KANSAS CITY, Missouri (KCTV) – Will the Kansas City Chiefs move to Kansas? That's the question fans have been asking ever since a stadium sales tax vote in Jackson County, Missouri failed in April.
Five weeks ago, a sports architect presented Kansas lawmakers with renderings of what a Chiefs Legends football stadium might look like, and a group used the renderings to bolster an online campaign gathering signatures to get the team across state lines.
And those efforts appear to be intensifying.
Kansas Rep. Shawn Tarwater confirmed to KCTV5 that lawmakers are preparing a bill to introduce in a special session called by Gov. Laura Kelly on June 18. The House speaker and Senate president sent a joint letter to Chiefs owner Clark Hunt informing him of the draft bill.
“The Chiefs have also voiced their support and spoken with us,” Tarwater told KCTV5.
The team declined to issue a statement or comment on the matter Tuesday night.
The website's goal is clearly stated on its homepage: to make Kansas the permanent home of the Super Bowl champion Chiefs.
The new website is being paid for by a political action committee called Scoop and Score, Inc. Renderings were created by Manica Architecture. The Chiefs are also going to say they support it and have spoken to us.
KCTV5 reached out to the company's David Manica, who said he was out of the country and would “defer further interviews on this matter.”
Lawmakers said in April that if the STAR bond passes Congress and is signed by Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly, it would give the Commerce Department the authority to negotiate to bring either the Royals or Chiefs, or both, to the state.
The effort failed.
Jackson County voters rejected a proposed 3/8-cent sales tax that would have funded a downtown ballpark for the Royals and renovations to Arrowhead Stadium.
In late April, Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said the team was reviewing its future options, including whether to stay at Arrowhead Stadium or build a new venue.
See also: Communication resumes between Frank White, Chiefs and Royals after stadium tax failure
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