Missouri lawmakers are advancing a bill to provide tax incentives to sports teams in a bid to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals in town.
The bill provides a number of incentives intended to help keep the two teams in the state, whether in the city or the suburbs. Missouri is trying to preempt a move by both teams to Kansas, after the state passed a law creating massive amounts of funding for new stadiums on the other side of the Missouri River.
“The state of Missouri...may, upon such terms and with reasonable consideration as it may determine, subject to appropriation, expend funds for the purpose of aiding and cooperating in the planning, undertaking, financing, or carrying out of an athletic and entertainment facility project for which application is made to [the state],” the bill’s text states.
On an annual basis, the state can appropriate money equivalent to the amount of tax revenue it takes in from a professional sports team facility. The terms of the agreement would be negotiated between the state and the team. The agreement is limited to 30 years, and state funds can only pay for up to half of the project’s total costs.
If state funds are spent on a stadium project, and the team relocates any of its facilities out of Missouri, it will be considered a default, and the team will have to repay the spent funds, debt service, and tax credits from the state’s general revenue fund.
The bill also offers a tax credit of up to 50 percent for any taxpayer or non-profit that contributes money or property toward the development of a new facility. The tax credits are limited to 10 percent of the total amount of private investment or $50 million, whichever is less, over three years.
Separately, the bill allows Clay County—which contains northern parts of Kansas City and its northern suburbs—to establish a sports complex authority, which will consist of five commissioners.
The commissioners would be appointed by the governor, from a panel of nine candidates to be submitted by the county commission, and serve a five-year term. It also provides for the county to establish a “Convention and Sports Complex Fund.”
Provided the county has entered into a lease with a sports team by Jan. 1, 2026 and started the process to acquire materials and construct a stadium, the Missouri General Assembly will appropriate up to $3 million annually; the county must also pay at least $3 million every year, and submit an annual report to the General Assembly. The state will not contribute more money than the county into the fund.
The Chiefs’ stadium—GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium—and the Royals’ home stadium—Kauffman Stadium—were built at the same time as part of the Truman Sports Complex. Arrowhead opened in 1972, while Kauffman opened in 1973.
The state is attempting to keep both teams from leaving Missouri. Lawmakers in Kansas passed and Gov. Laura Kelly signed legislation in 2024 to issue bonds that would cover up to 75 percent of the cost to construct new stadiums for the Chiefs and Royals.
The bill also includes a provision for St. Charles County to establish its own authority to build and maintain sports facilities; it authorizes the authority to designate an area to build a new regional sports facility. The designated area will be eligible to receive half the revenue from sales tax generated in the project area, up to $10 million annually; no single project can receive more than $5 million annually.
The St. Louis Cardinals still play at Busch Stadium in downtown St. Louis. The Los Angeles Rams played 20 seasons as the St. Louis Rams at The Dome at America’s Center; the St. Louis Battlehawks of the United Football League currently call that stadium home.
