The money for the stadiums could be freed up very soon.
It has come down to this. Will the Missouri State House vote to come up with money to build a venue for Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman and provide cash to Clark Hunt for a renovation of his National Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs franchise’s home field? The Missouri State Senate has given its approval to fund a stadium plan. Missouri is attempting to keep the two franchises in the state and prevent the two businesses from going to Kansas.
The problem for Hunt and Sherman began in April 2024 when Jackson County, Missouri voters said no to extending a sales tax that would have funded a Royals’ downtown Kansas City stadium and a renovation of Hunt’s Chiefs’ football venue. There is nothing new from Kansas where local politicians have indicated that they might want the Chiefs and Royals’ businesses in their state. Kansas lawmakers are still mulling over a proposal that would see STAR bonds used to help pay 75% of the cost of building two stadiums in Kansas. Additionally, sports gambling and lottery gaming and sales tax revenue from businesses in the stadium development districts would cover bond debt. Another source of revenue to pay off the debt would come from a liquor tax. Kansas lawmakers could use a mechanism that would allow up to 100% of sales tax revenue on alcoholic liquor sales within a stadium district to pay off bonds for the structures. There is a problem with Kansas though. That offer expires on June 30th although the state legislature could extend the deadline. Missouri politicians have been scrambling to put together a financial package to keep Hunt’s Chiefs business and the Royals’ owner Sherman in the state. There is the June 30th deadline in Kansas. The clock keeps ticking.
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Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
