MLB franchise could abandon 52-year home as rival state offers $2 billion relocation package

The Kansas City Chiefs have been lured across state lines, and Missouri could soon lose its baseball team too.

Arrowhead Stadium will be empty when the 2031 NFL season kicks off, with the Chiefs set to build a new, $3billion domed facility in Wyandotte County.

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With their future plans announced, which upset some fans, attention now turns to the Kansas City Royals, who have a similar decision to make.

Arrowhead stands next to Kauffman Stadium on the Truman Sports Complex in Missouri, where the MLB franchise has played since 1973.

But like the Chiefs, they will be moving out in a few years.

Royals could follow Chiefs out of Kansas City

Their lease at the outdated Kauffman expires in January 2031, and owner John Sherman has long said his preference is to build a downtown ballpark.

However, plans for the $2billion facility have been scuppered in the past.

In April 2024, voters in Jackson County, Missouri, delivered a stinging rebuke of a proposed sales tax measure which would have helped fund a new ballpark in Kansas City.

That opened the door for Kansas to swoop, and now the Royals have a big decision to make.

Sherman and his restructured leadership team could continue their pursuit of downtown baseball, build a new stadium elsewhere on the Missouri side of the state divide, or follow the Chiefs across the border.

If they prefer the latter option, the Royals appear to have missed an important cut off that could have helped fund their move.

Royals miss December 31 deadline over relocation decision

Kansas has lured the Chiefs away from Missouri with the help of Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds.

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Enshrined in a state law passed during a special legislative session last year, the offering would allow bonds to cover up to 70 percent of the cost of constructing a new professional sports stadium.

According to the Johnson County Post, STAR bond financing is usually capped at 50 percent of a project’s costs.

This week, the state’s Legislative Coordinating Council voted to establish a STAR bond district and set in motion the process to build a new stadium for the Chiefs.

As it stands, the NFL franchise is the only professional sports team in the area that has submitted a proposal to receive those special stadium incentives.

The Legislative Coordinating Council has indicated that it will not consider any stadium incentive proposals submitted after December 31, 2025 — and has already met for the final time this year.

During that meeting, the Royals did not have a new ballpark deal on the table, meaning they will miss the lawmakers’ deadline.

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Should the team decide to relocate to Kansas, a deal could still be reached by a later deadline of June 30, if lawmakers choose to revisit it.

The Royals might well need to explore relocation without the special incentive package, but could still be eligible for standard STAR bonds or other incentives in future.

What happens next, then, in the hands of the team’s ownership, and it remains unclear if they will push for the same financial help that the Chiefs have secured.

Missouri governor Mike Kehoe has expressed hope of keeping the team on his side of the border, but admitted the Royals hold all the cards following news of the Chiefs’ decision.

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“The Royals are also a great legacy team that we would love to keep in Missouri. We will do everything we can to continue those conversations,” Gov. Kehoe said.

“If I’m the Royals, I’m in the driver’s seat now. I’m THE team.”

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