Author Spotlight
Libby Marsh
Jackson County, Missouri residents will vote in a special election on April 2 to determine whether or not to extend the current 3/8 cent sales tax to fund the proposed $800 million Arrowhead Stadium renovation.
While some support the new plan’s potential to improve parking and the overall fan experience, others believe that the renovations are unnecessary and unfair to taxpayers.
Jackson County resident and digital design teacher Jennifer Hair will be voting and thinks that the improvements will help with accessibility for older people.
“In terms of accessibility and moving around the stadium, it feels like it’s such a hardship,” Hair said. “My dad’s never been to a game and there’s no way we would never take my husband’s dad because it’s the accessibility and the walking and there’s just no easy way. The parking is crazy, it takes forever to get out of the parking lot, there’s no great rideshare. If you do rideshare, it’s a mess and it’s just safe for everybody to not drive their cars sometimes. So just having an upgraded system that keeps up with the times and safety measures would be good.”
In an Instagram poll of 248 votes, 59% believe the stadium doesn’t need to be renovated. However, in a poll of 205 votes, 65% don’t believe that the renovations are worth the taxes.
If the vote is passed, construction will start in 2026 after the World Cup and will take around four years to complete, according to the National Football League.
The new renovation will include more parking, entertainment areas for fans and VIP suites. This plan will also relocate the Royals stadium to downtown Kansas City and demolish the current one next to the Chiefs stadium. The new parking plans for Arrowhead Stadium will use the property of the Kauffman Stadium if the team moves.
The renovation will also require an extension of the tax in Jackson County. The current 3/8 cent sales tax will be extended to 2064 if the vote passes, according to the campaign manager for the Committee Against New Royals stadium tax, Tim Smith.
If voters do extend the tax, the renovation will be paid for in part by the Hunt family — the owners of the Chiefs contributing $300 million, according to the Kansas City Star.
“We have to be careful about taxing people for long periods of time when that tax money can be used for other things that we really need like good schools, good roads to drive on, sidewalks to walk on, basic services like trash pickup and any number of things,” Smith said. “These are all the things that lose funding [to the renovation] when we give billionaires tax abatements to build buildings that they can pay for themselves.”
Smith believes that the renovations aren’t necessary — that parking doesn’t need to be improved and the increase in VIP seats only benefits wealthy people. The new plans may edge out lower class citizens because most of the new plans involve VIP additions like new suites and entrances, according to Smith.
“[The taxes] are looking out for people who have tremendous wealth who could afford to [buy VIP seats],” Smith said. “That’s not a good idea. So there’s no real benefit to taxpayers on what the Chiefs want to do.”
Assistant football coach Chip Ufford also believes that the renovated stadium is unnecessary and may price out some Chiefs fans — he thinks fans will show up with or without an improved stadium.
“Chiefs fans are gonna show up regardless of if it’s a great stadium or not,” Ufford said. “We have some of the best fans around. They’re out there having a great time in a parking lot. They don’t necessarily need top-notch facilities to support their team and have a good time.”
Hair thinks that the stadium is a big part of Kansas City culture and would be surprised if the vote doesn’t pass.
“[Arrowhead] is probably one of our largest draws on the Missouri side, for the area.” Hair said. “And it’s just really fun. You guys are growing up in this super charmed [city], that if you are a Chiefs fan, it’s been such an integral part of your childhood. And so we want to support that for the next generation.”
I believe that the proposals the Royals and Chiefs are a good deal for the tax payers of Jackson County. All you have to do is look at the money the teams generate for the City of Kansas City. Just the Chiefs alone, all the playoff games generated a whole lot of money for business owners all over the city. Then the AFC championship games. I would love to see the amount of money it generated for the City. Then you have the taxes the business pay from all that money. They will if the election goes well. Just remember all that money both teams bring into this city you won’t have if it isn’t passed. I believe that money over a 40 year period should be about 10 to 15 times the 2 billion dollars the tax payers are giving up.