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- Missouri's Kansas City Chiefs are pushing for a move across state lines.
- The NFL team wants Kansas to approve a tax incentive that would fund a brand-new stadium in the state.
- Proponents argue that if Missouri or Kansas doesn't act, the team could leave the region altogether.
The Kansas City Chiefs may be on the move.
Kansas lawmakers are gathering this week for a special legislative session and could vote on a bill that would give millions in tax incentives to expand the state's tourism and entertainment industries.
All eyes are now on the bill, which, if passed, could help the reigning Super Bowl champions (as well as the MLB's Kansas City Royals) move from Missouri's Kansas City to Kansas'.
At a hearing on Monday ahead of the formal start of the session, representatives for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Royals asked Kansas lawmakers to pass the bill, the Missouri Independent reported.
That legislation would give the teams hundreds of millions of dollars to help fund building new stadiums in Kansas.
"If we want to be major league, we've got to have major-league teams," Korb Maxwell, an attorney who represents the Chiefs, told lawmakers on Monday, according to the Missouri Independent. "This is the greatest opportunity we've had in any generation, and it's here before us right now."
The proposed legislation would strengthen the state's Sales Tax and Revenue Bonds program and let Kansas provide bonds that would pay for up to 70% of the cost of building brand-new stadiums for one or both of the sports teams, The Kansas City Star reported.
Under the bill, the teams would be required to spend at least $1 billion on the new stadiums and training facilities, the Missouri Independent reported.
The state would pay off the bond given to the teams over 30 years using sports-gambling and lottery money, The Kansas City Star said.
Meanwhile, Missouri legislators are fighting to keep the Chiefs for themselves. Officials in Jackson County, Missouri, on Monday proposed a resolution for a countywide sales tax, the local Kansas City, Missouri, outlet KSHB reported. Depending on how much the tax is — the current options are each just a fraction of a cent — it would either pay for capital improvements to the Chiefs' existing stadium or building a brand-new stadium in Missouri, according to the outlet.
The Chiefs' current home at the 50-year-old Arrowhead Stadium is in need of some improvement since it was last renovated in 2010.
The team's president, Mark Donovan, said last summer the team was looking into three options: renovating the existing stadium, building a new one on-site, or moving to a new location entirely, Sports Illustrated reported.
And in 2022, Donovan even floated the idea of moving from Missouri to Kansas, according to the outlet.
Proponents of the move argue that if something isn't done to keep the Chiefs and the Royals local to either Kansas City, the teams could choose to leave the Kansas-Missouri region altogether — a development that could devastate local Taylor Swift fans.
Representatives for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Correction June 18, 2024: A previous version of this story inaccurately described the two Kansas Citys. While both are part of the Kansas City metropolitan area, Kansas City, Missouri, and Kansas City, Kansas, are separate cities.