Future of Chiefs, Royals in KC could be voted on Tuesday to help with stadium funding

Kansas City, MO. (AP) – The future of the Royals and Chiefs in Kansas City could take shape Tuesday when voters in Jackson County, Missouri decide on an extension of a sales tax to help pay for a new downtown ballpark and the Chiefs. Arrowhead Stadium Renovation.

In what is expected to be a close ballot measure, voters are being asked whether to essentially replace the existing 3/8-cent sales tax that is used to pay for the maintenance of the Truman Sports Complex – Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums. Used to be. Over 50 years – with a new 3/8-percent tax that will apply for the next 40 years.

The Royals, who have pledged at least $1 billion from ownership to their project, will use their share of the tax revenue to finance a more than $2 billion ballpark district, while the Super Bowl-champion Chiefs—who have pledged their $300 million Contributed own money – Arrowhead will use its share as part of an $800 million overhaul of the stadium.

“For more than 50 years, we have been in partnership with the Kansas City Chiefs and Jackson County. It has been an effective and forward-looking partnership,” said John Sherman, a Kansas City businessman who purchased the Royals from the late David Glass five years ago. “We are the second-smallest city with both an NFL franchise and a Major League Baseball club, and we want to maintain ourselves as a major league city. “We want to ensure that these franchises continue to thrive here for the next 50 years.”

As part of the new lease terms, the franchises have pledged $260 million, or approximately $3.5 million annually, that a committee appointed by the county and the teams can help direct toward social and economic causes in the community.

Neither franchise has said what they will do if the tax fails, only that they will explore alternatives. The current lease at the Truman Sports Complex is through January 31, 2031, and teams can extend their term with two five-year terms.

The tax extension – or, more accurately, the stadium plan – has faced significant public opposition.

Last fall, the Royals unveiled two locations for their ballpark district, one on the eastern edge of the city and the other across the Missouri River in Clay County, Missouri. However, both received a lukewarm response from fans and the Royals kept pushing the self-imposed deadline to finalize the location.

In February, the Royals finally announced that they had scrapped both of those concepts and wanted to move to the downtown area known as the Crossroads, just blocks from the T-Mobile Center and the Power & Light District.

Royals executive vice president Sarah Tourville said the goal is to have the new stadium ready for opening day in 2028.

But questions remain, even as voters went to the polls on Tuesday.

The latest ballpark renderings were rendered obsolete just last week when the Royals granted Mayor Quinton Lucas’ request that a major road that will be part of the stadium’s footprint remain open. The Royals have not stated how they will fit the ballpark’s dimensions into a narrow section of land, only that Oak Street will be unobstructed.

Lucas did not support the tax initiative until late last week after the Royals agreed to the change.

The club has not been able to reach sale agreements with several of the Crossroads owners whose land would be needed for the construction of the ballpark district, and other businesses in the vibrant arts and restaurant scene have come out against the plans, expressing concerns about traffic, congestion and parking. Have taken steps. In an already affluent neighborhood.

“There will be a lot of discussion with the city and neighborhoods after April 2,” Sherman said. He said he believed “many of their businesses will boom” when the stadium brings thousands of fans to the city at least 81 times a year.

The Royals began play at Municipal Stadium in 1969, then moved to Kauffman Stadium in 1973 and extensively renovated the ballpark from 2009–12. Arrowhead Stadium was built along with Kauffman Stadium and was also renovated at that time.

While the Royals intend to relocate from Kauffman Stadium, the Chiefs are expected to remain with a renovation that will touch every aspect of their 52-year-old building, from the seating bowl to the luxury amenities to the tailgating scene.

There will be a new parking deck to provide better access points to players, VIPs and other special guests. New pedestrian bridges will get fans from the parking lot to the stadium. There will be new ribbon boards, the video boards at each end will triple and quadruple in size, and existing suites around the stadium will be renovated.

Chiefs president Clark Hunt, whose father Lamar Hunt helped build the existing stadiums, said, “We would not be willing to sign a lease for the next 25 years without funding a proper renovation and reimagining of the stadium.” “So the financing puzzle is very important for us to make sure we have enough money to do everything we’ve outlined.”

The Chiefs hope their recent success, including three Super Bowl titles in the last five years, will help sway voters.

“The thing my father loved about the stadium was the connection the team had with our fans,” Hunt said. “They loved this building because of 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 NFL fans.”

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