Missouri Western tried repeatedly over the last few years to convince the Kansas City Chiefs to hold their annual training camp at Spratt Stadium. The deal never got done.

But for a day, fans will get the chance to see what that would have been like.

The Chiefs will hold a practice on the St. Joseph campus starting at 11:30 a.m. today. Fans are welcome, but tickets are required — the free passes were available at St. Joseph McDonald’s locations.

“It’s kind of cool that they’ll be here and working out 100 feet from the chair I’m sitting in,” said Western football coach Jerry Partridge. “It’s all for fun.”

Western obviously won’t reap the same benefits from today’s one-day event that it would have from the monthlong summer training camp. And it will actually cost the school about $5,000 to $10,000 for personnel, event management, barricades and other outlays, said Griffons athletic director Dave Williams.

“We are not taking any money from the Chiefs,” Williams said. “This is something Western has chosen to do for the community, to give fans a greater connection and an opportunity to see the team in a more intimate venue.”

Western nonetheless hopes to make some gains from the exposure. The school gave away 8,000 tickets, and Williams said he hopes to get at least 6,000 people into Spratt Stadium for the day. At least some of those people probably never have been to a Western sporting event.

“Maybe if it’s a good experience for fans at the stadium,” Partridge said, “then they’ll be more likely to come out for a game in the fall.”

But for local Chiefs fans who want even more, the event truly is a one-and-done happening. It’s not a tryout for Western as a training camp host, and it’s not part of another campaign by the school to recruit the Chiefs long term, Williams said.

“I don’t sense an opportunity for that at all,” Williams said. ““I’ve always had that (the training camp) in the back of my mind. But I don’t sense that being a realistic chance.”

The lone hiccup could be weather. The forecast calls for a 60 percent chance of thunderstorms. If it rains, it likely will become an autograph session rather than a practice, Williams said. Check the Western Web site, gogriffons.com, for the latest.