Kansas may have a mechanism to fund a stadium.
Kansas figures to join the list of states and one federal district that has legalized sports gambling but instead of claiming that the government proceeds from sports betting will go to education, social services or infrastructure, some of the political leaders in the state are ready to put aside money to bring professional sports to the state. The state would impose a 10% tax on each bet and with the revenue Kansas would receive, 80% would be placed into a special fund the state would use to entice teams to the state. Kansas has a Major League Soccer team, Sporting Kansas City, and two major NASCAR events. This year’s races will be held on May 15th and September 11th. The Kansas Speedway and the soccer facility are about 20 minutes from Kansas City.
Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman is actively looking to move his business into downtown Kansas City. Sherman’s lease with Jackson County, Missouri ends after the 2031 season. It is unlikely that the National Basketball Association or the National Hockey League would have any interest in setting up shop in Kansas as the two leagues bypassed the market when a new arena opened in 2007. But there is a major business out there for the taking in 2032, the National Football League’s Kansas City Chiefs franchise. The NFL team’s lease is done in 2031 and Chiefs ownership is looking for a major upgrade to keep up with other franchises as the stadium’s 2010 facelift probably cannot compare financially with new stadiums in Inglewood, California and Las Vegas for the Los Angeles Chargers and the Las Vegas Raiders, two teams in the same division with the Chiefs football team. The Chiefs business is doing a stadium renovation feasibility study but Kansas seems ready to talk about building a Chiefs stadium.
Evan Weiner’s books are available at iTunes – https://books.apple.com/us/author/evan-weiner/id595575191
Evan can be reached at evan_weiner@hotmail.com
