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."
Originally Posted by GloryDayz:
Sadly too many people in JACO will give in to their threats SEVEN YEARS BEFORE THE LEASE IS UP.
I'm a "no" vote if for no other reason than the team's performance, but I'd be a "no" vote because it's WAAAY to early to be having this conversation AND because you don't have to be an accountant to understand the numbers are a little too unbelievable. If they weren't complete BS we'd have done this exact thing last time they renovated the TSC.
But again, too many JACO voters are afraid of the team moving, even is only over to the Kansas side of the line.
I'm not sure who's afraid I live in Jackson County and a ton of people have no desire to pay for it. [Reply]
Suddenly they change the plans.....now Oak street will be open...
Perhaps the worst PR effort ever in the history of politics
This has every sign of failure and desperation by the pro forces and the Mayor is in hiding cause he knows the stain of failure will be on him
Today, the Committee to Keep the Chiefs and Royals in Jackson County released the following statement from Kansas City Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman about the Crossroads ballpark proposal and the development around Oak Street:
“I want to thank Mayor Quinton Lucas for his leadership and tireless advocacy as we work to make the best possible ballpark district in downtown Kansas City,” said John Sherman, Chairman and CEO of the Kansas City Royals. “We have been listening to members of the Crossroads community and had thoughtful conversations with the Mayor and City Council to improve the ballpark district impact. Through these conversations we have come to realize the importance of keeping Oak Street open. We acknowledge Oak Street is an integral part of the downtown experience, and therefore we agree to change the ballpark district design to keep Oak Street open. We look forward to working with the Mayor and City Council to begin this joint effort.”
So they really dont have a real solid plan at all [Reply]
Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower:
The Star cited the source of a definitive, evidence-based and unbiased examination that proves stadium projects like this are a net negative to the economic welfare of a city which pays for them. Not only that, this source and another expert looked specifically at the Sherman and Hunt proposal that says their projections are complete hokum.
There's naiveté and then there's choosing to be ignorant.
So, a media source that's been run through the mud in recent years as a propaganda machine for their own political agendas and editorial pieces, etc... reached out to these guys with zero knowledge of what their research would conclude (in other words, their 3rd party source have never published such findings on any other similar projects, it wasn't discussed beforehand, etc), then the Star was 100% going to publish the findings no matter the conclusion?
I'm sure The Pitch (do they even exist still?) or some other publication really wanting the Royals to be downtown could find 3rd party sources who completely agree with the economic boost theory, or at least agree enough... don't you think?
And I'm not even voting on it, obviously... if the Royals moved to Kansas, I'd give no fucks. If they moved away, it would be sad, but not life altering for myself at all..... and even on top of that, I'd lean towards agreeing the economic boost is overblown by the Royals, if not made up..... I'm just finding it amusing how you'd be bending over backwards to discredit such a piece if you disagreed with it, but this is 100% legit right here. [Reply]
Originally Posted by HonestChieffan:
Suddenly they change the plans.....now Oak street will be open...
Perhaps the worst PR effort ever in the history of politics
This has every sign of failure and desperation by the pro forces and the Mayor is in hiding cause he knows the stain of failure will be on him
Today, the Committee to Keep the Chiefs and Royals in Jackson County released the following statement from Kansas City Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman about the Crossroads ballpark proposal and the development around Oak Street:
“I want to thank Mayor Quinton Lucas for his leadership and tireless advocacy as we work to make the best possible ballpark district in downtown Kansas City,” said John Sherman, Chairman and CEO of the Kansas City Royals. “We have been listening to members of the Crossroads community and had thoughtful conversations with the Mayor and City Council to improve the ballpark district impact. Through these conversations we have come to realize the importance of keeping Oak Street open. We acknowledge Oak Street is an integral part of the downtown experience, and therefore we agree to change the ballpark district design to keep Oak Street open. We look forward to working with the Mayor and City Council to begin this joint effort.”
So they really dont have a real solid plan at all
They never have, all this speaks to is cash grab, then when it inevitably costs a lot more than they projected they'll come back like a crackhead "I need a little bit more money" [Reply]
Originally Posted by Mecca:
They never have, all this speaks to is cash grab, then when it inevitably costs a lot more than they projected they'll come back like a crackhead "I need a little bit more money"
They've said any amount over the initial estimate would be paid out of their own pockets. It'd be a publicity nightmare if they went back on that and they know it. [Reply]
Originally Posted by HonestChieffan:
Suddenly they change the plans.....now Oak street will be open...
Perhaps the worst PR effort ever in the history of politics
This has every sign of failure and desperation by the pro forces and the Mayor is in hiding cause he knows the stain of failure will be on him
Today, the Committee to Keep the Chiefs and Royals in Jackson County released the following statement from Kansas City Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman about the Crossroads ballpark proposal and the development around Oak Street:
“I want to thank Mayor Quinton Lucas for his leadership and tireless advocacy as we work to make the best possible ballpark district in downtown Kansas City,” said John Sherman, Chairman and CEO of the Kansas City Royals. “We have been listening to members of the Crossroads community and had thoughtful conversations with the Mayor and City Council to improve the ballpark district impact. Through these conversations we have come to realize the importance of keeping Oak Street open. We acknowledge Oak Street is an integral part of the downtown experience, and therefore we agree to change the ballpark district design to keep Oak Street open. We look forward to working with the Mayor and City Council to begin this joint effort.”
So they really dont have a real solid plan at all
Your obsession with Mayor Lewis is just so weird. [Reply]
There is absolutely no way this vote doesn't pass.
It's a done deal...because the Chiefs are also involved. Might not pass if it was Royals because nobody cares about the Royals. But Chiefs have Mahomes and Kelce in on marketing for this. It is passing. [Reply]
It takes a lot of nerve for an organization as terrible as the Royals to ask for taxpayer dollars to be used to build a home for their shitty team. [Reply]
Originally Posted by HonestChieffan:
Suddenly they change the plans.....now Oak street will be open...
Perhaps the worst PR effort ever in the history of politics
This has every sign of failure and desperation by the pro forces and the Mayor is in hiding cause he knows the stain of failure will be on him
Today, the Committee to Keep the Chiefs and Royals in Jackson County released the following statement from Kansas City Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman about the Crossroads ballpark proposal and the development around Oak Street:
“I want to thank Mayor Quinton Lucas for his leadership and tireless advocacy as we work to make the best possible ballpark district in downtown Kansas City,” said John Sherman, Chairman and CEO of the Kansas City Royals. “We have been listening to members of the Crossroads community and had thoughtful conversations with the Mayor and City Council to improve the ballpark district impact. Through these conversations we have come to realize the importance of keeping Oak Street open. We acknowledge Oak Street is an integral part of the downtown experience, and therefore we agree to change the ballpark district design to keep Oak Street open. We look forward to working with the Mayor and City Council to begin this joint effort.”
So they really dont have a real solid plan at all
Hopefully he mean McGee, not sure whats on Oak [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Who the fuck gives a shit if they slightly modify their plans for Oak Street... isn't that a good thing? :-):-)
Start building and block Oak St: OMG why didn't they think about this?!?
Change a plan after looking at it: OMG, what a mess!
...I'd love a job in an industry where projects never change course, even a tiny bit, lmk.
When people have already voted on it in early voting and you are announcing things like that, it makes you look like you have no fucking idea what you are doing. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Who the fuck gives a shit if they slightly modify their plans for Oak Street... isn't that a good thing? :-):-)
Start building and block Oak St: OMG why didn't they think about this?!?
Change a plan after looking at it: OMG, what a mess!
...I'd love a job in an industry where projects never change course, even a tiny bit, lmk.
It is kind of a big deal. This shows me it was rushed with very little interaction with the City by the architects and royals. Abandonment of public right of way is not an easy process. Also even if that abandonment is approved it doesn't go to Sherman unless he is the sole owner of the properties adjacent to each side of the right-of-way centerline. [Reply]
Originally Posted by dlphg9:
They've said any amount over the initial estimate would be paid out of their own pockets. It'd be a publicity nightmare if they went back on that and they know it.
Economic transparency has been a problem all along. It is believed that the royals are well short after paying off their current debt and paying interest in new construction and will be asking Missouri taxpayers for another 700 million in addition to the tax. [Reply]
