In 2023, the Dallas Cowboys led the NFL in regular season home attendance<\/a> with 748,775 fans. Even the Chiefs, who won the Super Bowl that season, drew less than 640,000 people for nine regular season home games \u2014 less than half the hapless Royals.<\/p>\n Baseball teams play far more games and sell far more tickets. As a result, event frequency and attendance are factors lawmakers might consider as Missouri and Kansas ponder financing stadium plans for the Royals and Chiefs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Both the Chiefs and Royals are pitting the two states<\/a> against each other to get the most taxpayer dollars to fund new or renovated stadium projects. Neither state is giving teams major amounts of taxpayer dollars directly<\/a>, but tying stadium debt to future economic activity like sales tax dollars in a stadium district.\u00a0(Kansas lawmakers have pushed the deadline<\/a> for a final decision to Jan. 1, 2026.)<\/p>\n Does differing attendance mean Kansas and Missouri should focus on the Royals because they bring in more people? Or does the possibility of hosting Super Bowls, concerts and other major events make the Chiefs more valuable?\u00a0<\/p>\n Lawmakers versus economists<\/p>\n The Chiefs-versus-Royals debate has a different answer depending on whom you ask.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI would think that the Royals would have an advantage there, just because of the sheer number of games,\u201d said Kansas Senate Minority Leader Dinah Sykes, a Lenexa Democrat.\u00a0<\/p>\n Others think sold-out Chiefs games pack the stands too well to ignore.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cIf you build a dome, you\u2019re talking Super Bowls, Final Fours, major concerts, lots of development around it,\u201d said Senate President Ty Masterson, an Andover Republican, on sports radio 810 WHB<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n Masterson said \u201cmost everybody \u2026 in the conversation\u201d prefers the Chiefs.\u00a0<\/p>\n Many economists couldn\u2019t care less.\u00a0<\/p>\n J.C. Bradbury, a professor of economics at Kennesaw State University, said it is a terrible idea for Kansas or Missouri to help fund the stadium in any way. Stadium development programs only move around economic activity, he said, and don\u2019t create new growth. Kansas City locals are spending their money at a Chiefs or Royals game, but they would have otherwise spent it at a bar or other local business.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n Kansas lawmakers have long said they want to keep the Chiefs and Royals in the area, and argue that\u2019s why a stadium plan is critical. But Chiefs or Royals? Bradbury said it makes no difference.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cI can\u2019t say this emphatically enough,\u201d Bradbury said. \u201cPeople keep making this mistake and I\u2019m almost tired of talking about it, but there isn\u2019t any extra economic benefit from baseball because more people are going to baseball games.\u201d<\/p>\n NFL versus MLB attendance<\/p>\n The 106-loss 2023 Royals team sold more regular season tickets than the 2022 and 2023 Chiefs combined \u2014 even though those seasons ended with Super Bowl championships.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Chiefs and Royals at their best, selling out stadiums and winning championships, likely wouldn\u2019t even become the largest STAR bond projects in Kansas in terms of attendance.\u00a0<\/p>\n The 2015 Royals won the World Series and set a single-season record for attendance with just over 2.7 million tickets sold. Phases one and two of the Wichita Riverwalk development had an estimated 2.6 million and 2.7 million visitors in 2018 and 2019 respectively.\u00a0\u00a0<\/p>\n The Wichita Riverwalk is paying off a $55.3 million bond. Kansas has offered to finance up to 70% of one or two multibillion-dollar stadium projects.\u00a0<\/p>\n Masterson is confident a Chiefs or Royals stadium can pay for itself with the proper stadium district. He isn\u2019t worried that a Royals stadium draws more people and may cost less to build.\u00a0<\/p>\n Kansas lawmakers amended the Sales Tax and Revenue Bond, or STAR bond, program to try and lure a professional sports team to Kansas. That means sales taxes generated in a stadium district goes to pay off stadium debt. The more fans who show up and spend money, the quicker the debt is paid down.\u00a0<\/p>\n These stadium districts wouldn\u2019t just host games. The newly constructed Texas Rangers stadium is in a sports district with the Cowboys that has regular events and keeps the area busy.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201c(We said) put the Cowboys to work for Arlington,\u201d Brian Mayes, a lead political strategist in Texas, told The Beacon<\/a>. \u201cIt was the economic generator, and the additional tax revenue that was made by the Cowboys helped the city pay for roads and parks and police.\u201d<\/p>\n
![\"Kansas](\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/Chiefs-resized-1-1024x576.png\")
Chiefs fans gather in the Power & Light District after the Super Bowl win in 2020. (Zach Bauman\/The Beacon)<\/p>\n