Will Chiefs win Tuesday's stadium renovation vote?
Today's the day that the Chiefs and Royals will find out whether enough Jackson County, Missouri voters are willing to extend a sales tax to pay for a renovated football stadium and a new baseball stadium.
The polling is close. The Chiefs have made their position clear. And they've made it obvious that, if they don't get what they want, they could leave Kansas City.
Some Chiefs fans shrug at that prospect, assuming the team will simply find another venue in the area. Will they? Or will they uproot the team and move it to another state, the same way the Dallas Texans were uprooted in the 1960s to become the Kansas City Chiefs?
There's always another municipality that is willing to do what a team's current hometown might not. The Colts found that out 40 years ago, when Indianapolis gave them what Baltimore wouldn't. The Browns found that out 29 years ago, when Baltimore gave them what Cleveland wouldn't. Most recently, the Raiders found that out, when Las Vegas gave them what Oakland wouldn't.
It's unfortunate, but it's a reality of stadium politics. If a team's current city won't pay up, some other city will. Or if an owner is required to pay for his or her own stadium, maybe that stadium will be purchased in some other place.
If Kansas City won't give the Chiefs what they want, will they move to a place that will? The first step is to see whether the voters will give them what they want.
