was founded in 1915 as a two-year institution called St. Joseph Junior College ...

. In 2010, it became the summer training camp for the

Kansas City Chiefs The Kansas City Chiefs are a professional American football team based in Kansas City, Missouri. The Chiefs compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) West division. The tea ...

History

Spratt opened in 1979. Previously Missouri Western played at municipal owned Noyes Field by Central High School. It is named for Elliot Spratt, an executive with Hillyard, Inc. whose family has donated money for numerous buildings on the campus. Missouri Western opened stadium with a 44-0 victory over

Dana College Dana College was a private college in Blair, Nebraska. Its rural 150-acre (607,000 m²) campus is approximately 26 miles (40 km) northwest of Omaha and overlooks a portion of the Missouri River Valley. The campus was planned to be purchase ...

. Initial cost was $850,000 Lights were added in 1985. In 2006 its grass turf was replaced by

artificial turf Artificial turf is a surface of synthetic fibers made to look like natural grass. It is most often used in arenas for sports that were originally or are normally played on grass. However, it is now being used on residential lawns and commer ...

manufactured by

Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

-based ProGrass Synthetic Turf Systems The stadium initially could seat 6,000 but was expanded in 2009 to accommodate 7,500. There is grass seating on an adjoining hill. The biggest crowds are for the Northwest Missouri-Missouri Western football rivalry including 10,129 in 2009 and 9,207 in 2007 From 1998 to 2007 the stadium hosted the Missouri 8-Man High School Football Championship, taking over from longtime host

Bearcat Stadium Bearcat Stadium (formerly Memorial Stadium and Rickenbrode Stadium) is the football stadium of the Northwest Missouri State University Bearcats in Maryville, Missouri and is the oldest continuous site for any NCAA Division II school. It has a ca ...

. The games were then moved to the

Edward Jones Dome The Dome at America's Center is a multi-purpose stadium used for concerts, major conventions, and sporting events in Downtown St. Louis, downtown St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Previously known as the Trans World Dome from 1995 to 2001 and ...

in St. Louis with the 11-man championships. Currently, the 8-Man championships are played at the University of Missouri. In 2018 the

Bill Snyder William D. Snyder (born October 7, 1939) is a retired college football coach and former player. He served as the head football coach at Kansas State University from 1989 to 2005 and again from 2009 to 2018. Snyder initially retired from the p ...

Pavilion was dedicated at the west end of the playing field, in honor of the St. Joseph native and former Kansas State football coach.

Kansas City Chiefs Training Center

In 2009 Missouri Western signed a contract for the Kansas City Chiefs to move to the stadium from

River Falls, Wisconsin River Falls is a city in Pierce County, Wisconsin, Pierce and St. Croix County, Wisconsin, St. Croix counties in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. It is adjacent to the River Falls (town), Wisconsin, Town of River Falls in Pierce County and the Kinnic ...

, in 2010. A $10.5 million facility was built just west of the stadium between it and

I-29 Interstate 29 (I-29) is an Interstate Highway in the Midwestern United States. I-29 runs from Kansas City, Missouri, at a junction with I-35 and I-70, to the Canada–US border near Pembina, North Dakota, where it connects with Manitoba P ...

on a former softball field. It includes a full-size indoor football field, a locker room, weight room, training room, coaches’ offices, meeting rooms and a lecture hall. It is designed by St. Joseph architect Jeff Ellison of Ellison-Auxier Architects. The Chiefs occupy it three weeks each year and the Griffons access it the rest of the year.

References

{{Missouri college football venues College football venues Missouri Western Griffons football American football venues in Missouri Buildings and structures in St. Joseph, Missouri Tourist attractions in Buchanan County, Missouri Sports venues in Missouri