By DAVE SKRETTA and JOHN HANNA
TOPEKA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas lawmakers approved a proposal Monday to help pay for a new stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs, which is expected to lure one of the NFL’s iconic franchises across the state line from Missouri and replace popular but aging Arrowhead Stadium.
The Legislative Coordinating Council, which includes the state’s top lawmakers, voted unanimously inside a packed room at the state capitol to allow for STAR bonds to be issued to cover up to 70% of the cost of a stadium and accompanying district. The bonds would be paid off with state sales and liquor tax revenues generated in a defined area around it.
The council meeting was attended by Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and team president Mark Donovan, along with other officials. They are expected to announce their intention to move later Monday from their longtime home in Kansas City, Missouri.
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has called a news conference for 3 p.m. local time “to present a major economic development announcement for the State of Kansas and the Kansas City Region.” She will be joined by legislators and Kansas City-area representatives.
The most likely landing place for the Chiefs is Kansas City, Kansas, near the Kansas Speedway and a retail and entertainment district known as The Legends. The area is also home to Children’s Mercy Park, the home of MLS club Sporting Kansas City.
The move by the Chiefs would be a massive blow to Missouri lawmakers and Gov. Mike Kehoe, who had been working on their own package to prevent a second NFL franchise in a decade from leaving their borders. The Rams left St. Louis for Los Angeles in part due to their inability to secure funding to help replace The Dome at America’s Center.
Kehoe had backed a special legislative session in June to authorize bonds covering up to 50% of the cost of new or renovated stadiums, plus up to $50 million of tax credits for each stadium and unspecified aid from local governments.
Quinton Lucas, the mayor of Kansas City, Missouri, has been working to keep both the Chiefs and Kansas City Royals on the Missouri side of the state line. He has called a news conference for later Monday regarding “sports team developments.”
The Chiefs originally planned an $800 million renovation of Arrowhead Stadium in a joint effort with the Royals, who are similarly planning to build a new facility to replace Kauffman Stadium. The facilities sit a couple of hundred yards across the parking lot from each other, and both teams have leases with Jackson County, Missouri, that expire in January 2031.
Last year, Jackson County voters soundly defeated a local sales tax extension which would have helped to pay for those renovations to the football stadium while helping to fund a new ballpark for the Royals in downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
The Royals were not discussed by Kansas lawmakers Monday, but momentum appears to be building behind their own move across the state line. An affiliate of the club already has purchased the mortgage on a tract of land in Overland Park, Kansas.
Hunt has long said his preference was to renovate Arrowhead Stadium, which was beloved by his father and team founder, the late Lamar Hunt. It is considered one of the jewels of the NFL, alongside Lambeau Field in Green Bay, and is revered for its tailgating scene and home-field advantage; it currently holds the Guinness World Record for the loudest stadium roar.
This summer, Arrowhead Stadium will host six World Cup matches, including matches in the Round of 32 and quarterfinals.
Lamar Hunt established the Chiefs on August 14, 1959. The team was originally based in Dallas and known as the Texans, but Hunt was convinced by then-Kansas City Mayor H. Roe Bartle to relocate the team to Missouri with promises of tripling the team’s season-ticket sales and expanding the seating capacity of Municipal Stadium.
In 1972, the team moved into Arrowhead Stadium at the Truman Sports Complex just east of downtown Kansas City.
The stadium has undergone numerous renovations through the years, allowing it to stay relevant in a changing sports landscape. But there has been little economic development around the stadium, the facility itself is starting to show wear and tear, and there is a limit to the number of luxury suites and amenities that the franchise can utilize to help drive revenue.
While the Hunt family has long loved Arrowhead Stadium, it has warmed in recent years to the idea of a replacement.
Not only would it solve many of the shortcomings of the Chiefs’ longtime home, a new facility with a fixed or retractable roof would allow them to use it year-round. That would mean the potential for hosting more concerts and events, college football bowl games, the Final Four and perhaps one of Lamar Hunt’s long-held dreams: a Super Bowl.
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Hanna reported from Topeka. Skretta reported from Kansas City, Missouri.
