Kansas governor signs bills enabling effort to entice Chiefs and Royals with new stadiums
Kansas' governor has signed legislation enabling the state to lure the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Major League Baseball’s Royals away from neighboring Missouri
TOPEKA, Kan. — Kansas' governor signed legislation Friday enabling the state to lure the Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs and Major League Baseball's Royals away from neighboring Missouri by helping the teams pay for new stadiums.
Gov. Laura Kelly's action came three days after the Republican-led Legislature approved the measure with bipartisan supermajorities — an unusually quick turnaround that signals how urgently Kansas officials consider making the offers.
Missouri officials have argued that discussions about building new stadiums are still in the early stages. They said construction of a new one typically takes about three years, and pointed out that the lease on the existing complex that includes the teams' side-by-side stadiums doesn't end until January 2031.
The measure Kelly signed takes effect July 1 and will allow bonds to cover 70% of a new stadium's cost. The state would have 30 years to pay them off with revenues from sports betting, state lottery ticket sales, and new sales and alcohol taxes generated in the area around each proposed stadium.
The Kansas-Missouri border splits the 2.3 million-resident Kansas City area, with about 60% of the people living on the Missouri side.
Kansas officials began working on the legislation after voters on the Missouri side of the metropolitan area refused in April to continue a sales tax used to keep up the existing stadium complex. The Royals outlined a plan in February to build a $2 billion-plus ballpark in downtown Kansas City, Missouri, while the Chiefs were planning an $800 million
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