Missouri could soon pay for up to half of a new stadium for the Kansas City Royals and renovations on Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs — but only if legislators take action during a special session that starts today.
Gov. Mike Kehoe called the special session to discuss disaster recovery, major capital improvements and possible funding for the Chiefs and Royals. Lawmakers have 60 days to complete their work during the session.
Under Kehoe’s plan, Missouri would pay up to half the cost of a new Royals stadium and a refurbished Arrowhead for the Chiefs. The money would cover annual bond payments for the projects up to the amount the teams generated in state tax revenue the year before applying for the incentives.
The plan will also require local contributions, which Mayor Quinton Lucas said Kansas City is prepared to offer. But he said the process has reignited the economic border war with Kansas, which risks harming taxpayers.
“We're going to be responsible with it (Kansas City’s offer), we can't give up the farm and undermine public safety and public infrastructure and everything under the sun,” Lucas said. “We love having the Royals in Kansas City. We want them to stay, but we're not getting into an incentive race to the bottom.”
There are some obstacles for lawmakers to overcome if they want to approve a stadium funding proposal.
Passing Kehoe’s stadium funding bill may be hard to do because of bitterness in the Senate that prevented it from passing in the first place.
Republicans will need help from Democrats to pass the spending package. But Democrats aren’t keen to help after Republicans, during the regular session that ended in May, used a little-known rule called a “previous question” to end Democratic filibusters on measures that would repeal voter-approved abortion and paid sick leave initiatives.
Democratic Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern — who represents part of the Northland, including one of the possible stadium locations for the Royals — said she and other senators are entering the special session with “hard feelings.”
“We were just one vote away from passing that legislation the last week of session,” Nurrenbern said. “The Republican majority instead thought it was more important to undo the will of the people when it came to removing earned sick leave from folks who had earned that under Proposition A, as well as bringing the abortion ban back to Missouri.”
Bipartisan resistance to the stadium package also has been growing.
The Senate Freedom Caucus is threatening gridlock unless the special session agenda includes tax cuts and changes to the state’s initiative petition process. And some Democrats are mad the state will consider far more money for stadiums than for disaster relief in St. Louis, which was hit by an EF-3 tornado on May 16.
Missouri’s stadium proposal could change during the special session. The Senate will meet first to consider the plan before the House.
Nurrenbern said she supports the plan because the teams get back what they give to the state.
But she said she wouldn’t support the funding plan if Kehoe’s call for the special session didn’t include funding for disaster relief in St. Louis or funding for projects across the state.
“If these teams leave altogether, we don't have any of that tax revenue,” Nurrenbern said. “I certainly do not want to be a member of the General Assembly who failed to act in a meaningful way to keep these teams here for generations to come.”
Most of the Kansas City-area legislators want to ensure the Royals and Chiefs stay in Missouri, and many of them supported Kehoe’s plan when it went through the General Assembly the first time.
Democratic state Rep. Eric Woods, who represents parts of the Northland including North Kansas City, said he hopes the Legislature passes the stadium funding bill because of the “outsized impact” it has on the region.
“Ultimately, though, we will not know what it looks like until the session starts on Monday,” Woods said. “We'll all be watching that very anxiously because there's a lot of really important stuff at stake here.”
Democratic state Rep. Wick Thomas represents parts of the Westside and the Historic Northeast. In April 2024, their district overwhelmingly voted against renewing a 3/8th-cent sales tax to support the Royals and Chiefs stadiums. Thomas said they won’t support the proposal before getting feedback from their district.
“I think Kansas Citians, and Missourians in general, are just really tired of writing blank checks to billionaires when we're struggling to afford rent, health care and groceries,” Thomas said. “It's hard for people to conceptualize handing this much money over.”
The special session could be the last chance for Missouri to keep the teams in the state. Kansas has already approved STAR bonds that would pay for 70% of the stadium costs for the Chiefs and Royals.
The Royals also invested in the old Sprint campus in Overland Park, but have so far not committed to any site. In a statement, the Royals said they were continuing to “explore all options.”
“As part of our ongoing efforts, we have negotiated with or made investments in multiple potential sites — both in Missouri and in Kansas,” the statement said. “We remain committed to finding a generational home for the Kansas City Royals that our fans, our team, our partners and associates, and our regional community can enjoy for decades to come.”
The STAR bond package expires June 30, and the Missouri General Assembly could have a decision on its own inventive plan by that time.
Lucas said it would be a mistake if the Royals and Chiefs left Missouri. After more than two years of questioning what the teams will do with their stadiums, Lucas said it’s time for them to make a decision.
“If there's anything I've learned from this process, it is long, it is winding, and it seems as if doors never closed,” Lucas said. “Kansas City will put its offer out there, but I'm also going to do the normal work as mayor and not just talk about stadiums all the time for the remaining 2.5 years I have in the job.”
