Kansas has amassed over $26 million in a fund, built from sports gambling revenue, dedicated to attracting professional sports teams to the Sunflower State.
The Attracting Professional Sports to Kansas Fund aims to draw in sports teams, particularly those located in Missouri, including the Kansas City Chiefs and Kansas City Royals. Kansas lawmakers have been trying for years to move the teams to the Sunflower State.
Last year, state lawmakers extended a deadline that would give the Chiefs and Royals hundreds of millions of dollars if they agreed to relocate.
Kansas legalized sports betting in 2022, with lawmakers currently looking to reform taxation on sportsbooks after retaining only 0.6% of revenue for the 2025 fiscal year. Currently, sportsbook operators are taxed at 10%.
The revenue is then distributed between the White Collar Crime Fund, the Gambling Addiction Grant Fund, and 80% is allocated to the Attracting Professional Sports to Kansas Fund. In the 2024 fiscal year, the fund received $8.7 million from sports betting.
The state has yet to use any of the $26 million raised through sports gambling revenue. If the plan fails, the money generated from the fund will be used elsewhere.