Chiefs, Royals stadium plan in jeopardy after resistance in Missouri Senate
A last-minute plan to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals in Missouri is in jeopardy after running into resistance from a bipartisan group of state senators on Tuesday.
The plan, pitched by Gov. Mike Kehoe earlier on Tuesday with no public hearings, would open a path for Missouri to offer state aid to help pay for new or upgraded stadiums for the two teams. It appeared to be moving through the General Assembly at a dizzying pace on Tuesday and overwhelmingly passed the House.
But the measure faced fierce opposition when it reached the 34-member Senate later in the day. After roughly six hours of bipartisan criticism, the Senate pulled the bill without taking action on it with just three days before the legislature must adjourn for the year.
“We’re going to give floor time...to pass a special interest tax credit,” said Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman, an Arnold Republican. “Well, I’m saying we’re not going to do that.”
The Senate returned to action Wednesday morning and has not yet taken up the legislation.
A constellation of issues could imperil the stadium funding proposal. Senators are frustrated that the measure was filed at the 11th-hour with no input from the general public. They also criticized its cost, pointing to the fact that it was approved by the House days after that chamber cut roughly $500 million in spending that would have funded construction projects across the state.
At the same time, Republican senators are still hoping to pass several controversial pieces of legislation that could gum up debate on the stadium funding proposal: a plan to overturn a voter-approved abortion rights amendment and a paid sick leave law.
The stadium funding bill has strong support from Kansas City-area lawmakers and senators could come up with a deal in the waning hours of the legislative session. Sen. Barbara Washington, a Kansas City Democrat, for example, said the Chiefs “bring and elicit pride to this whole state.”
Republican Sen. Kurtis Gregory from Marshall, who sponsored the underlying bill, conveyed cautious optimism when asked by The Star about the likelihood of the legislation passing.
“I think there’s still a chance,” he said at the state Capitol late Tuesday night.
Kehoe, the Republican governor, said earlier on Tuesday that if lawmakers did not pass the bill this week, he would consider calling them back into a special session to get it done.
“Legislators aren’t excited about coming into special sessions,” Kehoe said Tuesday morning, “but it’s that big of an economic project and that big of an economic impact that in the past it certainly has warranted other governors a special session.”
Kehoe’s hands-on involvement with the proposal, which is unusual for a sitting governor, poses a big test of his political clout after spending years as a prominent Jefferson City businessman.
Missouri’s plan
The last-ditch plan marks Missouri’s most expansive proposal to keep the teams since Jackson County voters in April 2024 rejected a stadiums sales tax. After that vote, Kansas lawmakers approved a sweeping proposal to offer supercharged bonds to finance up to 70% of the cost of new stadiums for one or both teams.
The measure would hand the Chiefs and Royals a large incentive to remain in Missouri without requiring either team to commit to a specific stadium location. The package wouldn’t prohibit the Royals from moving from Jackson County into North Kansas City in Clay County — a possibility that has garnered renewed public interest in recent weeks.
Missouri’s plan relies on bonds and tax credits that could pay for up to half the costs of upgrading or building new stadiums. It would allow the Chiefs and Royals to apply for aid but the state would have to sign off on each project.
Under the plan, the total amount of state funding will be capped at 30 years and cannot exceed 50% of the total project costs. The proposal will also require contributions from local governments.
While the measure faced sharp criticism in the Senate, lawmakers from the Kansas City area in both chambers have argued the importance of keeping the teams in Missouri.
“We need to compete with Kansas. We need to compete now,” said Rep. Chris Brown, a Kansas City Republican from Clay County who offered the proposal on the House floor.
This story was originally published May 14, 2025 at 11:01 AM.
