Missouri voters reject stadium tax for Royals and Chiefs

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The way forward for the Royals and Chiefs in Kansas Metropolis was thrown into query Tuesday night time when residents of Jackson County, Missouri, resoundingly voted down a gross sales tax measure that will assist to fund a brand new downtown ballpark together with main renovations to Arrowhead Stadium.

Royals proprietor John Sherman and Chiefs president Mark Donovan acknowledged lengthy earlier than the ultimate tally that the initiative would fail. Greater than 58% of voters in the end rejected the plan, which might have changed three-eighths of a cent gross sales tax that has been paying for the maintenance of Truman Sports activities Advanced — the house for greater than 50 years to Kauffman and Arrowhead Stadiums — with an identical tax that will have been in place for the subsequent 40 years.

The Royals, who had pledged at the very least $1 billion from possession for his or her mission, needed to make use of their share of the tax income to assist fund a $2 billion-plus ballpark district. The Tremendous Bowl champion Chiefs, who had dedicated $300 million in non-public cash, would have used their share as a part of an $800 million overhaul of Arrowhead Stadium.

“We’re deeply disillusioned as we’re steadfast in our perception that Jackson County is best with the Chiefs and the Royals,” Sherman mentioned. “As somebody whose roots run deep on this city, who has been a devoted fan and season-ticket holder for each of those groups, and now main a exceptional possession group.”

Donovan mentioned the Chiefs would do “what’s in one of the best curiosity of our followers and our group as we transfer ahead.”

That would imply many issues: The Chiefs may attempt once more with a reworked plan extra agreeable to voters, change their whole funding method to incorporate extra non-public funding or take heed to gives from competing cities and states — akin to Kansas, simply throughout the state line to the west — that would supply the general public funding they want.

“We have been speaking rather a lot concerning the democratic course of. We respect the method,” Donovan mentioned. “We really feel we put forth one of the best supply for Jackson County. We’re prepared to increase the longstanding partnership the groups have loved with this county.”

The present lease at Truman Sports activities Advanced lasts by Jan. 31, 2031. Whereas Sherman has mentioned the Royals wouldn’t play at Kauffman Stadium past the 2030 season, the Chiefs are hopeful of remaining at Arrowhead Stadium.

The tax — or, extra precisely, the stadium plans — acquired important public pushback virtually from the beginning, when the groups struggled to place concrete plans earlier than voters and have been accused of missing transparency all through the method.

Final fall, the Royals unveiled two potential places for his or her ballpark district, one on the jap fringe of downtown and the opposite throughout the Missouri River in Clay County, Missouri. However a self-imposed deadline to finalize their location lapsed with no plan, and in February, they lastly introduced that they had scrapped each ideas and chosen a special downtown spot.

The brand new space, often called the Crossroads, has a vibrant arts and restaurant scene, and it’s simply blocks away from the T-Cell Middle and the bustling Energy & Mild leisure district. It is also near the Kauffman Middle for the Performing Arts and the 18th & Vine district, which is house to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum.

However even then, plans remained imprecise. The most recent ballpark renderings have been made out of date simply final week when the Royals acquiesced to Kansas Metropolis Mayor Quinton Lucas’ request {that a} main avenue that will have been a part of the stadium footprint stay open; Lucas didn’t endorse the tax initiative till the Royals agreed to the change.

“I believe everybody has the identical combined emotions,” mentioned Deidre Chasteen, a voter from Independence, Missouri, who remembers attending video games downtown at outdated Municipal Stadium when the Royals performed there from 1969 to 1972.

“It is not that we thoughts paying the three-eighths-cent gross sales tax. I believe the issue is placing the stadium the place it’s. We’re saying do not wreck companies which have been established down there for years.”

The membership additionally had not reached gross sales agreements with many landowners within the Crossroads, and different companies had expressed considerations about site visitors, congestion and parking in an already thriving residential neighborhood.

Sarah Tourville, the Royals’ government vp, mentioned the purpose was to maneuver into the stadium for Opening Day in 2028.

The Royals moved from Municipal Stadium to Kauffman Stadium in 1973 and extensively renovated the ballpark from 2009 to 2012. Arrowhead Stadium was constructed alongside Kauffman Stadium and was additionally renovated across the identical time.

Whereas the Royals insist on enjoying in a brand new ballpark, the Chiefs need to keep put with a renovation that will contact each side of their 52-year-old constructing, from the seating bowl to luxurious facilities to the tailgating scene.

“We’d not be keen to signal a lease for one more 25 years with out the financing to correctly renovate and reimagine the stadium,” Chiefs chairman Clark Hunt, whose father, Lamar Hunt, helped get the present stadiums constructed, mentioned earlier than Tuesday’s vote. “The financing puzzle is essential to us to ensure we now have sufficient funds to do every thing we have outlined.”

The Chiefs had hoped their success, together with three Tremendous Bowl titles previously 5 years, would sway voters of their favor.

“What my dad cherished finest concerning the stadium was the connection the group had with our fanbase,” Hunt mentioned. “He cherished this constructing for what it means to the followers, and we nonetheless imagine it is without doubt one of the finest stadiums within the Nationwide Soccer League and a bucket-list vacation spot for followers throughout the NFL.”