By Anna Kaminski

TOPEKA — The agreement between the Kansas City Chiefs and the state of Kansas to build a new $3 billion domed football stadium, headquarters, training facility and entertainment district could be the largest stadium deal in American history, and most Kansas lawmakers agreed last week to establish a sports authority board to oversee the project.

The unparalleled public subsidies that accompany the deal have drawn criticism from economists, politicians and football fans from the jump.

Sen. Mike Thompson, R-Shawnee, said the deal will live in infamy and become a euphemism for disagreeable legislation of the future.

On Friday, lawmakers passed the Kansas Sports Facilities Authority Act, establishing an 11-member board to oversee the project. It will have the power to develop and control new facilities, acquire and dispose of property, contract for services and employees, sue and be sued, and procure industry standard insurance. The bill was fast-tracked through the Legislature in March and still requires the governor’s approval to become law.

In a 60-40 split, the state will cover at least $1.8 billion of the project cost through sales tax and revenue bonds, or STAR bonds, and funds siphoned from iLottery and sports wagering revenues. The project, which was announced in December, also includes a $1 billion entertainment district and a new training facility and team headquarters in Olathe.

The Hunt family, which owns the Chiefs, pledged $1 billion to the project, and other private funds will cover the private sector’s remaining 40% obligation.

Under the act, authority members will include the Kansas secretary of commerce, who is currently Lt. Gov. David Toland, and people appointed by the Chiefs, the governor, the mayors of Olathe and the Unified Government of Wyandotte County, and the majority and minority leaders in both chambers.

Appointees must be Kansas residents with education, training and experience relevant to facility administration, accounting, law, marketing or other fields. The mayors are able to appoint themselves as voting members, and all members must be appointed by Aug. 31. Once formed, the authority can hire an executive director, who won’t be compensated with state funds but from the $7 million in annual rent the Chiefs will be obligated to pay for use of the stadium.

Rep. Rui Xu, D-Westwood, said the Kansas Sports Facilities Authority would be the first in the nation to include a voting member from the team. He cited that as his reason for voting against the formation of the sports authority. He said it was ridiculous the state was allowing the team to oversee its own agreements.

The Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, which oversees the Kansas City Royals’ Kauffman Stadium and the Chiefs’ current home at Arrowhead Stadium, has a five-member board of private professionals. Both stadiums were built more than 50 years ago, and the Chiefs’ move came after years of negotiations with Kansas and Missouri that escalated to a border war.

Missouri voters rejected a ballot question in 2024 that would have provided the team with hundreds of millions of dollars in public investment to renovate Arrowhead.

Rep. Paul Waggoner, R-Hutchinson, also voted against the sports authority act, questioning whether the state-issued STAR bonds would be paid for by business from the new stadium within a defined district. He speculated inflation will pay for the bonds instead.

“When you have a stadium, and you are somehow trying to pretend that economic activity five miles away in a metropolitan area is somehow generated because of what you did with a stadium, I mean, you’re obviously not being serious,” Waggoner said Friday on the House floor. “You’re obviously not looking at the real economics of it.”

He argued the deal will have an overall negative impact on the state budget if sales tax revenues flatten in a growing part of the state.

Rep. Sean Tarwater, R-Stilwell, chair of the House Commerce Committee and a staunch proponent of the deal, presented the act on the House floor, bitterly criticizing colleagues at one point for opposing the legisaltion. He spent several minutes praising the Hunt family for its philanthropic endeavors and economic prowess.

“I just wanted to take a moment to look at all the great things that that family does since they seem to be getting trashed up here,” Tarwater said.

Rep. John Carmichael, D-Wichita, called for a point of order, challenging Tarwater’s statement. Carmichael, who voted against the bill, complained that Tarwater’s remarks were laudatory statements about the Hunt family rather than on the subject of the bill.

“Well thank God he came up here,” Tarwater said, “because I could talk for three or four hours about all the fantastic things that family does.”

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