Most people don’t know Kansas City straddles the Kansas and Missouri state lines. Nor do they know, or care, which side of the line is home to the Kansas City Chiefs.
But chances are good “if you say you’re from Kansas City … their response might have something to do with the Chiefs,” Clark Hunt, team owner and CEO, said Monday.
He might be right.
No matter where you are, you’re bound to spot that red-and-gold swag, so popular is professional football here in the United States.
So popular that for the past 18 months Kansas has been doing everything in its power to wrest the team from Missouri’s grip.
And on Monday, it announced victory.
Sour grapes
Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe laid the blame on the Hunt family.
The Chief’s ownership, Kehoe said, “decided to abandon Lamar Hunt’s legacy at the iconic Arrowhead Stadium, a place that Chiefs fans have rallied around since 1972. At Arrowhead, every game feels like a Super Bowl. No new stadium will replicate that.”
We’ll see.
Truth is, Missouri became lazy.
After 62 years in Missouri, 52 years at Arrowhead Stadium, the Chiefs had made it known that when their lease at Arrowhead expired in 2030, they were expecting better conditions.
It wasn’t until two weeks before the filing deadline in early 2024 that Jackson County, Missouri, officials announced a special election to extend a 3/8 cent sales tax to renovate the stadium and move the Kansas City Royals downtown.
The announcement to build a baseball stadium in Kansas City’s up-and-coming Crossroads district blindsided Kansas Citians, as well as the expectation that they pick up the tab.
Insult to injury.
Jackson County voters defeated the April measure with a 58% majority. In the months following, Jackson County officials floated two lesser sales tax measures, but neither gained traction.
