Chiefs fans can expect another big highlight during the Kansas City franchise's summer training camp in St. Joseph next year: a scrimmage at Spratt Stadium with another NFL team.

"For the first year, we've been told we are definitely going to have a scrimmage," said Dave Williams, Missouri Western State University's athletic director. "We'd love to get a team like the Cowboys or Rams. You know, someone that's going to be a real hit with the fans."

Details are far from worked out, and it's unknown which other team the Chiefs would recruit. But the Chiefs made the commitment as a boon to Western, which will host the three-week training camp for the first time in 2010. Western officials expect the scrimmage to be a huge boost.

"For the scrimmage, that's our revenue," said Dan Nicoson, Western vice president of university advancement. "We see that as a real opportunity."

The revenue will help cover Western's operating expenses for hosting the camp, costs such as security and maintenance. Mr. Williams said the university expects those costs to be from $400,000 to $500,000 annually.

"The scrimmage should bring in about half that," Mr. Williams said. "That's why it's important.

"We're trying to make the whole thing be budget-neutral for the university. We understand the economic environment, and we realize how important that is."

Mr. Williams said he would expect an overflow crowd for an NFL scrimmage at Spratt Stadium, which has a maximum seating capacity of about 11,500. Even if tourism remains depressed with a down economy next year, he said he's confident the scrimmage - and training camp in general - will be a large draw.

"I think the down economy is actually an advantage," Mr. Williams said. "This is a way to stay close to home for a cheap vacation.

"With the newness and excitement around it, I'm confident the number of visitors will be strong like we expect it to be."

Along with the scrimmage, Western will get the revenue from parking fees and concessions sold during the practices and events.

The concessions' part of the equation also raises another issue: beer. Other NFL training camps sell beer to visiting fans, and that could bring in another needed source of revenue.

While Western traditionally has been a dry campus, the university made an exception recently to allow alcohol sales at the Fulkerson Center, a new facility that hosts a number of campus and community events.

"We don't know if that's a direction we want to go," Mr. Williams said. "That's a decision for the board, and it's something we haven't discussed a lot yet."

Sports Editor Scott Pummell can be reached at scottp@npgco.com.