The Kansas City Chiefs want millions in tax incentives so the team can switch states

At a hearing on Monday ahead of the formal start of the session, representatives for the Kansas City Chiefs and the Royals asked Kansas lawmakers to pass the bill, according to the Missouri Independent.

That legislation would give the teams hundreds of millions of dollars to help fund building new stadiums in Kansas.

“If we want to be major league, we’ve got to have major league teams,” Korb Maxwell, an attorney who represents the Chiefs, told lawmakers on Monday, according to the Independent. “This is the greatest opportunity we’ve had in any generation, and it’s here before us right now.”

The proposed legislation would strengthen the state’s Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bond program, and let Kansas provide bonds that would pay for up to 70% of the cost of building brand-new stadiums for one or both of the sports teams, The Kansas City Star reported.

Under the bill, the teams would be required to spend at least $1 billion on the new stadiums and training facilities, the Missouri Independent reported.

The state would pay off the bond given to the teams over 30 years using sports gambling and lottery money, according to the Kansas City Star.

Meanwhile, Missouri legislators are fighting to keep the Chiefs for themselves. Officials in Jackson County, Missouri on Monday proposed a resolution for a countywide sales tax, local Kansas City outlet KSHB reported. Depending on how much the tax is — the current options are each just a fraction of a cent — it would either pay for capital improvements to the Chiefs’ existing stadium or building a brand-new stadium in Missouri, according to the outlet.

The Chiefs’ current home at the 50-year-old Arrowhead Stadium is in need of some improvement since it was last renovated in 2010.

Team President Mark Donovan said last summer the team is looking into three options: renovating the existing stadium, building a new one on-site, or moving to a new location entirely, Sports Illustrated reported.

And back in 2022, Donovan even floated the idea of moving from Missouri to Kansas, according to the outlet.

Proponents of the move argue that if something isn’t done to keep the Chiefs and the Royals local to Kansas City, the teams could choose to leave the Kansas-Missouri region altogether — a development that could devastate local Taylor Swift fans.

Representatives for the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals did not immediately respond to a request for comment from Business Insider.