Chiefs, Royals ponder future after tax failures

KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Members of the Jackson County Sports Authority, which oversees the stadiums used by the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals, will have a lot to talk about today when they meet for the first time since voters shot down a ballot initiative that could have provided $600 million for stadium renovations.

The so-called Bistate II measure, which proposed a quarter-cent sales tax for renovations and the arts, failed in four out of five metro-area counties Tuesday.

Management for the Chiefs and the Royals said they remain committed to Kansas City and will live up to their leases, which end in 2014.

But Dick Berkley, incoming authority chairman, noted those leases depend on a number of potentially expensive repairs and expansions being completed, and it is unclear now where his organization will get the money.

Without those repairs, Berkley acknowledged, the teams could argue the leases are worthless and look to greener pastures either elsewhere in the Kansas City area or beyond.

"There is that vulnerability," he said. "That's why we had the vote."

The authority now receives around $11 million a year for maintaining the Truman Sports Complex through a combination of state and local funding, as well as rent from the teams.

Berkley said most of that money is used to pay off debt from the last round of renovations. He said the group on Friday will get a list of what projects need to be done immediately and estimates of the costs.

"This puts a different tone on it because there may be things that have never been done," he said.

The teams have voiced optimism since Tuesday's defeat, saying they will work with the authority to get the renovations completed. But they also have said they need to begin considering all of their options to make sure they don't fall further behind their football and baseball peers in other cities.

Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt told The Kansas City Star on Wednesday that it may make more sense to build a new stadium in 2014, as opposed to renovating Arrowhead, which opened in 1972.

"That is probably where we need to begin to think," Hunt said.

He said he had no plans to move the team, which enjoys one of the most fervent followings in the NFL and consistently sells out home games.

The Royals' owner, David Glass, was unavailable Thursday, but Mark Gorris, vice president of business operations, said the team also has no plans to get out of its lease.

"Our focus is to remain a viable entity within the metro area," Gorris said. "We believe that can happen. We're going to do the best we can with what we have."

Gorris said needed repairs at Kauffman Stadium include replacing deteriorating plumbing and wiring, increasing the number of bathrooms and concession stands, more than doubling the width of stadium concourses to reduce bottlenecks, building more luxury suites and installing brand new scoreboards.

"We need to have them done because then we can operate in a fan-friendly atmosphere," he said, adding that the 31-year-old stadium will soon go up against a brand new Busch Stadium in St. Louis.

While the cost of attracting a pro franchise is steep, several cities are still willing to make the sacrifice. Los Angeles, for example, is still looking for an NFL replacement for the Rams, who moved to St. Louis in 1995. On the baseball side, the three cities that lost out when Major League Baseball sent the Montreal Expos to Washington, D.C. -- Las Vegas, Portland, Ore., and Norfolk, Va. -- still have their plans, which include varying amounts of public financing.

But Mark Rosentraub, a sports economics expert at Cleveland State University in Ohio, said it's far more likely that the Chiefs and Royals will work out their differences with Kansas City officials.

"These are important assets," Rosentraub said. "You don't give away the farm. If plan A didn't work, you go back and come up with a plan B."