Jackson, Clay County lawmakers jostling to keep the Royals and Chiefs in Missouri

by Jason Hancock, Missouri Independent
February 24, 2025

A pair of state senators are laying the groundwork for Clay County to compete for a new Chiefs training facility or Royals stadium, while the top Republican in the Missouri House is imploring Jackson County leaders to come up with a new plan to keep the teams from leaving the state. 

Both teams publicly expressed interest in moving from Missouri to Kansas after Jackson County voters rejected a proposal last year to extend a 3/8-cent sales tax to help finance a downtown Kansas City baseball stadium and upgrades to Arrowhead Stadium. 

Kansas lawmakers responded by expanding a tax incentive program in the hopes of convincing one or both teams to relocate. The leases for both teams’ Jackson County stadiums run through the end of the 2030 season. 

State Sens. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat, and Kurtis Gregory, a Marshall Republican, filed legislation last week to authorize Clay County to establish a county sports complex authority for the purpose of “developing or maintaining sports, convention, exhibition or trade facilities.”

The idea goes back more than two years, Nurrenbern said, when the Royals were considering a new stadium location in North Kansas City,

“As far as I am aware, there have not been any recent talks with the Royals in terms of the team coming to Clay County,” Nurrenbern said, though she added the idea should “absolutely still be on the table, because the location is incredible and sits smack dab in the center of the metro population.”

But creating a sports authority would not just open up the possibility of a new stadium, she said. There are also “real conversations” taking place between the Chiefs ownership and Clay County officials about using the site for the team’s new training facilities and headquarters. 

“The Chiefs want state of the art facilities. And this would really give them that option,” Nurrenbern said. “From the City of North Kansas City to the Jackson County sports complex and Arrowhead, you’re talking a 15 minute drive at max.”

While Clay County tries to get its ducks in a row, House Speaker Jon Patterson of Lee’s Summit is urging local leaders in Jackson County to come up with a new plan to keep the teams in Missouri after last year’s failed sales tax vote.

Local financial support will need to happen, he said, before the state can consider getting involved. 

“The time is running out,” Patterson told reporters at his weekly press conference on Thursday. “It is time for a plan and course of action. And I do want to reiterate, I do think this is going to be something that has to happen in the county first and then the state.”

Patterson said Jackson County officials will travel to the state Capitol Wednesday to meet with legislative leaders and Gov. Mike Kehoe. 

The Royals first announced an intention to leave Kauffman Stadium in November 2022. The move would allow the Chiefs to remain in Arrowhead, demolish Kauffman and build a covered entertainment center.

Officials in Jackson County and Kansas City began scrambling to figure out how to keep the Royals from leaving Missouri. By the spring of 2023, Clay County leaders announced interest in building a stadium in North Kansas City that could become the Royals new home. 

The Royals solicited proposals for a downtown Kansas City and North Kansas City site a few months later, and released renderings of possible stadiums at both locations in August 2023. 

Soon after, a poll was leaked to the media showing 70% of Clay County voters opposed a new sales tax to fund a stadium in North Kansas City. Despite weeks of media speculation, no one claimed credit for the poll, which was widely seen as an attempt to shake the confidence of Royals ownership in the viability of a Clay County proposal. 

Critics, who called the survey a “push poll” meant to deceive the public, said sabotaging any potential site in Missouri only increases the likelihood that the team ends up in Kansas. 

“Anything that is used for a deceptive purpose should raise some red flags, and I think that’s exactly what that push poll did,” Nurrenbern said. “I don’t think this ever should have been about Clay versus Jackson County. It’s what’s good for our area, and that’s what I’m going to continue to be focused on.”

It wasn’t until more than a year later that documents provided to The Independent revealed it was a political action committee formed to support Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas that paid for the Clay County polling. A staffer using a Lucas campaign email address requested the poll be commissioned. 

At the time, Lucas didn’t mention any involvement in the poll by the PAC or his campaign in a response to Fox 4 reporters. And to obscure the PAC’s involvement, Lucas’ then-chief of staff, Morgan Said, requested the PAC change its financial disclosure forms to list the expense as “research” instead of “polling.”

“…we paid Bold Decisions to do that Royals poll,” Said told the PAC’s compliance officer in an Oct. 9, 2023, phone call that was recorded and shared with The Independent. 

“I don’t know how much of a news reader you are these days,” she said, “but it was like a big whodunnit, and, you know, actually nobody ever found out who paid for it.”

Campaign committee controlled by KC mayor requested poll he denied involvement in

By April 2024, Jackson County voters resoundingly rejected the stadium sales tax measure supported by Lucas and other local elected officials.

Gregory, whose state Senate district includes a portion of Clay County, said Missouri leaders should take an all-of-the-above approach to finding a home for the Royals. 

“We should make sure that all options are potentially on the table,” Gregory said, adding: “Clay County is a very viable option. Downtown (Kansas City) is a viable option. The goal should be to keep the team in Missouri.” 

Legislation authorizing a Clay County sports authority “is all about keeping both teams in the state of Missouri. Period,” Nurrenbern said. “So we want to be good partners with Jackson County, and if the teams make the choice to come to Clay County, we want to make sure that the appropriate language is there on the books to permit a sports authority.”

As for Jackson County, local leaders will need to decide whether “they want to support this venture,” Patterson said, “or will they have an empty parking lot or empty stadiums, which is not free. It costs a lot of money to maintain stadiums that are empty and it costs a lot of money to tear down stadiums.”

Missouri Independent is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Missouri Independent maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor Jason Hancock for questions: info@missouriindependent.com.

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