KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- The Kansas City Royals intend to build their new downtown ballpark blocks away from T-Mobile Center and the Power & Light District, scrapping two concepts elsewhere in the city for a location that puts the stadium closer to existing entertainment areas.
The Royals revealed plans for the $2 billion-plus ballpark project Tuesday at Kauffman Stadium, two days after the Kansas City Chiefs -- whose Arrowhead Stadium shares the Truman Complex with their existing ballpark -- won their third Super Bowl in the past five years, and one day before the city celebrates another Lombardi Trophy with a parade downtown.
"This is going to be awesome!!! Can't wait!" Chiefs quarterback and Super Bowl MVP Patrick Mahomes wrote on X in response to renderings of the new Royals ballpark.
The parade route Wednesday travels along Grand Avenue to Union Station, or directly past the location of the new ballpark.
"We're the second-smallest city with both an NFL franchise and Major League Baseball club," Royals owner John Sherman said, "and we want to sustain ourselves as a major league city. We want these franchises to thrive here for another 50 years."
The new ballpark -- located in "the heart of Kansas City," per an X post from the team -- will seat about 34,000 fans, or roughly 3,000 fewer than Kauffman Stadium, and the Royals are hopeful it would be ready for the 2028 season. The final design is still under development, but renderings shown Tuesday paid homage to the K's swooping roof lines and iconic center-field fountains.
"The ballpark will have a really great feeling of intimacy," Sherman said.
Kansas City started play at Municipal Stadium in 1969, then moved to Kauffman Stadium in 1973 and extensively renovated the current ballpark from 2009-12.
The Royals unveiled two other locations last fall, one on the eastern edge of downtown and the other across the Missouri River in Clay County, Missouri. Both were met with tepid reaction from fans, many of whom still love Kauffman Stadium, and political infighting ensued over the extension of a sales tax in Jackson County, Missouri, to help pay for the ballpark.
The Royals' ownership group plans to invest more than $1 billion in private funding for the project, but some of the money will come from the 3/8-cent tax, which also will provide funding that the Chiefs plan to use to renovate Arrowhead Stadium.
"I know I'm biased here," Sherman said, "but between what the Chiefs can do out here with an expanded tailgate experience, and what we do down there, we will have two of the best pregame and postgame experiences in all of sports."
The Royals and Chiefs pushed to put the sales tax on the April 2 ballot, and Jackson County legislators initially approved the referendum, only to watch Jackson County executive Frank White -- a five-time All-Star and member of the Royals' Hall of Fame -- veto the measure. Last month, two legislators changed their vote and joined five others in overriding the veto.
That not only put the tax extension on the ballot, it put the onus on the Royals to reveal exactly what voters will be paying for.
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The new ballpark would be situated adjacent to Interstate 670, where the Kansas City Star's former printing press building sits largely vacant, and tie together several disparate neighborhoods into a more cohesive downtown environment.
Just to the north, where new parks would cover the interstate and allow for safe pedestrian traffic, sits Power & Light, the home to many existing bars and restaurants. To the south lies the Crossroads Art District, a trendy enclave anchored by the Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. And to the east is the historic 18th & Vine neighborhood, home to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, the American Jazz Museum and iconic restaurants such as Arthur Bryant's Barbeque.
"The fact of the matter is, we've always been cognizant of this site. It never went away," said Earl Santee, the founder of the Kansas City-based sports architectural giant Populous. "We looked at other sites over time, and this is my 23rd major league ballpark site, and it's timing that leads you to the end, and this is the right timing for this site."
Santee compared the 17.3-acre site to downtown ballparks built in Denver, Pittsburgh and Minneapolis. There are about 20 property owners in the area and the Royals will need to negotiate with each of them to purchase their parcels of land.
"Development is happening in ways that are engaging," Santee said. "This will amplify the brand of Kansas City."
Indeed, the Royals hope the project continues what Sherman called "a golden era" for the former cowtown on the plains.
Over the past decade, Kansas City has hosted two World Series, baseball's All-Star Game and the NFL draft, while a $1.5 billion airport opened just over a year ago. The Kansas City Current of the National Women's Soccer League will open their new purpose-built stadium next month on the north edge of downtown, and Arrowhead Stadium was recently awarded six games -- including a quarterfinal match -- by FIFA for the 2026 World Cup hosted by the U.S., Mexico and Canada.
"This is about a lot more than just a new home for the Royals," said Brooks Sherman, Royals president of business operations, who is unrelated to the team's owner. "This generational project is intended for something great."
it's a pipe dream for sure but as someone who wants KC to move away from a car centric city, I'm hopeful that the downtown stadium can catalyze much needed public transit infrastructure. One good sign though is that KC recently eliminated their parking minimums (KC is 1/3 parking lots lol), so hopefully this will facilitate getting rid of some of the parking lots and turning them into things people will actually use.
It's very unlikely to happen but I'd love to see the trolley trail get turned into an actual trolley route. Build an east west route and KC will slowly become the envy of even european cities. [Reply]
When San Diego decided to build Petco Park in downtown people had the same concerns some of you are complaining about.
However, the stadium did wonders to revitalize an aged, ugly portion of downtown San Diego and that area has thrived since. We have public transportation (trolley) as well as a number of parking lots/structures that help alleviate the congestion issue. Also helps that there's multiple freeway entrances near by. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Enjoyed the suburbanite and boomer comments on FB yesterday... traffic and congestion nightmares, one way streets, cats and dogs living together, won't ever attend another game ever!!!
Hell, it took me an hour and a half to get out of WS game 7 in 2014 and at least an hour to get out of the 2021 AFCCG.... downtown won't be any worse than that.
The one hope though is managing the flow of people and vehicle traffic... Sprint Center events have been annoying in the past because they funnel everyone right in front of the parking garages where no one can leave due to all the foot traffic. Just a little bit of thought towards managing that and traffic lights and so forth would go a long way.
Sports Complex is a cluster fuck parking wise as well. It's not this parking utopia that people make it out to be where you just park and leave in a minute. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
When San Diego decided to build Petco Park in downtown people had the same concerns some of you are complaining about.
However, the stadium did wonders to revitalize an aged, ugly portion of downtown San Diego and that area has thrived since. We have public transportation (trolley) as well as a number of parking lots/structures that help alleviate the congestion issue. Also helps that there's multiple freeway entrances near by.
Originally Posted by Detoxing:
When San Diego decided to build Petco Park in downtown people had the same concerns some of you are complaining about.
However, the stadium did wonders to revitalize an aged, ugly portion of downtown San Diego and that area has thrived since. We have public transportation (trolley) as well as a number of parking lots/structures that help alleviate the congestion issue. Also helps that there's multiple freeway entrances near by.
It's not like that doesn't have value, but the majority of people in the metro don't live downtown and don't frequent these areas except occasionally, so these benefits may not move the needle for them. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Enjoyed the suburbanite and boomer comments on FB yesterday... traffic and congestion nightmares, one way streets, cats and dogs living together, won't ever attend another game ever!!!
Hell, it took me an hour and a half to get out of WS game 7 in 2014 and at least an hour to get out of the 2021 AFCCG.... downtown won't be any worse than that.
The one hope though is managing the flow of people and vehicle traffic... Sprint Center events have been annoying in the past because they funnel everyone right in front of the parking garages where no one can leave due to all the foot traffic. Just a little bit of thought towards managing that and traffic lights and so forth would go a long way.
A hour to get out? Why so slow?
You also have to thin it was easy for you to park then walk into the stadium. Most ganes it doesn’t take long. Especially Royals games
That’s the thing the flow of traffic will never improve. And most of the parking will be parking garages. It’s going to take forever to get in and then to get out
And the streetcar is limited.
The city needs light rail. Which will never happen [Reply]
I live pretty much the same distance from Kansas City and St. Louis. KC is like 20 miles closer or so not that big of a deal. When I go to a Royals or Chiefs game, I drive up and come home. But if I go to a Cardinals game, I get a hotel and turn a one day trip into two. [Reply]
Originally Posted by ChiefsCountry:
Sports Complex is a cluster **** parking wise as well. It's not this parking utopia that people make it out to be where you just park and leave in a minute.
Royals it aint bad but for the Chiefs it blows [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Enjoyed the suburbanite and boomer comments on FB yesterday... traffic and congestion nightmares, one way streets, cats and dogs living together, won't ever attend another game ever!!!
Hell, it took me an hour and a half to get out of WS game 7 in 2014 and at least an hour to get out of the 2021 AFCCG.... downtown won't be any worse than that.
The one hope though is managing the flow of people and vehicle traffic... Sprint Center events have been annoying in the past because they funnel everyone right in front of the parking garages where no one can leave due to all the foot traffic. Just a little bit of thought towards managing that and traffic lights and so forth would go a long way.
Don't leave out the "and CRIME" complaining.
Thinking about the "congestion" concerns:
1. The stadium will seat 34,000. This is a smaller footprint.
2. I'm sure the team is counting on increasing season ticket sales to companies that have offices downtown. There are 10s of thousands of people who drive in and park at their corporate offices downtown every day.
If you work at HR Block, or JE Dunn, etc. you're already parked in a lot, and can hop on the streetcar or walk to this stadium site.
3. There are MORE parking spaces within a few blocks of the new stadium location than at the current location
4. UBER man. Getting an Uber from Brookside/Waldo/JoCO to the Crossroads is an easy deal. It's harder to get them out to the current location.
5. Streetcar
Between the streetcar, and rideshare services, and trying to attract more business people who just ... stay for the evening instead of commuting home... you're not going to have 34,000 people trying to drive down there and park for the game all at once. [Reply]
Originally Posted by KingPriest2:
A hour to get out? Why so slow?
You also have to thin it was easy for you to park then walk into the stadium. Most ganes it doesn’t take long. Especially Royals games
That’s the thing the flow of traffic will never improve. And most of the parking will be parking garages. It’s going to take forever to get in and then to get out
And the streetcar is limited.
The city needs light rail. Which will never happen
That's definitely the worst of it and probably due to full stadiums + everyone staying until the very end... both times, I was parked relatively close to the stadium and there was just no movement in the lot forever.
They also had a bottleneck strategy several years ago... I remembered basically doing laps around the stadiums, it was so bad. And sometimes it's really easy to get out because they keep the lines moving, but other times not so much.
The easiest way in and out is parking in like L and then walking back to your car and basically being out of that congestion. Very similar to downtown... I almost always park up at like 8th and Main and it's incredibly easy getting out.
Parking garages aren't bad as long as there's a constant stream of cars leaving (and not being tied up by foot traffic or cross traffic).... it's no different than funneling huge parking lots into one or two exit paths. [Reply]
