The Kansas City Chiefs still have nine years remaining on their lease at Arrowhead Stadium and are currently looking at options to renovate the nearly 53-year-old facility, a team representative said during a Missouri Senate sports betting hearing, attempting to calm rumors that the franchise is open to moving to neighboring Kansas.

Missouri senators questioned Anne Scharf, Vice President, Hunt Family Foundation and Civic Affairs at Kansas City Chiefs, of the franchise’s potential to relocate during a Missouri Senate Appropriations Committee sports betting hearing this morning. Scharf, on behalf of the Chiefs, attended the hearing to throw the franchise’s support behind HB 2502, a bill to legalize retail and online sports betting for state casinos and Missouri professional sports franchises.

Missouri professional sports support sports betting

Representatives from the NHL’s St. Louis Blues, MLB’s Kansas City Royals and St. Louis Cardinals, the MLS’ St. Louis Soccer Club and Women’s Soccer League Kansas City Current all spoke up in favor of legalized sports betting at the Senate hearing.

HB 2502, (sponsored by Rep. Dan Houx) will allow for 39 separate sportsbooks skins distributed amongst the state’s 13 casinos and six professional sports organizations. The bill will officially set the sports betting tax rate at 8%, which will be one of the lowest in the country. It was approved by the Missouri House of Representatives in late March by a vote of 115-33.

The bill is being worked through a Senate committee before potentially receiving a vote on the Senate floor. If approved by the Senate, it would have to be signed into law by Missouri Gov. Mike Parson (R).

Do Chiefs have a home in Missouri?

As expected, several senators questioned Scharf on the Chiefs commitment to remaining in Missouri. At the recent NFL meetings two weeks ago, team President Mark Donovan commented that the Chiefs are exploring all options for the team’s future, including building a new stadium next to Arrowhead or moving the franchise out of state.

When asked why the Missouri Senate should invest time to ensure the Chiefs receive a sports betting license and an online sports betting skin if they’re looking to leave the state, Scharf noted that nothing shared at the NFL meetings had not been shared “repeatedly with local news outlets over the last year.”

Sen. Barbara Washington, (D-9), told Scharf the Senate hoped the Chiefs would show a commitment to Jackson County, Missouri, moving forward.

Scharf said the franchise is spending a considerable amount of money on “an extensive survey” to potentially renovate Arrowhead, Scharf said. If the Chiefs were to receive a sports betting license it would be contingent on remaining in Missouri, she noted.

The Chiefs, she said, have a lease agreement for Arrowhead Stadium that runs through 2033.

While this is true, it’s worth noting that Kansas will likely soon legalize online and retail sports betting as well, so the Chiefs could likely offers sports betting in that state as well. Kansas also has a provision in its sports betting bill earmarking 80% of sports betting tax revenue to attracting professional sports franchises to relocate to the state. While these funds could potentially go towards the construction of a new stadium, it would likely only amount to a few million dollars when billions would be necessary for a new facility.

Next steps for Missouri sports betting

The Senate Appropriations Committee did not take any official action on the bill, no votes were taken, and a schedule for any potential votes has not been laid out yet.

If the bill is approved and signed into law, it will allow each casino to offer a maximum of three skins, but will cap the number of skins per casino company at six if they own two or more facilities. The remaining skins will be allocated to Missouri professional sports franchises.

The breakdown for skins will be as such:

  • Affinity Gaming: Six skins
  • Boyd Gaming: Six skins
  • Caesars Entertainment: Six skins
  • Century Casinos: Six skins
  • Penn National Gaming: Six skins
  • Bally’s Corp.: Three skins
  • Missouri professional sports franchises (6): One skin each

An online sports betting license will require an initial application fee of $150,000, and then a renewal fee of $125,000 one year after. A retail sports betting license will require an initial application fee of $100,000.