A Missouri law firm is trying to get a pair of ballot initiatives on the November 2026 ballot to overturn the $1.5 billion in Kansas City Chiefs and Royals stadium money the state legislature approved in June, and instead direct the same amount of money to fund Medicaid in the wake of federal cuts. But we can’t even talk about that, or at least the Missouri news media can’t, because right now everyone is focused on Secretary of State Denny Hoskins’ summary language for the ballot measures, which is uh:
“Shall Missouri law be amended to repeal the ‘Show-Me Sports Investment Act,’ which provides state bonds, appropriations, and tax credits for professional sports stadiums and related events, thereby likely causing the Kansas City Chiefs to move their stadium from Missouri to Kansas?”
Leading the Missouri Independent to add:
There is no mention of the Royals, an omission that sparked a flurry of questions — and criticism.
Excuse me, I have other questions! Like why is the secretary of state editorializing in ballot initiative language about how the Chiefs need subsidies or they’ll move to Kansas, when 1) it’s not at all clear that team owner Clark Hunt is serious about a move or just using it as leverage and 2) Hoskins didn’t also warn of, say, the likely consequences of a “no” vote on Medicaid funding levels. (I’ll skip asking about why it says the Chiefs would “move their stadium” like they would back a truck up to it and tow it across the border.) Seriously, dude, what’s your deal?
When asked by The Star why the question mentioned the Chiefs and not the Royals, Hoskins’ spokesperson Rachael Dunn said the language focused on the “clearest, most immediate potential consequence based on information available at the time of review” and was not based on any internal knowledge of either teams’ plans.
So the Chiefs moving to Kansas is “clear” but not based on any “internal knowledge,” meaning Hoskins got it from watching TV, probably? It’s just how policy is made these days.
Hoskins’ office also said that the initial draft summary is just the “first bite at the apple,” with advocates able to take Hoskins to court if they disagree with the language — something that Brad Ketcher, the lawyer who is working on the ballot measures, said is tantamount to intentionally writing a crap summary to force proponents to waste time in court: “Hoskins is all but admitting that he drafted flawed language with an eye toward slowing the measure.”
Slowing the measure could end up a key factor, as there is also the question of whether the Chiefs and/or Royals will finalize their stadium funding before the ballot measure can be voted on: Don’t forget that the St. Louis Cardinals previously got public stadium money despite local referenda barring sports subsidies, because courts ruled the money had already been allocated by the time voters voted. But, sure, let’s debate whether the ballot language should also warn that the Royals will move to Greensboro, that’s an excellent use of everyone’s time.
The Missouri SOS office has a long history of trying to run out the clock when the politicians don’t want something voted on. But I do question how this group would ever get the signatures needed to get this on the ballot. It usually requires several hundred thousand dollars to collect enough signatures.
There will never be a new venue in Kansas or Missouri for the Chiefs, this team will be headed back to Texas as the San Antonio Chiefs, its already in the works. The Swifties love Texas!