Polling shows that vote for public stadium money in Kansas City will be close
The vote happens tomorrow. And it's apparently going to be close.
Citizens of Jackson County, Missouri will cast ballots on whether to extend a sales-tax that will fund the construction of a new stadium for the Kansas City Royals and a renovation of Arrowhead Stadium, for the Kansas City Chiefs.
Polling by the Remington Research Group shows that 47 percent would vote yes and 46 percent would vote no, according to KSHB (via Bloomberg News.)
The Jackson County executive, Frank White Jr. (a former Royals infielder who is in the team's Hall of Fame) is opposed to the proposition. He previously vetoed the effort to put the matter to vote; it only happened after his veto was overridden by the local legislature.
“The County spends more money on the two sports teams every year than we do on our parks and playgrounds, public hospital, and roads and bridges — combined,” White said in a statement.
Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas endorsed the measure on Saturday.
As noted by Bloomberg News, opponents contend Clark Hunt should contribute more than $300 million to the $800 million renovation project at Arrowhead.
The Chiefs have been making a big push on this. Stars like Patrick Mahomes, Travis Kelce, and Andy Reid participated in an ad urging a "yes" vote. Both teams have made it clear that, if the measure fails, they could move out of Kansas City.
Even if they would find local options for new venues, there's always risk in opening the door to the possibility of someone else from a different state showing up with a giant bag of free money.
The Chiefs played their early seasons in Dallas, as the AFL's Texans. They surrendered to the Cowboys and the NFL by moving to Kansas City and rebranding the team. So they have moved before. And they won't rule out moving again, unless they get the taxpayer money they want on Tuesday.
