In Part IV of the I-70 series, KC Sports Magazine reflects on a time when Missouri boasted two NFL teams.

The football rivalry between Kansas City and St. Louis is practically nonexistent. Even when both cities had teams, the two teams were not fired up when they played each other like in most rivalry matchups.

The professional football rivalry nearly began in the 1920s, but the 1924 introduction of the Kansas City Blues caught the St. Louis All Stars fresh after folding following the 1923 season. That was just the start, or lack of start, of a very peculiar rivalry the two cities have shared in what is now America’s most dominant sport.

On one hand, the two cities truly do want to beat each other at every time possible. On the other hand, the lack of presence has led some to root for the cross-state team.

The Chiefs have been a constant in Kansas City since 1963. St. Louis has had two NFL teams in that time frame, with the Cardinals in STL from 1960 to 1987 before the NFL returned to STL with the Rams from 1995 to 2015.

The Cardinals posted winning records in 11 of the 28 years they spent in St. Louis, claiming a pair of division titles before relocating to Arizona with a record of 186-202-16. While the Rams did win a Super Bowl under head coach Dick Vermeil and quarterback Kurt Warner, they had a winning record just four years across the organization’s 20 seasons in STL before moving to Los Angeles.

Regular-season games between the Chiefs and the St. Louis teams were few and far between. When they did meet, they fought for the Missouri Governor’s Cup. The Chiefs were in the AFC while both St. Louis teams were NFC members.

The first-ever Gorvernor’s Cup regular season meeting ended in a 6-6 tie at Municipal Stadium on a chilly November afternoon in 1970. KC’s Jan Stenerud put the Chiefs ahead 6-0 after knocking in a pair of first-half field goals. STL’s Jim Bakken tied it up with two field goals of his own in the second half, including his first one from 49 yards out. The offense struggled for both team as Chiefs QB Len Dawson went 4-14 for 38 yards passing while Cardinals QB Jim Hart was slightly better going 13-23 for 119 yards with an interception.

The Chiefs went on to beat the Cardinals in the next three meetings before STL finally pulled off their first and only Governor’s Cup win in 1986. The Chiefs won all six regular season matchups against the St. Louis Rams, last meeting in 2014. While KC-STL regular-season meetings were rare, they did regularly play each other in the NFL preseason.

Professional football finally returned to St. Louis in 2020 when the XFL launched it’s inaugural season with the St. Louis Battlehawks. STL blew all their competitors out of the water in attendance as the Battlehawks averaged more than 35,000 fans per game while the next closest was San Antonio with just under 15,000.

Without an NFL return in the works, many St. Louisans have turned their NFL allegiances to the Chiefs.

Part I: The KC vs STL Overview — Released on Oct. 11

Part II: Baseball’s I-70 Origins — Released on Oct. 18

Part III: True Rivals Indoors — Release on Oct. 25

Part IV: Exhibiting the Rivalry in the NFL — Released on Nov. 1

Part V: Hockey’s Limited Action — Release on Nov. 8

Part VI: Soccer is the Past, Present and Future — Nov. 15