Kansas State Legislature Working to Get Kansas City Royals to Relocate

The Kansas State legislature is working to get both the Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Chiefs to leave Missouri.

Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. (7) returns to the dugout following the fourth inning against the Los Angeles Dodgers at Dodger Stadium on June 16. / Gary A. Vasquez-USA TODAY Sports

The state of Kansas is making a play to get both the Kansas City Royals and Kansas City Chiefs to leave the state of Missouri and hop the state lines.

Since the Royals and Chiefs have yet to secure new stadium funding in Missouri, Kansas is taking its shot now.

The following comes from a portion of an article from the Associated Press:

Bipartisan legislative supermajorities OKed the measure to authorize state bonds to help finance new stadiums and practice facilities for both teams on the Kansas side of the metropolitan area of 2.3 million residents, which is split by the border with Missouri...

The plan from the Republican-controlled Legislature goes next to Democratic Gov. Laura Kelly. While she stopped short of promising to sign it, she said in a statement that “Kansas now has the opportunity to become a professional sports powerhouse.

It's hard to imagine the Royals leaving the Kansas City, Missouri area, considering they have played there since their founding in 1969. However, in the last several years we've seen franchises like the Montreal Expos, St. Louis Rams, and Oakland Raiders all leave established areas in favor of new places (Washington, D.C., Los Angeles and Las Vegas). The NHL's Arizona Coyotes are also bolting for Utah and the Seattle SuperSonics (NBA) moved to Oklahoma City within the last 20 years.

Furthermore, if the Royals were to leave Missouri, they'd have the advantage of not needing to change names or branding. There is a Kansas City in Kansas and it shares a metropolitan area with Kansas City, Missouri, so in essence, they'd still be attracting the same fans. This could be similar to win the Golden State Warriors moved from Oakland to San Francisco but still kept the same name.

As is usually the case, this could be a leverage play but the Royals have indicated they are excited about listening to the Kansas proposal.

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