KANSAS CITY, Mo — Early Thursday morning, the Missouri Senate passed legislation that would help fund potential stadium projects and keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals in the state.
The legislation still requires passage in the Missouri House and the signature of Gov. Mike Kehoe.
As they work to keep both the Chiefs and Royals at home, certain legislators have questioned the impact of St. Louis losing the Rams franchise.
The Rams left St. Louis in 2016 to Los Angeles.
Unlike the current push for the Chiefs and Royals, there wasn't much opportunity for St. Louis to keep its team.
St. Louis spent millions of dollars on a task force for a $1.1 billion football stadium to prevent the team from leaving. The city, county and local sports authority ultimately sued the NFL and Rams owner Stan Kroenke.
The City of St. Louis won a $790 million settlement for lost revenue and breach of contract.
During Senate committee discussions on Tuesday, talk of the St. Louis situation came up.
"To address what happened with St. Louis and the Rams, all I can say is, 'Please don't let what happened to St. Louis happen to Kansas City,'" Jake Hummel, president of Missouri AFL-CIO, said during testimony.
State Sen. Mary Elizabeth Coleman (R- District 22) recalled how the situation was handled.
"What happened when the Rams left is they went to California with no state support whatsoever. They 100% paid for that," Coleman said. "They left with no money after we gave a lot of money so I also don't want to see what happened with the Rams happen here."
St. Louis Board of Aldermen President Megan Green spoke with KSHB 41's Alyssa Jackson about the economic impact.
Green said the city of St. Louis is currently left with figuring out financing for $150 million worth of upgrades to the Rams' former home, The Dome at America's Center.
"There's definitely economic benefits to be had when those stadium deals are structured in the right way and I think that's the key to all of this; How do we retain teams but do so in a way that does grow the tax base? That isn't just a proposal where all of the revenue that's being earned from the team goes back to the ownership which was some of the issues we ran into with the Rams.," Green said.
While there's no indication the Chiefs or Royals are trying to leave the Kansas City area, there are some lessons to consider from St. Louis losing its franchise.
"We have to make sure that we're not over subsidizing and I think we also have to recognize that the first deal isn't always the best deal and it's all not always the deal that you will end up with," Green said.
The city of St. Louis recently decided how to spend the settlement money.
There are ongoing discussions about allocating $30 million of the settlement's accrued interest to storm relief efforts following the recent tornado.
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