https://www.ksdk.com/article/sports/baseball/voters-reject-stadium-tax-royals-chiefs/63-bd96219e-5baa-4d5a-a6b4-4c7a7323768e



The future of the Royals and Chiefs in Kansas City was thrown into question Tuesday night when residents of Jackson County, Missouri, resoundingly voted down a sales tax measure that would have helped to fund a new downtown ballpark along with major renovations to Arrowhead Stadium.

Royals owner John Sherman and Chiefs president Mark Donovan acknowledged long before the final tally that the initiative would fail. More than 58% of voters ultimately rejected the plan, which would have replaced an existing three-eighths of a cent sales tax that has been paying for the upkeep of Truman Sports Complex — the home for more than 50 years to Kauffman and Arrowhead Stadiums — with a similar tax that would have been in place for the next 40 years.

The Royals, who had pledged at least $1 billion from ownership for their project, wanted to use their share of the tax revenue to help fund a $2 billion-plus ballpark district. The Super Bowl champion Chiefs, who had committed $300 million in private money, would have used their share as part of an $800 million overhaul of Arrowhead Stadium.

“We’re deeply disappointed as we are steadfast in our belief that Jackson County is better with the Chiefs and the Royals,” said Sherman, who left without taking questions. “As someone whose roots run deep in this town, who has been a dedicated fan and season-ticket holder for both of these teams, and now leading a remarkable ownership group.”

Donovan said the Chiefs would do “what is in the best interest of our fans and our organization as we move forward.”

That could mean many things: The Chiefs could try again with a reworked plan more agreeable to voters, change their entire funding approach to include more private investment, or they could even listen to offers from competing cities and states — such as Kansas, just across the state line to the west — that would provide the public funding they desire.

“We’ve been talking a lot about the democratic process. We respect the process,” Donovan said. “We feel we put forth the best offer for Jackson County. We’re ready to extend the longstanding partnership the teams have enjoyed with this county.”

The current lease lease at Truman Sports Complex lasts through Jan. 31, 2031. And while Sherman has said the Royals would not play at Kauffman Stadium beyond the 2030 season, the Chiefs are hopeful of remaining at Arrowhead Stadium.

The tax — or, more accurately, the stadium plans — received significant public pushback almost from the start, when the teams struggled to put concrete plans before voters and were accused of lacking transparency throughout the process.

Last fall, the Royals unveiled two potential locations for their ballpark district, one on the eastern edge of downtown and the other across the Missouri River in Clay County, Missouri. But a self-imposed deadline to finalize their location lapsed without a plan, and in February, they finally announced they had scrapped both concepts and chosen a different downtown spot.

The new area, known as the Crossroads, has a vibrant arts and restaurant scene, and it is just blocks away from the T-Mobile Center and the bustling Power & Light entertainment district. It also is close to the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts and the 18th & Vine district, which is home to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

But even then, plans remained vague. The latest ballpark renderings were made obsolete just last week when the Royals acquiesced to Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas’ request that a major street that would have been part of the stadium footprint remain open; Lucas did not endorse the tax initiative until the Royals agreed to the change.

“I think everyone has the same mixed feelings,” said Deidre Chasteen, a voter from Independence, Missouri, who remembers attending games downtown at old Municipal Stadium when the Royals played there from 1969-72.

“It’s not that we mind paying the three-eighths-cent sales tax. I think the problem is putting the stadium where it is,” Chasteen said. “We’re saying don’t ruin businesses that have been established down there for years.”

The club also had not reached sales agreements with many landowners in the Crossroads, and other businesses had expressed concerns about traffic, congestion and parking in an already thriving residential neighborhood.

Sarah Tourville, the Royals’ executive vice president, said the goal was to move into the stadium for opening day in 2028.

The Royals moved from Municipal Stadium to Kauffman Stadium in 1973 and extensively renovated the ballpark from 2009-12. Arrowhead Stadium was built alongside Kauffman Stadium and also was renovated around the same time.

While the Royals insist on playing in a new ballpark, the Chiefs wanted to stay put with a renovation that would have touched every aspect of their 52-year-old building, from the seating bowl to luxury amenities to the tailgating scene.

“We would not be willing to sign a lease for another 25 years without the financing to properly renovate and reimagine the stadium,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt, whose father, Lamar Hunt, helped get the existing stadiums built, said before Tuesday’s vote. “The financing puzzle is very important to us to make sure we have enough funds to do everything we’ve outlined.”

The Chiefs had hoped their success, including three Super Bowl titles in the last five years, would sway voters in their favor.

“What my dad loved best about the stadium was the connection the team had with our fanbase,” Hunt said. “He loved this building for what it means to the fans, and we still believe it is one of the best stadiums in the National Football League and a bucket-list destination for fans across the NFL.”

Good. Fuck paying for that shit by the public.

Let the owners pay for the whole thing

It will get shoved down their throats anyway.

Politicians love box seats.

Can't beat the first two three posts.

Publicly-funded pro sports stadiums are a racket.  The taxpayers are essentially guaranteeing the profits of the wealthy owners.  Like Robin Hood, in reverse.

Happened in Pittsburgh, they threw in a new convention center too.

Sure, let’s waste billions building a new colosseum , maybe offer free bread, keep people distracted up until we’re actively feeding Christians to lions again, to distract from how bad things are getting all across our society.

Then again, the way things are going maybe we could start live streaming rehabilitation 2.0, much more interesting than ball games.

Yes we did. It was a surprise to me.
The politicians will keep trying to get it passed one way or another.
But for now they have been kicked to the curb

I live on Long Island and my shit bag governor is giving tax payer $$ to build the Bills new stadium....??

Get Taylor to pay for it.

Surprised Biden didn’t already offer 10 billion to build it.

If ball fans want it so bad they surely won’t mind paying 2x-3x more for tickets to pay for it. Which is who SHOULD pay for these things, owners, players, fans and local businesses, voluntarily paying, paying extra for tickets, paying to watch games on tv / streaming, taking pay cuts, donating money, etc. shouldn’t be a taxpayer problem, nor should it cost taxpayers extra money either.

Not in Jackson County but I would have voted no. Course, I’m also a guy that wants to defund public schools completely so there’s that.

Clark Hunt and his crew pass around their hats somewhere else, stick with what they’ve got, or build new stadiums themselves.

Sports brings lots of money to town. Unfortunately it’s not spread around to evenly. The mechanic shop down town doesn’t get much benefit or the beauty shop. But the entertainment district gets a good bump. And the fat cats.
I’m not against sports. But I think it needs to pay its “fair share”.

Let me guess they went to move to Las Vegas too

Exactly!  The state will be there soon to provide the money.

I remember the narrative that you can’t be a first class city without pro sports stadiums and teams.

Then to get fucked again with ticket and concession gouging.  Fuck those assholes, let them take out a loan.

They wanted to move the Royals stadium into the inner city, which would place all sorts of problems on people wanting to attend.

This is also a symptom of east vs west Jackson County, MO. This would shift other auxiliary revenue streams to downtown Kansas City, MO and away from the “good” cities found in east Jackson County.

Eastern Jackson County should move forward with splitting to create “Truman County” and take both stadiums away from the county as a result.

They have also removed Royals from public access TV viewing, who wants to pay for the stadiums and then have to pay for a streaming TV service to watch the game? Thats nuts.

To be fair, Jackson county is probably the poorest county in the metro.

Johnson County wouldn’t balk at a 3/8th cent sales tax to keep the stadiums in Jackson county.

I like a cold beer and a hot dog at a ball game as much as the next red blooded american but fuck paying for these stadiums. the billionaires that own these teams worth hundreds of millions to billions of dollars can fund it themselves or find their own damn financing.

Kansas city already taxes a 1% income tax on top of existing sales tax.  Maybe they should learn to budget.

Get investors to pay for it.  Plenty of them out there.   Pay the investors back with interest.  At least that's how it's supposed to work.

You’re 100% correct. Whole thing is a jobs program. Some of the high school football stadiums in Texas are astonishing in size, the lighting and scoreboard alone are insane in some of these places…..for high school. And yeah, I know about Texas and football but damn!

New stadiums are coming to KC, it’s just a matter of time. Crazy thing is that we can afford it. Purpose built stadiums for all manner of sports at every level. KC is building a women’s soccer arena on the riverfront right now. The entire NFL, MLB, and most (if not all) Div 1 & 2 college teams play in stadiums larger than the Roman Colosseum.

Yup.  This will happen.

“Vibrant arts district”. Lol.

Get shot in the face and carjacked district is more like it.

When they built the NRG stadium  for the Texans to play in, they wanted the surrounding counties to kick in.  Liberty county said no.  They said, look at the benefits you are going to get.  The county said what benefits?

Vegas will pay for it without asking voters.

PA has some hook McFook deal that allows the state, counties, cities to build whatever the fuck they want if they call it a convention center.

Penguins farm team in Wilkes-Barre arena got built that way. After it was voted down in a referendum.

Same judge jailed for “cash for kids” scandal  (Ciavarella) was involved. I’m sure he got cash for that too.

FPNI

But also this

Why is public money used for stadiums anyways?

Why does it seem teams need a new stadium every 30 years or so?

Oh... wait... we know the answer.

Fuck the teams and owners. If they want a new stadium, build it themselves like all other private buisnesses have to.

Good!!! Sadly they will push it even harder now and force the bill upon the unwilling masses.  Now the really shady shit will start because there are some folk that stand to make a ton of money off this deal.  Im sure the whole process will go about as well as that shit show airport.

Besides that.....  Putting it downtown (Crossroads) is grade-a fucking retarded anyway!  Anybody that has been to Power and Light knows that.  Where the hell is a parking lot big enough for all the cars that go to a Chiefs game?????????

I think Joe Robbie built Joe Robbie Stadium mainly from internal financing.

The juice isn't worth the squeeze.  

In 1996 Hillsborough County Florida (Tampa Bay Bucs) passed a half cent sales tax that was to provide for community upgrades and a new stadium for the Bucs.

Shortly after it was built, the team owners refused to pay the property taxes on the stadium, which resulted in the County taking ownership (and maintenance) of the stadium.  Other sports venues followed suit (the Yankee's spring training complex, and the Lightnings arena).  All owned by the county, the one local government with the deepest pockets.

The tax is supposed to sunset in 2026, but the local governments have been playing loose with the road funding and now they claim they need to renew it to help pay for the backlog in road maintenance.

The kicker is the county doesn't want to include schools in the new tax, so the school board has to float it's own tax to the voters in November.

'Bought time voters rejected a tax increase.

Especially for subsidizing multimillionaires.

Utah. SLC is drooling for sports teams. "We're a big city now!" seems to be position leaders are forcing. Of course, I've lived in the state all of 5 minutes.

While sports teams offer civic pride and a small economic impact, the financial hook is always on the taxpayer.

Seattle said "F the voters" back when they built Safeco Field, but at least it's a public stadium, not team-owned.

"In September 1995, King County voters defeated a ballot measure to secure public funding for a new baseball stadium."

"Safeco Field, which is publicly owned, cost $517 million to construct; the Mariners paid for $145 million of that, including $100 million in cost overruns. The rest was paid for with public funds."

So the M's were really on the hook for $45m for a $1B+ stadium (after interest). And they still haven't done s**t in the postseason. The stadium is 25 years old, it's time for a new one!

Our county commission is corrupt to the core!

Yep. I'm sure the National Felon League makes a shit ton of money. Pretty sure they can pay for their own stadium.

Good.  Taxpayers took up a bond to pay for SF Candlestick Park and are still paying for even after the Giants fled for the Peninsula where it's warmer and not as windy.  F*ck sportsball.  If they want a stadium, find a sandlot & the public shouldn't pay for that sh*t.  

Giants used to play in Kezar which was the stadium for Commerce High School (business oriented high school).  Both are gone.

This.

Team Owners can get a 2 billion construction loan and make payments like everyone else who builds large, expensive, buildings.

And the opportunity for graft, kickbacks and favors.
These projects can be feeding frenzies for the well-connected.

Taxpayers decided to not be suckers for a change.

Look at Dodger Stadium.  
Always "renovating". https://www.mlb.com/dodgers/ballpark/stadium-upgrades

privately financed probably the last one even if it was once public housing to 300 hispanic families.  They received promises of "dibs" on a new project but  .oh well pols said, .we're liars so sue us.



Subsidizing sports franchises is like subsidizing anything else (health care for fast food workers for instance).

Probably be refugee centers to house tens of thousands of illegals / homeless in the near future.

Ask the millionaires who play on the field to chip in.

Straight up theft from tax payers.


The Chiefs alone, have a team evaluation of 4.3 billion dollars. And they want hundreds of millions from tax payers… for what?

$14 beers, $200 tickets, etc etc.  

Yeah go fuck yourself.  Cleveland is trying to do the same thing with the browns.  Fuck off.

I'm a couple counties south of KC so the tax would only affect me if I went up to shop.  The taxes up in Jackson county are pretty ridiculous already.  I think restaurants are where they hit you the hardest.  In their mind if you're eating out you must be a tourist so they're going to tax the hell out of you.

What I see is the mayor fancies himself as a real estate developer/ businessman.  Last year KC hosted the NFL draft and I'd like to see the numbers on that boondoggle.  There were a very select few businesses that benefitted from that and the city spent a fortune putting it on.  I'd be amazed if they even broke even on that deal.  This downtown Royals stadium deal has been talked about for a decade.  20 years ago they could have done this but what were once empty buildings are now high end businesses catering to the people that now live downtown.  This is the market the royals are trying to tap into, the 20 somethings that rent apartments and will walk to a game, not make the 20 minute drive out to the current location.  And naturally they want the taxpayer to pay for it.

Im all for it. Don't toss out the idea of a new stadium out.  Since the team owners don't pay for it  tax all the sales that have something to do with the team. That way those who support the team can pay for it.  These teams need to stop the welfare.

30 years ago I can see using public money, but now with teams worth several billion dollars each, they can build their own.

This every 20 to 30 years threatening for a new stadium is BS.

Sort of what happened in Charlotte and helped to give the Democrats the keys to the city. Rs rammed it down taxpayers throats after it was voted down.