Game on!
Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe is ready to sign a bill that would give state money for the construction of 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. Missouri is attempting to keep the two franchises in the state and prevent the two businesses from going to Kansas. Sherman and Hunt now can choose between the offers from Kansas and Missouri.
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 will pay up to 50 percent of the construction costs of two venues in an attempt to keep Hunt’s Chiefs business and the Royals’ owner Sherman in the state. The clock keeps ticking for the two states, Kansas and Missouri.
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