Missouri senators on Thursday approved a plan to provide over $100 million in aid for tornado-ravaged St. Louis and authorized hundreds of millions of dollars worth of incentives to try to persuade the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals to continue playing in Missouri in new or improved stadiums.

Lawmakers are acting with urgency in a special session because the professional sports teams face an end of June deadline to accept a competing offer from Kansas while residents in St. Louis are struggling to recover from May storms that caused an estimated $1.6 billion of damage.

The aid measures advanced in a series of early morning votes only after Republican Gov. Mike Kehoe struck a deal with some holdouts that included more disaster relief money and the potential for property tax breaks for some homeowners facing rising tax bills. The package also contains funding for building projects around the state, including $50 million for a nuclear research reactor used for cancer treatments at the University of Missouri.

Though House approval is still needed, the Senate vote marked a major hurdle, because the stadium incentives stalled there last month. Tornadoes struck St. Louis and other parts of Missouri on May 16, a day after lawmakers wrapped up work in their regular session.

In addition to the $100 million for St. Louis disaster relief, the package authorizes $25 million for emergency housing assistance and a $5,000 income tax deduction to offset insurance policy deductibles for people in any area included in a request for a presidential disaster declaration.

Kehoe said the plan would “help those in crisis, while also making smart decisions that secure opportunity for the future.”

The future of the Chiefs and Royals has been up in the air for a while.

The teams currently play professional football and baseball in side-by-side stadiums in eastern Kansas City in Jackson County, Missouri, under leases that run until January 2031.

Jackson County voters last year turned down a sales tax extension that would have helped finance a $2 billion ballpark district for the Royals in downtown Kansas City and an $800 million renovation of the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium.

That prompted Kansas lawmakers last year to authorize bonds for up to 70% of the cost of new stadiums in their state.

Missouri’s counterproposal would authorize bonds for up to 50% of the cost of stadium projects while also providing up to $50 million of tax credits to go with unspecified support from local governments.

While testifying Tuesday to a Senate committee, Chiefs lobbyist Rich AuBuchon described the Missouri offer as “legitimate” and “competitive.” If the Chiefs stay in Missouri, he said they likely would begin a $1.15 billion plan to renovate Arrowhead Stadium and upgrade the team’s practice facilities in either 2027 or 2028. It would take three years to complete.

AuBuchon pointed to other recent publicly financed stadium projects in Baltimore, New Orleans, Nashville and Buffalo, New York.

“Throughout the country states are funding stadiums. They are a big economic development. They are a big business,” AuBuchon said.

However, many economists contend public funding for stadiums isn’t worth it, because sports tend to divert discretionary spending away from other forms of entertainment rather than generate new income.

“What the teams are doing is playing Kansas and Missouri against each other,” said Patrick Tuohey, senior fellow at the Show-Me Institute, a free-market think tank whose St. Louis headquarters got hit by the tornado.

“When cities and states do this, they hollow out their tax base for the benefit of wealthy billionaire team owners … they lose the ability to provide public safety, basic services,” Tuohey said.

Royals lobbyist Jewell Patek said that even with the state incentives, a planned stadium district likely would need voter approval for local tax incentives in either Jackson or Clay counties, which couldn’t happen until later this year.

He made no guarantee the Royals would pick Missouri over Kansas, but Patek added: “We love the community, we love the state … we think this is a step in the right direction for the state of Missouri.”

Wednesday’s national semi-final game is set, and it will be a rematch with the Central Missouri Mules. After falling 12-9 to the Bears on Sunday night the Mules took down East Stroudsburg 12-8 earlier today to stay alive and advance in the tournament.

The Bears’ couldn’t have asked for a better start to the NCAA DII Championships, as they currently sport a 2-0 record following 15-11 and 12-9 wins over East Stroudsburg and Central Missouri. Lenoir-Rhyne has totals of 27 runs, 26 hits, 25 RBI’s, six home runs, and five doubles over the course of two games. Leading the way is All-American Sal Carricato, who is batting .444 with three home runs and nine RBI’s over the course of the first two games. Carricato, Cole Laskowski, and Mackenzie Wainwright have each tallied 4+ hits in the two games with Wainwright leading the way at 5-for-12 and four runs scored. On the mound, starters Andrew Harlow and William Girardi have each gone six innings to pick up wins. Gavin Marley has been clutch in end of game situations, striking out eight in 4.0 innings of work.

Central Missouri’s route to this game was a 5-3 win over Northwood, 12-9 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne, and a 12-8 win over East Stroudsburg. The Mules are no strangers to this stage as they have advance to the NCAA Championships 21 times in their storied history, winning titles in 1994 and 2003. They most recently advanced to the title game in 2021 where they fell 5-3 to fellow SAC school Wingate. The Mules sport an offense that has six qualified individuals batting .300 or more and rank ninth in DII with 88 home runs. Jacob Steele (.383 avg., 90 hits, 75 runs, 62 RBI’s, 13 HR’s) and Dayvin Johnson (.338 avg., 73 hits, 70 runs, 58 RBI’s, 15 HR’s) were both named to D2CCA All-Americans, while Vance Tobol’s .730 slugging percentage and 20 home runs leads the team in power numbers. Jack Kriesman, Jack Scott, and Evan O’Toole are Central Missouri’s main starters, with JD McReynolds being their main middle innings/closing pitcher. McReynolds pitched well against the Bears on Sunday, allowing just two hits and striking out four in two innings of work.

Wednesday’s game will serve as a double-elimination game for the Bears and single-elimination for the Mules. A win for Lenoir-Rhyne would secure their spot in a three-game championship series with the other side of the bracket, while a Central Missouri win would set up a rematch between the two teams on Thursday.

SCENARIOS
1. If after Game 11 (LR vs. UCM, Wednesday at 1:30) both teams have one loss, these teams will play a Bracket One “if necessary” game on Thursday, June 5th. If this is the only game on Thursday, it will be played at 3 p.m. If there are two games, it will be played at 1:30 p.m
2. If after Game 12 (NNU vs. Tampa/UT Tyler, Wednesday at 6:00) both teams have one loss, these teams will play a Bracket Two “if necessary” game on Thursday, June 5th. If this is the only game on Thursday, it will be played at 3 p.m. If there are two games, it will be played at 6 p.m
3. If any “if necessary” games are played on Thursday, June 5th, the championship series will begin with one game at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, June 6th. The second game of the championship series will be at 3 p.m. on Saturday, June 7th. A third championship series game (if necessary) will be played immediately following.
4. If no “if necessary” games are played on Thursday, June 5th, the first championship series game will be at 6:00 p.m. on Thursday, June 5th. The second game of the championship series will be at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, June 6th. If a third championship series game is necessary, it will be played at 3 p.m. Saturday, June 7th.