Poll: How important is it to keep the Kansas City Chiefs, Royals in Missouri?
KANSAS CITY – Efforts to lure the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals across state lines – from Missouri to Kansas – have intensified throughout the year as both franchises consider future plans around aging stadiums.
Such a change would reduce Missouri’s professional landscape from six professional sports to four. Various economic consequences would also be at stake.
How much do Missourians want the Chiefs and the Royals to stay on the Missouri side of the Kansas City region? New poll results indicate more residents would prefer to keep both teams in the Show Me State than not.
A new Emerson College Polling/The Hill poll conducted in Missouri finds that 46% of respondents feel it’s “very important” to keep the Chiefs in Missouri, while 16.9% consider it “somewhat important.”
The same poll revealed that 15% of respondents feel that the possibility of both teams crossing state lines is “not too important” and that 22.1% think it’s “not important at all.”
As for the Royals, the poll finds that 38.2% of respondents feel it’s “very important” to keep the Chiefs in Missouri, while 20.1% consider it “somewhat important.”
The same poll revealed that 18.3% of respondents feel that the possibility of both teams crossing state lines is “not too important” and that 23.5% think it’s “not important at all.”
The results suggest that around three in every five Missourians, on average, would prefer to keep the Chiefs and Royals on the Missouri side of the Kansas City region. Though there appears to be slightly more of a preference with the Chiefs (62.9%) as opposed to the Royals (58.3%).
The prospect of the Chiefs and Royals staying in state has apparently grown more uncertain over the last several months.
In April, voters in Jackson County rejected a sales tax plan to finance a new downtown Kansas City baseball stadium for the Royals and upgrades to Arrowhead Stadium, the longtime home of the Chiefs.
Earlier this week, the Kansas House and Senate overwhelmingly passed a funding plan that would allow the state of Kansas to pay up to 70% of stadium project costs through STAR bonds. Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly is reviewing the legislation, which could allow the state to start negotiations with one or both teams.
Missouri Gov. Mike Parson told reporters last week that his office is following the situation closely and would work at both the state and local level on a competitive deal in hopes to keep both teams in Missouri.
Before and since the April election, some have pushed back against the idea of Missouri using public money to keep the Chiefs and the Royals in the state.
Poll results did not reveal any correlation between the preference to keep the team in state and the preference to extend a sales tax to do so. The results also did not indicate any trends of support or opposition based on political party affiliations.
Emerson College Polling, The Hill, and Nexstar Missouri conducted this poll. Review our methodology and data here.
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