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Now that the Chiefs are moving from their longtime home in Missouri to a $3 billion domed stadium across the state line kansasThe area has drawn attention to royal familyWho have to take similar decisions regarding their future.
One thing is certain: They will not play at Kauffman Stadium after their lease expires in January 2031.
Royals owner John Sherman has long said his priority is to build a downtown ballpark, but those plans have been stymied by politics and community backlash at nearly every turn. Last year, voters jackson countyMissouri narrowly defeated an extension of the existing sales tax, which pays for maintenance of Kauffman Stadium and would have helped fund the new ballpark.
The question now is whether the Royals will continue their pursuit of downtown baseball, building a new stadium elsewhere on the Missouri side of the state divide, or follow the Chiefs in moving their new home to the Kansas side of the border.
“The Royals are also a great legacy team that we would love to keep in Missouri. We will make every effort to continue those conversations,” said Gov. Mike Kehoe, who reacted with disdain on Monday to the news that the Chiefs had accepted a bond package approved by Kansas lawmakers that would cover 60% of the project totaling more than $4 billion.
The Chiefs also plan to build a $300 million training city in the Kansas City-metro suburb of Olathe, Kansas.
“If I’m the Royals,” Kehoe said, “I’m in the driver’s seat now. I’m the team.”
In their bid to keep the Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium, Missouri lawmakers authorized bonds during a special legislative session in June that would cover up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums, as well as tax credits of up to $50 million.
This is the financing package that can still be used by the Royals to build their ballpark.
But a bond package put forward by Kansas lawmakers, which would not tax residents but would instead be paid for by state sales and liquor taxes generated in a defined area around the project, offers the ability to cover up to 70% of the total cost.
In the Chiefs’ case, the term sheet signed by owner Clark Hunt and Lieutenant Governor David Toland calls for building a stadium with at least 65,000 seats by August 1, 2031, and for the Chiefs to remain there for at least 30 years, with an option to stay for another 30 years.
Along with the $3 billion stadium, the Chiefs committed to at least $1 billion in “ancillary development”, including a headquarters and training facility in Olathe and at least $700 million worth of retail, entertainment and other commercial space.
The agreement allows $100 million of that space to be built outside the two counties that comprise most of the Kansas side of the metro.
The state agreed to issue a little more than $2.4 billion in bonds to cover about 60% of the cost, although if additional development exceeds $1 billion, it would cover 70%. This makes it the largest public subsidy ever for a U.S. stadium project.
“Missouri has put together a very competitive package,” Kehoe said of the state’s efforts to keep the Chiefs in Arrowhead Stadium, “Kansas is going to take advantage of…Kansas taxpayer revenue to make this deal happen. I can’t see where, as a business person, the numbers would apply to this, where it would be a good deal for Missourians.”
The royals have considered several sites around the city kansas cityBut everyone has problems, whether it’s traffic flow, community support or something else. He has also in the past provided renderings of a stadium and ballpark district that will be built missouri river In Clay County, which is technically north of Kansas City, Missouri.
But it appears there have been recent moves toward the suburb of Overland Park, Kansas, and a tract of land known as Aspiria Campus, where an affiliate of the Royals already has a mortgage. The property, which was once home to Sprint and is still the headquarters of T-Mobile and several other companies, is located just off Interstate 435 in the southern part of the metro.
Those plans faced opposition from residents of the affluent neighboring suburb of Leawood, Kansas.
John Mosley, a 65-year-old fan from Kansas City, Missouri, said Monday that he had been hearing people for years talking about using a bond package to lure the Kansas Chiefs — and perhaps, even the Royals — to him.
He said, “For me personally, it doesn’t matter. But I see most things going to Kansas.” “I’m not sure what’s going on in Missouri. I think it’s a money issue. Maybe things are a lot better in Kansas. It seems like everything is going on.”
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Associated Press writers John Hanna, David Lieb and Heather Hollingsworth contributed.
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AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl