KC mini golf, axe-throwing businesses close amid lawsuit over unpaid rent
Two entertainment venues have closed amid a dispute with their landlord, Kansas City’s Power & Light District, over allegedly missing rent and other charges that the tenants described as “unreasonable” and breaching their contracts with the owners of the downtown district, according to two lawsuits.
Both the Sinkers Lounge mini golf spot and the Blade & Timber axe-throwing business — owned by Swell Spark — are accused of being late on rent payments by Kansas City Live Block 124 Retail LLC, tied to the Power & Light District and The Cordish Companies. The landlord filed the lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Western District of Missouri in January 2025 and is seeking millions of dollars in damages and unpaid rent from the two entertainment concepts that closed this month.
The two businesses had received their first notice from the landlord in April 2024 that they had missed rent payments. Sinkers owed $188,675.84 for rent and interest, and Blade & Timber owed $233,985.19 for rent, interest and bills, according to the lawsuit. The tenants were supposed to pay its overdue bills within five days after receiving a notice, but didn’t, according to the lawsuit.
On June 13, 2024, the businesses were then told they needed to cough up the entire amount of remaining rent under their 10-year leases in five days. Blade & Timber’s lease began in 2019 and Sinkers’ in 2020. Letters sent to Matt Baysinger, who also owns escape room Breakout KC under Swell Spark, said he owed more than $1.9 million for Sinkers and $2.9 million for Blade & Timber.
The defendants argued that the landlord actually violated the lease because of “unauthorized, incorrect, arbitrary and unreasonable charges disguised as rent,” according to arguments filed this year.
For example, they claimed that their businesses faced a 48% rent in a four-year period despite shrinking the space at Blade & Timber’s. The 420 square feet the axe-throwing business lost was absorbed by neighboring Sinkers, according to a deposition that took place in late 2025.
They also accused the landlord of improper charges for building operations, such as an alleged fee hike meant to cover increased building security that never came, and for utilities that the tenant claimed weren’t calculated correctly. The tenants estimated that they were overcharged by $50,000 to $100,000.
“It appears as though they are using every mechanism possible in order to remove us from the space or make it very hard for us to operate in the space,” Baysinger said, according to court filings.
The defendants admitted to not paying rent for over a year in 2025 documents, and despite the lawsuit, still had their businesses operating at the Power & Light District.
KC Live said the defendant’s argument over excessive rents and fees was conclusory. In a response filed last month, the landlord said the lease allows them to adjust rent and fees, the amount the tenants owed in late bills was more than the amount of money the defendants claimed they were overcharged.
The two lawsuits will go before District Judge Brian C. Wimes at trials in August and September. KC Live and the Cordish Companies declined to comment, while emails to both Baysinger and attorneys representing his businesses went unanswered by deadline.
Sinkers and Blade & Timber are both listed as temporarily closed on Google, and the owner told the Kansas City Business Journal — who first reported on the lawsuit — that he is “looking at other options in Kansas City” to reopen the concepts. Sinkers has locations in both Manhattan and Lawrence, while Blade & Timber has a presence in Lawrence, Honolulu and Seattle.
The Power & Light District is a multi-block entertainment district and one of Kansas City’s biggest attractions, with dozens of dining options and a calendar of live music and events.