Christal Watson was sworn in Dec. 15 as the first Black woman to lead Kansas City, Kansas and Wyandotte County as mayor and CEO. A week later, she got jaw-dropping news: The Kansas City Chiefs are moving in from Missouri, bringing with them a new $3 billion stadium.
It’s a stinging loss for Missouri, where some Democrats are blaming Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe for the Chiefs’ departure.
But the move is being celebrated as a generational win in Kansas. The reigning Super Bowl champions announced the relocation Dec. 22 after Kansas lawmakers and Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly approved a package that would finance about 70% of the stadium through Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) Bonds.
The financing tool allows Kansas municipalities to issue bonds for major commercial, entertainment and tourism projects, repaid through sales tax revenue generated by the development.
Missouri’s effort fell short.
After failing to pass a stadium funding package during the 2025 legislative session that ended in May, Kehoe called lawmakers into a special session. A stadium financing plan was approved, but it covered only about 50% of the project — well below Kansas’ offer.
Missouri House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Democrat from Kansas City, said Kehoe mishandled the state’s approach.
“Gov. Kehoe’s mishandling of efforts to keep the Chiefs in Missouri is a major reason the team is poised to relocate across the border,” Aune said.
She added that after Kansas enacted generous incentives, Kehoe was silent on a counterproposal until May. “It took a costly special session this summer to finish the job,” she said.
Kehoe called the loss of the Chiefs a setback.
“It’s not fun to be at the top when something like this happens, but you certainly want to try to figure out what the lessons learned here are, and moving forward, we will obviously be doing a post mortem analysis,” the governor said.
Democratic U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver expressed disappointment and warned the decision could reignite long-running competition between Missouri and Kansas over economic development incentives.
“I fear, comes the resumption of the economic border war between Missouri and Kansas, guaranteeing a race to the bottom that will lead to more subsidies for big businesses, paid for by fewer quality services for hardworking families and the communities we love,” he said.
Kansas City, Missouri Mayor Quinton Lucas also pointed to earlier friction.
“I had my serious differences on this issue with former Jackson County (Missouri) Executive Frank White and wish the processes and obstacles (White presented) in 2023 and early 2024 could have proceeded differently,” Lucas said.
He added that local leaders “worked collaboratively and non-stop over the past year to provide a fair and robust offer for the teams.”
But momentum had shifted. Last year, Jackson County voters rejected the extension of the three-eighth-cent local sales tax that would have funded Arrowhead Stadium renovations and helped pay for a new Royals ballpark.
In Kansas, Watson said Wyandotte County is enthusiastic but cautious. She said officials there are “working through the details at the local level, and asking the hard questions that matter to Wyandotte County.”
“Should an agreement be made at the local level, it has to be a real economic win for Wyandotte County,” she said. “It has to make sense long-term, protect taxpayers and deliver measurable value for our residents.”
Back in Missouri, Democrats say broader state policy decisions could also affect future stadium negotiations and business retention efforts.
“(The governor) has undermined the viability of that plan by calling for the elimination of state income taxes,” Aune said. “Since the fate of the Royals remains in play, the governor must stop undercutting the value of Missouri’s stadium package and get a deal done.”
Democratic state Rep. Mark Sharp of Kansas City said former leaders share blame as well.
White, he said, “presided over a deeply dysfunctional and adversarial approach to our professional sports teams.” He also criticized former Republican Gov. Mike Parson for ignoring Kansas stadium overtures and said Kehoe waited too long to act.
“This crisis did not happen by accident,” Sharp said. “It was the result of a series of preventable leadership failures.”
The Chiefs’ lease at Arrowhead Stadium expires after the 2030 season. The team will play out the agreement, then move its headquarters and stadium to Kansas.
Kelly, who won re-election in 2022 in a Republican-controlled state, celebrated the announcement.
On Monday she wrote on X: “Hey America — Kansas isn’t a fly-over state; We’re a touchdown state.”
Kelly said the deal will include a new Chiefs headquarters in Olathe, more than 20,000 construction jobs, a projected $4.4 billion economic impact and $1.06 billion annually once the stadium opens — “all with no new taxes or state budget dollars,” she said.