Last-ditch effort to keep KC Royals in-state surfaces during final week of session

Will the Kansas City Royals stay in the state they've called home since they arrived in the 1960s? It appears the Missouri Legislature has pulled out an 11th-hour proposal that would end lingering uncertainty on that score.

According to the Kansas City Star, this new attempt at keeping the KC Royals and Kansas Chiefs in-state centers on bonds and other aid that would pay for up to half the cost of new or upgraded stadiums for the teams.

New proposal surfaces that could potentially keep KC Royals in Missouri

Governor Mike Kehoe rolled out his new plan for keeping the KC Royals and Chiefs in Missouri to leaders of the Republican party and legislature on Tuesday morning. The rollout was part of a plan expected to see floor debate later on the same day.

In addition to tax credits for both teams involving "stadium investment" that could total as much as $50 million, the package Republicans will push in the legislature will cover annual bond payments "up to the amount a team generated in state tax revenue in the year prior to when it took effect." This number is substantial because it is essentially a way to point out just how much tax revenue the state will be missing if either the Royals, the Chiefs, or both leave the state for neighboring Kansas, as has been the long-time looming possibility. This new proposal could still leave the door open for the Royals to leave the Kauffman Stadium site, but explore a new building elsewhere in Missouri (potentially Clay County).

While the Chiefs have talked about upgrading Arrowhead rather than getting a new stadium, the Royals are exploring building a new home from the ground up. That would be partly funded by the state, setting a minimum project cost of $500 million to qualify, and stadiums must have a seating capacity of more than 30,000. It's been estimated that a new Royals stadium would cost around $1 billion. When the Chiefs offered a plan to refit and rejuvenate Arrowhead, they said it would cost around $800 million. A replacement football stadium would cost around $3 billion.

The Missouri Legislature is nearly adjourned for the session, adding an added stressor. The proposal will be fast-tracked but still needs to pass by 6 p.m. on Tuesday night. However, Governor Kehoe did say that if there seems to be movement but it's not completed by the deadline, he might be open to calling a special session.

It's a last-minute attempt to end uncertainty between the KC Royals and Chiefs that's been going on since before voters rejected a 3/8th-cent stadium sales tax back in April of last year.