Jacob Sloan
Jul 9, 2024
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Meeting with officials at the city and county level, Governor Mike Parson joined the fight to keep the Chiefs and Royals in Missouri.
“All the meetings went very well,” Parson said. “I think we just need to have a plan in place to move forward and I think there’s a real opportunity to do that.”
That plan, if the governor would have it his way, would see the funding for the teams split up, with voters potentially having to approve two different sales tax measures.
“They’re two different entities and two different ventures we’re going to be talking about,” Parson said.
Jackson County legislator Sean Smith agrees.
“Splitting it makes sense. It really depends on what the macro-financial arrangements are and who is going to kick in what,” Smith said.
That’s the lingering question on the mind of Jackson County Executive Frank White. In a statement Monday, he said that “maintaining the current financial arrangement is not in the best interest of Jackson County and its residents.”
He included financial information from the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, who estimated that the state of Missouri generated nearly $35 million in tax revenue from the stadiums, while only contributing $3 million to support Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums.
Kansas City contributes roughly $2 million and generates more than $18 million in tax revenue.
Meanwhile, the county provides $50 million in funding, while only taking home $2.6 million in revenue.
“Before I can support any new proposal, it must offer clear and significant benefits to the taxpayers of Jackson County,” White said. “Additionally, the financial burden of supporting these teams must be equitably shared among all parties.”
Parson says that splitting the teams’ funding, after Kansas made their initial bid to lure the teams, will help to bring White on board.
“I think things have changed since then. You know, we were trying to do the initial one with both of them together,” he said. “Now you’ve got to split them apart. So now let’s see if there’s a plan in place that’s good for the citizens of Jackson County and get Frank on board. If we get him on board.”
Parson said he would like to see the Chiefs stay at the Truman Sports Complex, while he thinks the Royals need to pick a site for a new stadium so they can move forward. Both would end up being huge developments.
“This is much bigger than just the stadiums, what we’re talking about. We’re talking about the venues around it. This is a business type atmosphere, and we want to know what they’re going to build around that,” Parson said. “If you look around the NFL or the major leagues, you’re seeing everybody go into that model. There’s much more than just the stadium itself. And I and I think you’ll see that here in Kansas City in the end.”
Parson met with Clay County leaders earlier in the day. But what about the Royals previous plan to move into the Crossroads?
While the meetings may have drawn Clay County into the mix again, according to Smith, the Crossroads site is still on the table.
“If I take John Sherman at his word, he said he needs downtown baseball to have a financially viable franchise,” Smith said. “There’s only one downtown in our metro area, and that’s Kansas City, Missouri.”