When Kansas City Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce signed his four-year, $57 million contract extension in 2020, he knew exactly what he wanted to do with it. Instead of indulging in luxury cars, designer jewelry, or a sprawling new mansion, Kelce decided his first major purchase would be for someone else — or rather, for thousands of “someones.”
Kelce revealed that his plan was to buy a building for his Eighty-Seven & Running Foundation, transforming it into a safe, vibrant hub for inner-city teenagers in Kansas City. The space would focus on opening doors to science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) — fields that too often feel out of reach for disadvantaged youth.
His inspiration comes from his own childhood in Cleveland Heights, Ohio, where he grew up in a diverse neighborhood and noticed that many of his peers didn’t have the same access to opportunities that he did. “I was lucky,” Kelce has shared. “But not every kid in my community had the same shot. That stuck with me.”
Eighty-Seven & Running has already been providing mentorship, scholarships, and resources for years. But with this building, Kelce envisions something bigger: a permanent space where teens can gather, learn, and build futures they may not have imagined possible.
For Kelce, it’s not just about football success — it’s about using his platform to give back in a way that creates lasting change. His multimillion-dollar extension gave him financial security, but this investment, he believes, will give kids hope and direction.
“In the NFL, you’re blessed with opportunities,” Kelce once said. “I just want to make sure I’m passing those opportunities forward.”
And in Kansas City, a community that has embraced him as one of its own, that promise is about to become bricks and mortar — a home for the next generation to dream bigger than ever before.
