Border War truce a thing of the past? Kansas makes play to attract teams
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The 2019 Economic Border War Truce between Kansas and Missouri may be over.
On Tuesday, Kansas’ Legislature offered unprecedented incentives to lure the Chiefs and Royals across the state line. If signed into law, Kansas pledges to pay up to 70% of the cost of two new stadiums through STAR bonds, something Missouri doesn’t have to offer.
In 2019, Missouri Gov. Mike Parson and Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly signed an agreement that each state wouldn’t try to steal businesses from one another. At the time, the agreement was focused on fights for companies like AMC and Applebee’s.
Now, Kansas City’s two biggest sports teams – the Chiefs and Royals – are looking for new homes. Kansas has made a play to attract the teams across the state line, which some in Missouri see as a violation of the truce.
“I didn’t sign anything,” said Ty Masterson, the President of the Kansas State Senate, when asked what the passage of the STAR Bond legislation meant for the 2019 truce.
READ MORE: Businesses, homeowners near Legends Outlets discuss potential impact of stadiums in their community
The Chiefs and Royals’ lease at the Truman Sports Complex ends in 2031. Lawmakers in Kansas say the teams have told them they need to get the ball rolling in regard to new stadiums.
“They are under a time crunch, right? To acquire land, design a stadium like that,” Masterson said. “I say if you snooze, you lose.”
“We asked those tough questions: ‘Why do we have to do it now? Why couldn’t we do it in January?’” said Dan Hawkins, the Speaker of the House. “Quite frankly, they told us, ‘We’re six months behind now and we have to have something done by 2030 and it’s going to take a good length of time.’”
Now, Kansas and Missouri may enter a bidding war for the teams. KCTV5 caught up with Susan Keim, an associate professor of Public Administration at Park University. She said the Chiefs and Royals will benefit from the bidding war; the public will not.
“It could be sort of a poaching war,” said Keim. “Businesses would be playing the states and cities against each other even more. It would definitely be a border war in that sense, and there is no net gain for the metropolitan community.”
READ MORE: Detailing the process that could bring the Chiefs or Royals across the state line
With the teams looking for new homes, both states will now plot their best way forward to attract the teams to their side of the border.
“We don’t know if they’ll jump the state line, but we have to do our part and now they can do their part,” Hawkins said.
“I fully expect that Missouri would come together, that the state and Jackson County and Kansas City, Missouri, would come together and have their own proposal,” Keim said. “I don’t think they would just let Kansas ‘steal’ without a fight.”
Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly has yet to sign the STAR bonds bill for the Chiefs and Royals but has indicated she will do so.
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