The beleaguered Kansas City Chiefs just scored their biggest win of the year. On Dec. 22, the Chiefs announced a new agreement with the state of Kansas to spend $3.3 billion on a new domed stadium in western Wyandotte County, relying heavily on the tax mechanism called STAR bonds. Gov. Laura Kelly and other policymakers are ecstatic about the deal, which also includes an entertainment district.

Unfortunately, economists have thoroughly documented that sports stadium incentives do not pay for themselves. The massive amounts of revenue diverted to pay back the STAR bonds could fund schools, libraries, first responders, and infrastructure. What economic growth the Chiefs generate is being relocated within the Kansas City area, not “created.” If the proposed entertainment district materializes, it will simply move the spending from other parts of the metro, such as the Power and Light District in Kansas City, Missouri.

It should also be noted that Kansas is a “right to work” state, meaning that the laws protecting unions are much weaker than Missouri’s. Non-union contractors paying workers less will likely be involved in constructing the new stadium — some may not even be located here. This also affects those who work at the concessions, who are currently unionized at the Truman Sports Complex in Missouri. After the big move, they may be stripped of their right to representation as well as some pay and benefits.

The Chiefs chose scrappy, often-overlooked Kansas City, Kansas, over wealthy Johnson County for their project. Known as the Legends, the site lies in the western portion of Wyandotte County, surrounded by existing development including the Kansas Speedway, a soccer stadium, a theme park, hotels and shopping. Unfortunately, because the STAR bonds will use the tax revenue generated to pay for the development itself, there will be little if any benefit to the eastern part of Wyandotte County, one of the poorest parts of the state where good jobs, stable tax revenue, and infrastructure development are badly needed.

The Chiefs deal and associated negotiations with the Royals also scuttled the border war truce. From 2009 until the truce was signed in 2018, Missouri and Kansas wasted $335 million in potential tax revenue luring businesses back and forth across the state line, creating only 1,200 jobs, costing about $280,000 per job. The sports deals ended the truce, and just this week, real estate developer VanTrust Real Estate accepted nearly $120 million to move insurance brokerage firm Lockton to Leawood from the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri, while the Plaza’s own developers simultaneously requested nearly half a billion in tax incentives of their own to redevelop that area.

Here we go again.

In 2024, Jackson County, Missouri, affordable housing advocates led a backlash against the sales tax funding the Truman Complex, arguing that a sales tax on food (among other things) should not be used to subsidize real estate developers and for-profit sports teams when others struggle to find affordable groceries and housing.

Now, any hope of taxpayers, unions and property tax-reliant local schools being involved in a tax deal is gone. Team owners, politicians, and developers are back in the driver’s seat. This project will not pay for itself. Given their generosity, Kansas taxpayers can only hope that the Chiefs match their win in the capitol with more victories on the field.

— Michael Smith is a professor of political science at Emporia State University.