While most of their residents were sleeping, Missouri’s state legislature took the next step toward funding stadium upgrades for the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs.
Senate Bill 3, which included the Show Me Sports Investment Act, was passed 19-13 during the special session called by Gov. Mike Kehoe in late May. The act, focused on pro sports arenas and stadiums (no college venues), would create a funding pool of state bonds that would pay up to 50% of the construction or renovation of any sporting venue with at least 30,000 seats in the state.
The Royals’ Kauffman Stadium seats nearly 38,000, while GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium houses over 76,000 Chiefs fans. Yet the Royals are looking to build a new stadium, either in Missouri or Kansas, that could cost between $1 billion and $2 billion. The Chiefs are seeking renovations to Arrowhead of at least $1 billion.
The rush to approve a package was spurred by a competing offer in neighboring Kansas, which has set a deadline of June 30 for the teams to accept.
In June 2024, Kansas state legislators approved the use of STAR (sales and tax revenue) bonds to fund up to 70% of the construction of new stadiums for one or both teams. In theory, taxes from bars, restaurants and other establishments in the bond district would fund the bond.
Kansas approved the bonds two months after voters in Missouri’s Jackson County rejected an April 2024 referendum for a 3/8th-cent sales tax to pay for the plans for both teams.
On May 27, Gov. Kehoe called for the session for legislators to vote on a handful of bills, highlighted by the Show Me Sports Investment Act, which is sponsored by Republican state representative Chris Brown.
Kehoe, a first-term Republican, called the special session after his previous attempt to push legislation on May 13 was brushed back by opposition from both sides of the aisle in the state senate, despite its initial passage in the state house.
While Republicans and Democrats had different reasons for their initial resistance to the bill, both shared fury that Kehoe tried to compel a vote for a proposal that had yet to have a public hearing. Kehoe and supporters of the act have been concerned about the teams’ ongoing flirtations with the state of Kansas.
Although Missouri’s state house approved the stadium act in late May, it will have another chance to review the full bill, which includes additional proposals for disaster relief after tornadoes hit the St. Louis region, and a new mental health hospital in Kansas City.
Last Thursday, local media reported that one of Royals’ affiliate businesses purchased a mortgage for one of a handful of possible stadium sites in Johnson County that the team has reviewed.
In 2022, Royals owner John Sherman announced the team would leave Kauffman Stadium before its lease expires after the 2030 MLB season, with the goal of moving into a new stadium within Kansas City. Kauffman, the fifth-oldest venue in MLB, underwent a $250 million facelift between 2007 and 2009.
The team said it would commit at least $1 billion to buy and develop the land for and around a new venue, yet of that money, just $300 million would be earmarked for stadium construction.
The Chiefs, meanwhile, have renovated Arrowhead twice since 2007, with the last round of upgrades to the lower bowl seats, team locker rooms and video boards taking place in 2020. In February 2024, the team announced plans for yet another round of renovations in 2027, estimated to cost $1.15 billion, with the idea of increasing stadium capacity. The current lease for Arrowhead, the NFL’s third-oldest stadium, also expires in 2030.
The last renovations for both venues were funded by a 0.375% sales tax increase voted on by Jackson County residents in 2006. As part of the deal, every residential address in the county received vouchers for 50% off of two Royals tickets on select nights.
Valued at $1.36 billion, the Royals rank 28th in Sportico’s MLB franchise valuations, drawing $324 million in revenue in 2024, the last full season available. Only the Tampa Bay Rays and Miami Marlins rank lower. The Chiefs, who just came off their third consecutive trip to the Super Bowl in February, sit 18th among the 32 NFL teams at $5.43 billion. That valuation is a 20% increase from 2023.