As Chiefs talks ramp up in Kansas, Missouri officials rush to respond
As speculation ramped up Thursday about the possibility of the Kansas City Chiefs moving to Kansas, Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota placed and received a flurry of calls.
He hopped on the phone to talk strategy with Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe and Kansas Mayor Quinton Lucas Thursday evening and Friday morning. But the new top executive’s first call was with Chiefs President Mark Donovan.
What emerged from those conversations, LeVota said, was a personal belief that he had not been outspoken enough about Jackson County’s plan to keep the team in Missouri. In a phone interview with The Star on Friday, LeVota made clear his thoughts on the news trickling out of Kansas.
“My head is at — the Chiefs are going to stay in Jackson County,” said LeVota, who acknowledged that the team had not committed to either Kansas or Missouri. “Kansas is a pipe dream and they’re playing politics over in Topeka.”
But a chorus of Missouri officials have expressed concern that may not be the case.
The intense focus on Kansas comes ahead of Monday’s Kansas Legislative Coordinating Council, or LCC, meeting, where top lawmakers are poised to discuss a not-yet-disclosed proposal between the Chiefs and the state of Kansas.
As leaders in Kansas touted the moment as significant and suggested a deal could be in the works, a wave of anxiety rushed over officials in the team’s home state of Missouri. They traded details, shared rumors and sought answers about the team’s intentions.
Missouri House Speaker Jonathan Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican, said he felt the new energy surrounding the issue was odd. After speculation continued throughout Thursday afternoon, he said he called Kehoe’s office, which did not provide any definite answers.
“These are businesses and they’re making business decisions and whatever happens, I can live with knowing that we, as state legislators, did what we could,” Patterson said in an interview.
Kansas lawmakers have not released an agenda for Monday’s meeting. But the gathering of top legislators could signify a critical moment in a protracted fight over the teams between Kansas and Missouri after both states passed their own incentives packages.
Kansas’s incentives package uses a supercharged bonding program that could pay for up to 70% of new stadiums for the Chiefs or Kansas City Royals. Missouri’s plan, approved this summer, would pay for up to 50% of new stadiums for the teams.
Missouri’s uneasiness
Some Missouri officials involved in passing their state’s proposal, in interviews with The Star on Friday, expressed general uneasiness at the onslaught of information coming out of Kansas.
Rep. Chris Brown, a Kansas City Republican who led Missouri’s plan through the House, framed the possibility of the Chiefs moving to Kansas as “a gut punch.” He said he was previously under the impression that, of the two teams, the Chiefs were more likely to stay in Missouri.
“There’s a new anxiety,” Brown said. “And it’ll probably cause people to circle the wagons and, you know, rethink everything and try to go to those organizations again, and, you know, see where we’re at.”
Meanwhile, Rep. Mark Sharp, a Kansas City Democrat, had already started to reflect on the chaotic fight over the teams. If the Chiefs are headed to Kansas, he said, there’s plenty of blame to share among former Executive Frank White Jr., former Gov. Mike Parson and Kehoe.
“There’s a lot of people that really dropped the ball on this,” he said.
Local leaders remain confident
Despite the anxiety, Missouri officials have also consistently touted ongoing conversations with the teams. Throughout Thursday and Friday, several leaders in Jackson County, Kansas City and Missouri expressed confidence about the Chiefs remaining inside state lines.
Sen. Kurtis Gregory, a Marshall Republican who sponsored Missouri’s stadiums package, said he has been told that Kehoe’s staff and his economic development team remain in regular negotiations with the Chiefs. He said he views Monday’s meeting as Kansas’ final pitch to the team — but not a done deal.
“I was talking to someone earlier today and they said, ‘until the team actually makes an announcement, it’s just politicians talking,’” Gregory said in an interview.
A spokesperson for Kehoe, in a statement on Thursday, emphasized those frequent communications, which The Star also confirmed after obtaining a copy of the Republican governor’s calendar in October.
“He believes Missouri is the best home for both teams and continues working with the teams to make the right decision to grow and invest in the Show-Me State,” said spokesperson Gabby Picard.
Kansas City’s mayor also put out a news release on Thursday, saying the city “does not negotiate in public.”
“As the City and our Missouri partners continue discussions with our long-term partners at the Chiefs and the Royals, we remain steadfast in working toward an arrangement in the best interest of our community and the greatest success of our teams on and off the field,” Lucas said in a statement.
After a string of calls with elected officials and the Chiefs, LeVota told The Star on Friday that he does not expect the team to announce they’re leaving for Kansas on Monday.
Jackson County, he said, has a plan to keep the Chiefs inside state lines and he believes the team wants to stay. While he said he understood that the Chiefs were a business, he said Missouri officials were on the same page about keeping the team.
“We have the singular mindset to keep the Kansas City Chiefs in Jackson County at Arrowhead Stadium,” he said, referring to his conversations with Missouri’s governor.
Two hours after speaking with The Star, LeVota stepped up to a podium inside the Jackson Courthouse and declared to a room of reporters that his administration would pursue a new tax proposal designed to renovate Arrowhead.
He called it “Operation Save Arrowhead.”
