King Solomon had the right idea: Split the KC teams and give the babies to each state
When it comes to the Chiefs and Royals, Kansas and Missouri should apply a little wisdom from the Bible.
They should split the baby.
Kansas should get the Royals. Missouri should get the Chiefs.
Or vice-versa, maybe. It doesn't matter all that much, does it?
The point here is that both teams would stick in the Kansas City region, beloved and (more importantly) attended by thousands of ticket-buying fans on both sides of the state line.
A both-states-get-a-team solution would offer Kansas and Missouri a chance to cooperate in building the future of the Chiefs and Royals instead of trying to outbid each other in a revival of the once-dormant 'border war.'
And because leaders in both states are — foolishly, to my mind — dead-set on public support for sports palaces whose economic benefits will flow mostly to the teams' billionaire owners, the two-state solution would have another benefit: Taxpayers in each state would be on the hook for one gazillion-dollar stadium instead of two.
All the love. Half the risk and expense.
What's not to like?
Big promises, small benefits
Let's back up a second here: It's still not great that Kansas and Missouri are both maneuvering to offer public support to keep the teams around.
Study after study after study has shown that taxpayer-funded stadiums almost never produce the economic payoff that boosters promise when trying to get backing from local governments and taxpayers. It's just not worth it.
Anybody who tells you differently is selling something.
Nonetheless, it's pretty clear that officials in both states — driven by civic pride, perhaps, or maybe just a little border war envy — aren't going to take that advice.
The Kansas Legislature last year approved a plan to fund up to 70% of the cost of two new stadiums using so-called STAR bonds, to be paid back using tax revenues generated by the stadiums and any new surrounding retail developments.
The Show-Me State has been a little slower off the mark. Gov. Mike Kehoe offered a late, vague plan to help fund stadium construction that the Missouri General Assembly smartly rejected. He will probably call a special session to try, try again. Legislators will probably find a way to get to 'yes.'
'I don't think that we want to let this opportunity pass,' Sen. Kurtis Gregory, a Marshall Republican, told the Star.
All this maneuvering has mostly been depicted as a state-versus-state competition. Why can't it be a cooperation instead?
If World Cup can do it
The model here, obviously, is all the work being done to bring World Cup games to the Kansas City region next year.
Matches will be played at Arrowhead Stadium in Missouri, but the success of Sporting KC in its home field at Children's Mercy Park in Wyandotte County clearly played a role in bringing the tournament here. National team camps — and their thousands of fans from around the world — will be spread out on both sides of the state line. That's why Kansas and Missouri are making big infrastructure investments to make the whole thing work.
Both sides are putting in money. Both sides will see benefits, hopefully, which proves that the future of the Chiefs and Royals doesn't have to be a zero-sum competition.
There are a lot of details that would have to be worked out, of course. Questions about the Royals' desire to play baseball in downtown Kansas City, along with the remodeling of the existing Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs, are all in play. (Obviously, resolving these questions means ruling out a scenario where either team moves to Wichita.)
But goodness, wouldn't it be nice if those decisions were made on the basis of what's best for the entire border-straddling community instead of a desperate winners-versus-losers contest that mostly benefits the already-rich-guys at the top of the food chain?
According to the Sunday School lessons of my youth, King Solomon was playing a game when he told two mothers to split the baby that each claimed. He wanted to see who really wanted the child more.
In this case, though, there are two 'babies' — the Royals and Chiefs. Play it smart, and maybe everybody gets to go home happy.
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