Owners Of Chiefs & Royals Mull Leaving Kansas City After Fans Reject Sales Tax

Kansas City professional sports was thrown into jeopardy last Tuesday when fans from Jackson County voted down a sales tax measure that would have funded the construction of a new ballpark for the Royals and led to long-awaited renovations to Arrowhead Stadium.

Over 58% of voters rejected the plan, which would have replaced an existing three-eights of a cent sales tax that has been paying for Truman Sports Complex – the over-50-year home of Kaufmann and Arrowhead Stadium, the homes of the Kansas City Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs. The new, higher tax would have been in place for at least the next 40 years.

The Royals had planned to use the new sales tax funds to fund a $2 billion-plus ballpark district, with $1 billion from ownership contributing to the project.

The back-to-back Super Bowl champion Chiefs had planned to dedicate $800 million of the new revenue to a complete overhaul of Arrowhead Stadium, including renovations to the seats, locker rooms, facilities, technology and more.

Both teams are expected to relocate to new stadiums in new cities.

“We’re deeply disappointed as we are steadfast in our belief that Jackson County is better with the Chiefs and the Royals,” said Royals owner John Sherman, who left a press conference 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.”

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

“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 Chiefs could propose a reworked plan to voters to stay in Kansas City, but this would mean that they change their entire funding approach to include more private investment or public funding from surrounding cities and states.

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.

While the Super Bowl-winning Chiefs wanted to stay put and renovate, the not-so-successful Royals, who haven’t had a winning season since they won the World Series in 2015, are insistent on building a new ballpark.

Both teams’ ownership is now facing significant financial and management decisions regarding the future of their fanbase and playing environment. Arrowhead has been one of the most iconic stadiums in the country to play football in its 52-year history, and Royals fans need a fresh start. It’s up to management to see if a new plan to stay in Kansas City can be reworked or if a new fanbase will be created in another city.