Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe and supporters of an expansive incentives package to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals in the state pitch the plan as a major economic development opportunity. Not everyone is so sure. Again and again, researchers over decades have found that stadiums are not major drivers of economic development.

The Missouri House on Tuesday endorsed a new framework of financial incentives to try to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals from possibly leaving the state by helping fund new or renovated stadiums for them.

The state House passed a last-minute attempt to keep the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals in Missouri. The incentive package would pay up to half the cost of new and improved stadiums for the teams. Rep.