Kansas City, MO. – While the leaders of the county of Jackson met state officials on Wednesday to base themselves on football and baseball stadium, a Clay County senator wants to ensure that others are involved in the conversation.
Earlier this month, Missouri Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern (D – District 17, Clay County) filed SB710This would create the Clay County Sports Complex Authority.
The authority would be responsible for “developing, maintaining or maintaining sports, congresses, exhibitions and or commercial facilities” in Clay County.
The bill received a first reading on February 17. It has not been advanced since then.
"Nobody wants to see a multi-million-dollar business take its investments and jobs to another state – no matter if that business makes cars or wins pennants," Nurrenbern said in a statement to KSHB 41 News on Wednesday. "If a major sports team is interested in bringing their money and their jobs to Clay County, we need to be ready to work with them or they may leave Missouri entirely. That is why I have filed legislation to protect taxpayers while positioning our County to take advantage of a once-in-a-generation opportunity for significant economic development."
The Chiefs of Kansas City and Kansas City Royals continued to explore the stadium options after the expiration of their leases on January 31, 2031, to Geha Field at the Arrowhead stadium and at the Kauffman stadium respectively.
The two teams have been working with the Jackson County Sports Authority for decades at the Truman sports complex.
The members of the County County Council of County have closely followed the development of new stadiums since the beginning of 2024, when the two teams asked the voters of the Jackson county to approve a sales tax which would extend a financing mechanism to cover the costs of new or refurbished stadiums.
The Jackson County legislator, Sean Smith, was one of the participating local leaders Wednesday sessions in Jefferson City.
Smith told KSHB 41 News journalist Charlie Keegan that he had not seen the Nurrenbern bill as “competitive at the county of Jackson”.
“The reality is that if they (Clay County) want to have a sports team, let’s just say that they are building an auditorium and that they want a hockey team, great, go ahead,” said Smith. “There should be nothing at the level of the state which prohibits the county of Clay or a county to do so. They try to put this in place as a possibility, but I do not consider it particularly impactful on what will happen with Arrowhead or the Jackson County Sports Complex. “”
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