By AP/KWMU
Kansas City, MO – Major League Baseball is dangling another incentive before Kansas City area voters who will vote next month on two stadium-related tax questions.
The taxes would raise money to improve Kauffman and Arrowhead Stadiums, where the Royals and Chiefs play. Some state tax credits would also be used to pay the costs.
Now, Baseball Commissioner Bud Selig says Kansas City will host an All-Star game between 2010 and 2014 if Kauffman is fixed up. That comes after the NFL promised the city the 2015 Super Bowl if Arrowhead gets a roof.
Kansas City has only hosted one All-Star game, in 1973. "Kauffman Stadium's construction played a key role in the transformation of modern-day ballparks," said Selig in a statement. "With the approval of the proposed renovations, this historic venue will once again be transformed into one of the crown jewels of Major League Baseball."
One of the ballot questions on the April Fourth ballot in Jackson County would create a three-eighth-cent sales tax to raise about $475 million for improvements to the side-by-side stadiums at Truman Sports Complex. The other proposition would raise about $200 million through a business tax for a roof that would roll between Kauffman and Arrowhead.
Royals owner David Glass says the roof isn't necessary to snag the future All-Star game. Glass also predicted such a game would mean at least $50 million for the local economy.
(St. Louis has hosted four All-Star games: 1966 in Busch Stadium; and 1957, 1948, and 1940 in Sportsman's Park)