Chiefs or Royals in the ‘burbs? What Wyandotte, Johnson counties want from KS stadium deal

As a Kansas incentive package designed to offer a new home for the Kansas City Chiefs or Royals is expected to get airtime next week, local leaders are beginning to think about what a stadium might look like west of the state line.

More than $1 billion in public financing could be on the table when state lawmakers meet in Topeka on Tuesday for the primary purpose of discussing tax cuts. Two months after Jackson County voters soundly rejected a sales tax to fund stadiums, the resounding message of officials on the Kansas side of the metro is a need to prevent either team from moving to another city.

“They’re so part of our region’s fabric, we can’t imagine that they’d leave somewhere else,” County Administrator David Johnston of the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kansas, told The Star.

“We don’t know where this is going to go,” he added. “I think what the Legislature is going to craft is a tool for the two teams to consider. That’s about it.”

Precise details are still being ironed out. But backers of state incentives have pointed to the possibility of $700 million in supercharged STAR bonds, short for Sales Tax Revenue bonds, and as much as $1 billion in bonds backed by gambling and Lottery revenues.

A state incentive package is unlikely to be site-specific. Still, all eyes are currently on Wyandotte County as officials point to the availability of land as well as previous successful economic development projects like the Kansas Speedway and Children’s Mercy Park, both backed by STAR bonds.

One of the more vocal local officials promoting the concept is KCK Mayor Tyrone Garner, saying his city could welcome the Royals and Chiefs with open arms.

In a statement shared with The Star this week, Garner urged state lawmakers to come up with “equitable” legislation that “would put us in a strong position to bring both respected professional sports franchises to Wyandotte County.”

Johnson County, meanwhile, has been relatively quiet.

“If Wyandotte County seems to be the prevailing opinion, with availability and access, then that’s great. Everyone still benefits from that economically,” said Tracey Osborne Oltjen, president and CEO of the Overland Park Chamber of Commerce.

“I haven’t heard speculation about sites, certainly not in Johnson County. That doesn’t mean people aren’t open to conversations,” she said. “But right now, it’s about having focused conversations on improving the STAR bond structure so it can accommodate these teams. So that if it doesn’t happen on the Missouri side, we’re ready.”

Local leaders are still largely playing wait-and-see until a state incentive package actually takes shape. A mammoth project like a stadium would require major public investment to continue upkeep, including ongoing fire and police protection during its lifetime.

And neither team has come calling Wyandotte County yet, Johnston said.

“It’s one thing to pass legislation. It’s another thing, if it is successful, and we get commitments from these leadership teams,” Johnston said, saying “a lot more work needs to be done” if that happens.

What’s on the table?

In April, Jackson County voters rejected a 40-year sales tax estimated to generate roughly $2 billion over its lifetime. It prompted both the Chiefs and Royals to say they are examining all options.

Since then an organization called Scoop and Score has formed to promote the idea of moving the Chiefs across the state line. The two teams and the organization have collectively hired at least 27 lobbyists over the past week.

A legislative proposal to lure the teams to Kansas has not been publicly released — but lawmakers and lobbyists have openly discussed details of the incentives the state could offer.

One piece would be STAR bonds, a powerful incentive virtually unmatched in Missouri that provides upfront capital to developers based on future sales taxes generated in a district.

To qualify for STAR bonds, a project must typically receive at least 50% private investment, generate at minimum $75 million in gross sales annually and be a tourism driver for Kansas. The program, used to underwrite major projects including the Kansas Speedway and the Homefield youth sports complex in KCK, faces criticism because of the limited benefits such developments have on local government revenues until the bonds are repaid.

But lawmakers have talked of sweetening STAR bonds for a stadium deal. Some possibilities include allowing the bonds to back more than 50% of the project’s costs, and allowing the local government where the stadium is built to keep its share of local sales taxes from the district, instead of needing to put them toward repaying the bonds.

Some critics question whether tax revenue from the stadium and nearby development would be enough to pay off the bonds on time, especially if they’re for more than half the project costs. Numerous studies have shown stadiums are not typically major drivers of economic growth.

During a conversation this week with KCMO Talk Radio host Pete Mundo, House Speaker Dan Hawkins, a Wichita Republican, estimated a STAR bonds amount for the Chiefs at roughly $700 million.

A new Chiefs stadium alone could cost upwards of $2.5 billion to $3 billion. A second piece of financing — as much as $1 billion — could come from a separate issuance of bonds backed by a state fund collecting revenues through Kansas’ authorization of sports gambling.

Sen. J.R. Claeys, a Salina Republican and vice chair of the Senate Ways and Means Committee, said the fund for attracting sports teams currently stands at about $4.1 million. But he shared projections that the fund could reach about $36.5 million during the 2026 budget year and $100 million or more by 2030.

Claeys predicts growing sports betting revenues, combined with excess Lottery revenues, could ultimately reach $25-27 million each year. He expects that would be enough to pay off a revenue-backed bond over time without resorting to general state revenues.

‘What’s in it for Wyandotte County?’

A fair amount of excitement is in the air for Wyandotte County leaders at the moment. But it’s also measured with some reservation.

Unified Government commissioners who spoke to The Star say they want any potential stadium — if that comes to pass — to benefit the whole county.

“It would be amazing to have both teams or one team come across our state line. But we have to make sure … it’s a viable package and it’s not going to hurt taxpayers,” said Commissioner Christian Ramirez, 3rd District.

In his view, incentives should be used for projects that can be economic engines for the community at large. And in Wyandotte County, home to some residents with lower incomes than its neighbors to the south, Ramirez said there is real concern about the effects a new stadium might have on taxpayers.

“The economic drive needs to be felt all throughout Wyandotte County. Not just where a stadium stands,” Ramirez said, saying the county is currently among the most “disinvested in the state.”

Commissioner Andrew Davis, 8th District, said he is thinking about what community benefits the teams might offer as well as the long-term costs of sustaining the stadium. Top of mind considerations are how a stadium would benefit the tax base and how much revenue would be needed to go toward public safety and infrastructure costs.

And when it comes to incentives, Davis said “we also want to make sure that we are well positioned to advocate for our community.”

“That’s really my concern: What’s in it for Wyandotte County?” he said.

Another consideration of local leaders in Wyandotte County is the effect a stadium might have on increasing residential property values. It is a factor Johnston said must be carefully considered to ensure residents, especially those on lower or fixed incomes, are not priced out of their own neighborhoods.

“When those things happen, people are concerned about the loss of a sense of community. And that’s what makes places special,” he said. “We have to somehow balance the new with its impact on the existing, and see how can they economically coexist.

“That’s another discussion area that needs to be looked at very carefully as the local governments get involved.”

What about Johnson County?

Johnson County leaders have been more muted on the topic of a potential stadium move to the suburbs. One common reason cited: They don’t know where one would go.

The booming county is running out of land that’s not already built out or slated for development, especially sites that have highway access and aren’t too far from downtown Kansas City.

“A lot of land left has been bought up for future development or annexed. Look at Overland Park, they are going to be at the Miami County line pretty soon,” Johnson County Commissioner Becky Fast said.

Commissioner Jeff Meyers said while “there are always rumors” floating around, he said there “aren’t any possible sites that I would sit here and say, ‘Oh, this would be a perfect place to put either one of those teams.’”

Commissioners told The Star that they haven’t been a part of any serious conversations about Johnson County putting in a bid for a new stadium. Chairman Mike Kelly declined to comment.

“I don’t think there’s much talk on the Johnson County side,” Fast said.

Osborne Oltjen, with the Overland Park chamber, said the conversation is “more about making sure that the teams stay in the metro.”

“At this point, we want to make sure they both have Kansas City in front of their names,” she said. “I think a lot of the discussion has been focused on where they are now and if they stay on the Missouri side of the state line. If that doesn’t happen, then Kansas needs to make sure that we have the tools in the toolbox ready and available.”

She said she can see clear benefits of expanding the STAR bonds program to attract the teams, adding that it would be important to “really define the parameters around major league team stadiums, so that it’s not utilized for something else. We want this opportunity really tailored to the Chiefs and the Royals.”

Commissioner Charlotte O’Hara, a strong critic of tax incentives, said she is opposed to such a deal, saying “at their current stadium location, you don’t see any booming economic development over there.”

“I wish people would allow the market to work,” O’Hara said. “It’s disgusting. It’s not a good-neighbor policy by any stretch of the imagination. What are we going to do, start the border war again? It’s nothing but blatant welfare for billionaires.”

But Osborne Oltjen believes a potential stadium in KCK would boost Johnson County as well, arguing such a development would bring with it new business, visitors and spending to the Kansas side.

“Whenever something of this magnitude is built, it’s gigantic,” she said. “We already all benefit from the fact that the Chiefs and the Royals are in Jackson County.”