If/when the Missouri gambling amendment officially is declared a winner, the Chiefs will win, too.
Via Ben Fischer of Sports Business Journal, Chiefs president Mark Donovan said that the legalization of gambling in Missouri triggers escalators in the team’s deals with BetMgM and DraftKings. The development also allows the Chiefs to add a third gambling sponsor.
The existing contracts were signed after Kansas legalized sports betting.
Donovan didn’t disclose the amount of the escalators. Which probably means they’re not insubstantial.
Or maybe Donovan doesn’t want to count the Chiefs’ chickens before they’ve officially hatched. Although the article from Fischer presumes that legalized sports betting in Missouri is a done deal, multiple reports indicate that the 50.1- to 49.9-percent race is still too close to call — and that a recount will happen, if requested.
If the measure ultimately prevails, it will make up (somewhat) for the failed vote in April regarding public funding for a new Royals stadium and a renovated Arrowhead Stadium. And maybe the new money arising from legalized sports betting in Missouri will spark a package that keeps the Chiefs from crossing the border to Kansas, when their lease expires.
