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By David A. Lieb

The Associated Press

JEFFERSON CITY, Mo. 鈥� Like a loss in the playoffs,聽voters鈥� rejection聽of a stadium tax plan will force the Kansas City Royals and Chiefs to reevaluate their approach.

The defeat April 2 of聽a proposed three-eighths-cent sales tax聽to fund a new downtown Royals ballpark and renovate the Chiefs鈥� Arrowhead Stadium was almost assuredly not the end of the matter. Other teams and cities have faced similar setbacks, and that hasn鈥檛 slowed聽a wave of stadium construction across the U.S.

鈥淭he next page in the playbook, if they lose this referendum, would be to threaten to move,鈥� said Brad Humphreys, a West Virginia University economics professor who researches sports stadiums.

But that doesn鈥檛 mean relocation is imminent, or even likely.

Moving to a new stadium within the same region or another state is just one of several options. Teams could tweak their plans and ask voters again. They could build or renovate stadiums without public funds. Or they could avoid a referendum by seeking approval for public subsidies directly from a legislative body such as a city council, county commission or state legislature.

鈥淯sually, team owners just find a new way to get money, and they鈥檒l go the legislative route,鈥� said Geoffrey Propheter, an associate public finance professor at the University of Colorado Denver. 鈥淩arely do team owners just straight up leave.鈥�

Decades of decisions

From 1990 through 2023, voters cast ballots on 57 stadium and arena proposals across the country, approving 35 and rejecting 22, according to data compiled by Propheter.

In December, Oklahoma City聽voters overwhelmingly approved聽a 1 percent sales tax for six years to help fund for the NBA鈥檚 Thunder a new downtown arena expected to cost at least $900 million.

But in May 2023, voters in Tempe, Arizona,聽rejected a proposal聽for a $2.3 billion entertainment district that would have included a new arena for the NHL鈥檚 Coyotes. The defeat marked the latest setback for the hockey team, which endured bankruptcy in 2009 and is currently playing in a 5,000-seat arena shared with Arizona State University.

The Coyotes haven鈥檛 given up on the Phoenix area yet. The team is聽looking into bidding聽on a 95-acre tract in the northern part of the city.

No referendum needed
Public subsidies for stadiums and arenas often get approved by elected officials聽without the need for a ballot measure.

Last year, the Nashville City Council approved $760 million in local bonds to go along with $500 million in state bonds to help finance a聽new $2.1 billion football stadium聽for the Tennessee Titans. There was no public referendum.

Also last year, construction began on a new Buffalo Bills football stadium that鈥檚 projected to聽cost more than $1.6 billion.聽A聽total of $850 million聽is coming from New York and Erie County, with no public referendum.

The proposal from the Royals and Chiefs went to voters because the Missouri Constitution requires a public vote on local taxes. Only voters in Jackson County got a say, because the proposed tax applied only to sales in that county.

Voters鈥� approval might not be necessary if the teams can finance their stadiums without a tax. One option is privately financed bonds, but those would still need a funding stream for repayments, said Brent Never, associate public affairs professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.

Making an end run
After losing elections, some teams subsequently sidestep voters to get new stadiums.

In 1997, voters in 11 southwestern Pennsylvania counties rejected a proposed half-cent sales tax to replace a stadium shared by the MLB鈥檚 Pirates and NFL鈥檚 Steelers with two separate facilities and to fund a convention center expansion. But the next year, a regional development district approved public financing for the new facilities without going back to voters.

Similar scenarios played out elsewhere in the mid-1990s. When voters in King County, Washington, rejected a tax plan for a Seattle Mariners ballpark, owners threatened to put the team up for sale. Within a month, state lawmakers authorized a new financing plan for a new baseball stadium.

After Wisconsin voters rejected a sports lottery for a new Milwaukee Brewers ballpark, the state legislature authorized a regional sales tax to help pay for it. Last year, Wisconsin鈥檚 governor聽signed a law聽authorizing an additional $500 million of public aid for stadium renovations, again without a referendum.

Trying again
Teams sometimes bounce back from a stadium election loss to achieve victory.

After Houston voters defeated a proposal for a new downtown arena for the NBA鈥檚 Rockets in 1999, supporters tried again the next year and easily won.

The San Francisco Giants are perhaps the greatest example of electoral persistence. Voters said 鈥渘o鈥� to new stadium plans twice in San Francisco, once in Santa Clara County and once in San Jose, before the Giants put forth a privately financed stadium that finally received voters鈥� approval for a needed San Francisco zoning change in 1996.

Moving out
The Oakland A鈥檚 received聽MLB approval聽last year to relocate to Las Vegas, following the path of the NFL鈥檚 Oakland Raiders who were similarly lured by a new publicly subsidized stadium. But those deals didn鈥檛 involve public votes.

The NFL鈥檚 Chargers are the most recent team to move following voters鈥� rejection of a stadium referendum. San Diego voters in 2016聽defeated a plan聽to raise hotel taxes for a new football stadium and to expand a convention center. The Chargers then moved to a new privately financed stadium in Los Angeles, sharing it with the Rams, who relocated from St. Louis.

The NBA鈥檚 Charlotte Hornets moved to New Orleans in 2002 鈥� later rebranding as the Pelicans 鈥� after voters defeated a sweeping plan to fund a new basketball arena, a minor league baseball stadium, museums, and cultural centers.

But just six months after the team left, the Charlotte City Council approved a plan for a new downtown arena without submitting it to voters. The NBA then awarded Charlotte an expansion team, which later assumed the Hornets name.