As the battle over where the Chiefs and Royals will play slogs on, the cost of new or renovated stadiums remains a point of contention — as does the benefit to local governments and businesses. But there’s one absolute number: $68,759,820.
That is how much tax revenue the two teams generate at the Truman Sports Complex, according to the 2024 Jackson County Sports Complex Authority’s report. That number includes withholding tax collected by Missouri, the zoological tax collected by Kansas City, and other revenues.
Kansas, Missouri, and counties within the two states are competing for that revenue. Kansas City could lose $6.6 million in earnings taxes if both teams leave. Anyone who works in Kansas City — even if it is just one Sunday a year — pays the 1% earnings tax.
“It goes to the general fund of Kansas City,” Mayor Quinton Lucas said. “That's the sort of money that's paying for police officers, is paying for firefighters and paying for regular salaries right now.”
If both teams decamp for Kansas or even North Kansas City, the city could also lose $13 million in sales tax and $2.1 million in Health Department fees. Even the Kansas City Zoo would lose $126,336. (The Sports Authority said it could not break down the tax revenue report by team.)
Jackson County stands to lose $5.9 million if both the Chiefs and Royals leave. More than 90% of that is sales tax revenue, according to the report. Losing that sales tax would directly impact health and safety.
“Sales tax goes to COMBAT (the county’s anti-crime program) and mental health services,” DaRon McGee, Jackson County Legislature chair, told KCUR.
@kcur893 Which state will the Kansas City @Chiefs and @Kansas City Royals ♬ original sound - KCUR - Kansas City
The teams also drive sales tax collection outside the stadiums. When the Chiefs are in town, hotels sell out, he said.
Many studies say paying for stadiums does little to enhance the local economy, and the price tag is high.
“Large subsidies commonly devoted to constructing professional sports venues are not justified as worthwhile public investments,” a 2022 Kennesaw State University study concluded.
Other studies suggest that the pool of entertainment dollars doesn’t grow with a new stadium or a new location for a team, it just shifts around.
But taxes are different. When sales or withholding tax leaves a state or city, it creates new revenue somewhere. If both teams leave Missouri, the state would be out a total of $40.2 million. About half of that would be in withholding tax, according to the sports authority. That is less than 1% of the total state budget of $50.8 billion.
That money would make a bigger impact in Kansas, where the budget is half as big.
“That’s huge,” said state Rep. Brandon Woodard, the House Minority Leader from Lenexa.
He anticipates more tax generation from all kinds of events, like a Taylor Swift concert. “I'm not talking about economic activity. I'm talking about taxes generated for the state,” he said.
The incentives
Wherever the teams end up when their leases expire with the sports authority in 2031, they will get government subsidies.
Kansas has offered up to a billion dollars in STAR bonds — Sales Tax and Revenue bonds — to lure the teams. The deal would pay up to 70% of construction costs. STAR bonds are paid off using the additional taxes the property produces. Kansas just extended the deadline for the teams to decide.
“All of this is a huge investment and it's a huge gamble. But if they don't choose Kansas, we're not out anything,” Woodard insists. He also said STAR bonds don’t take anything away from spending on education, roads or health.
But all the negotiations are secret.
“We just don’t know. We don’t know what else the teams are asking for,” said Patrick Tuohey, Senior Fellow at the Show-Me Institute, a right-of-center fiscal think tank. “Until we see term sheets, it’s all shadow boxing,” he said.
Missouri lawmakers this year approved the Show-Me Sports Investment Act. It would float bonds to pay for half of stadiums that cost $500 million or more. The bill is estimated to cost $1.5 billion over the 30-year life of the bonds. It would also mandate local tax breaks.
Tuohey thinks even less of that plan. “Missouri loses no matter what,” he told KCUR.
The teams now have Missouri and Kansas fighting each other.
“The teams want every dollar they can get,” Tuohey said, but elected officials in both states want something different. “The other side wants to attend a ribbon cutting.”
Both Lucas and McGee are optimistic that the teams will stay in Kansas City. Lucas continues to push for a downtown baseball park.
“The Royals make another World Series run, everything’s full in Kansas City anyway,” he said.
But even if they don’t, fans come to Royals games.
“Even on a year of bad attendance, an extra 15,000 people a night come into downtown Kansas City. And what that impact is, is largely why we're still in that discussion,” Lucas said.
McGee said the Royals and Chiefs are “Jackson County assets,” and tax receipts are only part of the return on investment. “Without these teams, we’re Omaha,” he said.
