This event is currently at capacity. Tune into the follow-up broadcast on Friday, March 22 at 7:30 p.m. on Kansas City PBS Channel 19.1.
Fresh off the Kansas City Chiefs’ latest Super Bowl win and only five days after the neighboring Royals begin a new season of baseball, Jackson County residents shift their focus – at least for a day – from the fields of play to the future of the teams’ facilities. On April 2, voters decide whether to extend the 3/8-cent sales tax that now supports Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium at the Truman Sports Complex.
In a special and timely town hall session, American Public Square, the Kansas City Public Library and Kansas City PBS examine an issue that has generated considerable debate and political maneuvering. Both the Kansas City Chiefs and the Royals have committed to staying in Jackson County if the tax extension passes, but the 51-year-old sports complex and Kansas City’s skyline could change considerably. Sentiment for a new downtown baseball stadium persists.
How did we get to this point in the sales tax consideration? What are the pros and cons, the economic risks and returns, of a subsidizing infrastructure for professional sports franchises? Would either team, or both, consider relocating if voters demur on the tax, and what would that mean for the identity of Kansas City?
Kansas City PBS’ Nick Haines moderates the discussion, which will be broadcast in its entirety on the station on March 22. Joining Haines are:
- Sly James, former Kansas City, Missouri, mayor and campaign strategist
- Becky Nace, former Kansas City, Missouri, council member and chair of the Committee Against New Royals Stadium Taxes
- Gary Sarnoff, author and baseball historian
- Sarah Tourville, executive vice president – Kansas City Royals
- Patrick Tuohey, director of policy at the Better Cities Project
