The last thing Kansas and Missouri need is a new Chiefs-Royals border war | Opinion

It’s never a good idea when a truce lapses and a war begins again. That’s even true when it comes to economic development. And it’s especially true if the reason for that lapse is Taylor Swift’s favorite NFL team.

Nearly five years ago, Govs. Laura Kelly and Mike Parson — of Kansas and Missouri, respectively — signed just such a truce. The two states had been battling for years, using taxpayer-funded economic incentives to lure businesses from one side of the border to the other. AMC Entertainment, for example, moved from downtown Kansas City to Leawood in 2011 thanks to $21 million in incentives from the Sunflower State.

Businesses benefited greatly from the “border war,” of course. It’s not clear that taxpayers ever did.

So in 2019, leaders from both states did the smart thing and pledged to stop luring businesses across the state line if no new jobs are going to be created.

“We’re spending a lot of taxpayer money for initiatives for businesses on the border of Kansas and Missouri, and sometimes we’re not getting very much gain for that,” Parson said at the time. “There’s no reason we can’t be using that money for a lot better purposes than just jumping from one side of the state to the other.”

Good thinking. It made sense then. It makes sense now.

Unfortunately, though, good sense doesn’t always rule the roost when it comes to our favorite sports teams. Kansas and Missouri might be headed back to the trenches again.

Long story short: Kansas City voters last month rejected a sales tax to spruce up Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs and help the Royals move downtown. Almost nobody thinks the vote represents a rejection of the two teams or a readiness to see them move elsewhere.

We love our Chiefs and Royals. At least when they’re winning. And even when they’re not, we don’t want to see them go anywhere.

So April’s vote wasn’t really a “go away” moment. It was a “back to the drawing board” moment. Unfortunately, the new plan on the board seems to involve pitting Kansas and Missouri against each other.

THE WRONG ‘WAKE UP CALL’

I wrote last month the cultural reason why a state-versus-state battle over the pro sports teams is dumb: The Chiefs and Royals might be located in Missouri, but they truly belong to both states. There are hundreds of thousands of fans on both sides of the border. When there’s a championship parade — four in the last decade — both governors show up.

It’s nice. Why mess with that?

Some folks aren’t content to leave well enough alone, though. Some Kansas lawmakers last week unveiled a plan to use STAR bonds to lure the Chiefs and/or Royals across the state line. It’s probably going to get some consideration at the upcoming special session of the Kansas Legislature. And that has the attention of Missouri officials.

“I think this is certainly going to serve as a wake up call for our community to come together and make serious decisions about keeping the Royals and the Chiefs in Missouri,” Missouri House Majority Leader Jonathan Patterson told The Star.

Wait, guys. Just stop for a minute.

Forget the sentimental, cultural reasons to avoid a battle over the Chiefs and Royals. Think instead of the good governance business reasons — the reasons why Kelly and Parson signed that truce five years ago.

The teams (private businesses owned by billionaires, remember) would certainly benefit from a “whose economic incentives are bigger” competition between Kansas and Missouri.

Would fans? Would taxpayers in either state? Would more jobs somehow be created?

Probably not. The old “border war” competition made Kansas and Missouri a “poster child of how not to create jobs,” one expert said when the truce was signed.

Kelly and Parson called off that war in 2019 because it made sense: Both states were spending lots of money and didn’t have a whole lot to show for it. We should learn from history. A new border war wouldn’t produce better results just because the Chiefs and Royals are involved. It’s not too late to lay down arms.

Joel Mathis is a regular Kansas City Star and Wichita Eagle Opinion correspondent. He lives in Lawrence with his wife and son. Formerly a writer and editor at Kansas newspapers, he served nine years as a syndicated columnist.