We already saw Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt use the “explore all our options” line after April’s defeat of a sales-tax hike to fund stadium upgrades, hinting about moving the team if he doesn’t get what he wants in the K.C. area, and now it’s Royals owner John Sherman’s turn:
In a statement made Saturday, the Royals said for the first time that STAR bonds are on the table for them. They also reiterated that they started “evaluating all options,” after the stadium sales tax extension failed just over two months ago, and have said so all along.
“As we’ve said since April 2, we must evaluate all options that may be available to us with respect to a new stadium. The Royals need a place to play baseball in the near future and the recent STAR bond discussions in Kansas provide a path for us to explore.”
I mean, I guess it’s the first time Royals management has said that STAR bonds — aka sales tax increment financing, aka kicking back sales taxes from in and around a stadium to pay off construction costs — are an option for a Kansas stadium. But the Kansas legislature was already considering STAR bond legislation for new stadiums for both teams back in April, before deciding not to pursue it (for the moment at least), and also the numbers show sales tax kickbacks almost certainly wouldn’t be enough to pay for new stadiums for both teams, so more money would be needed from somewhere else as well.
Regardless, the owners of the two teams seem to be trying to set up a bidding war between officials of the two states:
State officials have even gotten involved in the struggle, with Governor Mike Parson saying he will “do everything we can” to keep the Chiefs and Royals in Missouri. On the Kansas side, Rep. Sean Tarwater thinks Kansas and its STAR bonds will “be better than anything Missouri can offer.”
This makes total sense for the team owners, as it’s the only real leverage they have without trying to threaten to move to Greensboro or San Antonio or wherever: Get two local jurisdictions fighting over bragging rights for who gets to host the team. (We already saw Sherman try this with Jackson and Clay counties in Missouri.) Unfortunately, given the dollar amounts at stake, these would be awfully expensive bragging rights — there’s no possible way either state could ever come close to earning back the hundreds of millions of dollars Hunt and Sherman will be demanding, solely from the benefit of having sports fans spending money on their side of the border. In this case, even the largely mythical benefit of having your city’s name mentioned on the telly doesn’t apply, because it would still be the same city name, even if not the same city, thanks to there being two Kansas Cities because historical reasons.
As of now, the state of Kansas STAR bonds remains in limbo, with top legislative leaders supporting them while Gov. Laura Kelly seems less enthused. (Kansas has a Republican-controlled legislature and a Democratic governor.) The legislature is set to start a special session on June 18 to focus on tax cuts for Kansas residents, and I guess this would sort of qualify, except that Sherman lives part-time in Missouri and part-time in Florida, and Hunt lives in Texas, but “tax cuts for state residents and for very rich people who live somewhere else but really want them” would be a little wordy for the press release. Anyway, stay tuned.
If the state of Kansas ends up paying taxes for one or both of the Kansas City teams, I bet they try and get them to drop the word City. The Kansas Chiefs, or the Kansas Royals. But that’s a decision that’s hundreds of miles down the road.
Kansas City, Missouri
Kansas City, Kansas
Same difference
Who cares?
Ooooo, we spent a billion of your tax dollars to get those teams to move one mile over the border into Kansas. The Wizard of Oz would be impressed that Kansas has made the big leagues. However, to most people Kansas would still be 84,000 square miles of pancake flat wasteland with a billion dollar gold plated stadium in one corner. Dorothy’s “I don’t think I’m in Kansas anymore” would take on a new twist. Imagine, Johnson County fans could drive 15 miles to Kansas City, Kansas instead of 15 miles to Independence, Missouri! Priceless!
I would assume Kansas lawmakers would want the Royals stadium out near the soccer stadium and race track, but that would be a pretty tough park to fill regularly. You’re displacing the fans nearly 30 miles west of where Kauffman is now. So like their dealings with Clay county- the royals will push for something along the river, close to downtown. That area is pretty industrial, not much land available, and would be a tough sell if Kansas politicians ever have to answer to voters about it.
I would assume Kansas lawmakers, if they want anything, want only the Chiefs and are happy to let the Royals stay in Missouri. Further, because NFL teams have only 8 or 9 home games plus playoffs, fans don’t mind traveling an hour or more to get to the stadium, so the NFL doesn’t need to be downtown or close-in, whereas an MLB team really should be.
Coincidentally, the Kansas Jayhawks are having their own “ballpark village” being built on campus in Lawrence, so KU has to play its entire 2024 home football schedule in the Kansas City metro. The Jayhawks have two non-league home games at the MLS ground and four Big 12 Conference games at the NFL stadium.
The publicity benefit to Missouri from hosting Kansas Jayhawks games in their Kansas City must be incalculable.
KU is a “home” team for Kansas City news stations, so there’s no publicity benefit.
For those who ask, the KU games at the Chiefs’ stadium are vs. TCU, Houston, Iowa State, and Colorado. CU is the only brand-name team of the bunch.
Yes, that was the joke.
Why don’t the Chiefs just raise the price — immediately — and build a fund to build their stadium wherever? Why go through a state middleman?
Raise the price of what? The whole point of STAR bonds is to kick back money from *existing* sales taxes on a project, not to levy a surcharge.