Royals Announce New Ballpark in "The Heart of Downtown KC"

[Couch-Potato]

What do you guys think about the new ballpark?

ESPN:

Spoiler!

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."

[GloryDayz]

Originally Posted by Pablo

You missed it. Big time stuff. New parking deck with a party field and more suites and clubs for VIPs

**** it, if there's no dome they're fighting the future.

[dlphg9]

Originally Posted by nychief

Um. Eat my ass. My family has been in KC since it's founding for Christ's sake.
The question still stands, how much money and civic recognition do these business bring to the city and region? I'd like some numbers, but assume it is substantial.

Anyway, I love all the associate degree libertarians that come out of the woodwork for a ****ing extension of a 15 year old 5/8th a cent tax.

Lmao, yeah I love it. Bitching about something that will cost most people between $100-$200 a year. It's an incredibly insignificant amount of money and it's not a new tax. It's not just Jackson county residents paying for it either. It's anyone that shops there.

[vonBobo]

Originally Posted by dlphg9

Lmao, yeah I love it. Bitching about something that will cost most people between $100-$200 a year. It's an incredibly insignificant amount of money and it's not a new tax. It's not just Jackson county residents paying for it either. It's anyone that shops there.

That's loyalist.

[comochiefsfan]

I always find it funny when the hipsters and artsy folk try and act like sports teams are some money pit that take from the city and give nothing back.

Do people realize how much impact the Chiefs run has had on the perception and national image of Kansas City? It’s absolutely MASSIVE and that is hard to put a value on. Not to mention things that are almost impossible to quantify in dollars and cents such as civic pride and community morale.

Jeopardizing the future existence of these sports teams because “the crossroads is a thriving district with cool sushi restaurants and trendy bars and we have to save those” is absolutely idiotic.

Just because you aren’t personally a sports fan and don’t have a use for the teams do not mean they aren’t hugely important to the community as a whole.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by comochiefsfan

I always find it funny when the hipsters and artsy folk try and act like sports teams are some money pit that take from the city and give nothing back.

Do people realize how much impact the Chiefs run has had on the perception and national image of Kansas City? It’s absolutely MASSIVE and that is hard to put a value on. Not to mention things that are almost impossible to quantify in dollars and cents such as civic pride and community morale.

Jeopardizing the future existence of these sports teams because “the crossroads is a thriving district with cool sushi restaurants and trendy bars and we have to save those” is absolutely idiotic.

Just because you aren’t personally a sports fan and don’t have a use for the teams do not mean they aren’t hugely important to the community as a whole.

They aren't jeopardizing anything and there's numerous economic reports that say your post is wrong

[comochiefsfan]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

They aren't jeopardizing anything and there's numerous economic reports that say your post is wrong

Yeah sorry I don’t subscribe to those reports.

I know what economists say but there are intangible things that sports brings to a community that are extremely valuable that can’t be measured in dollars and cents.

If you want to look at it through that lense then that is certainly a legitimate perspective if you’re only interested in the financial aspect of it.

Also the Chiefs aren’t going anywhere but I don’t know why anyone thinks the Royals aren’t gone without a new ballpark because they are.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by comochiefsfan

I always find it funny when the hipsters and artsy folk try and act like sports teams are some money pit that take from the city and give nothing back.

Do people realize how much impact the Chiefs run has had on the perception and national image of Kansas City? It’s absolutely MASSIVE and that is hard to put a value on. Not to mention things that are almost impossible to quantify in dollars and cents such as civic pride and community morale.

Jeopardizing the future existence of these sports teams because “the crossroads is a thriving district with cool sushi restaurants and trendy bars and we have to save those” is absolutely idiotic.

Just because you aren’t personally a sports fan and don’t have a use for the teams do not mean they aren’t hugely important to the community as a whole.

There's no fiscal benefit to these publicly funded stadiums.

[IowaHawkeyeChief]

Originally Posted by DJJasonp

Can't think of one corporate chain surrounding Petco Park.......matter of fact, the one I can recall (tilted kilt) went out of business.

plenty of small businesses around too.

Been to Gaslamp a lot... only one I can think of is Fogo de Chao...

[tredadda]

Originally Posted by ModSocks

The KC situation reminds me a bit of the SD situation.

Whack ass Padres that have never won shit ever got a bitchin' new stadium in the heart of downtown San Diego, Chargers got the middle finger.

Neither did the Chargers. But from my understanding the Spanos family did their best to destroy any and all goodwill with the city, hence the middle finger. You live there, so you probably know better but that's what I always heard.

[Discuss Thrower]

Originally Posted by comochiefsfan

Also the Chiefs aren’t going anywhere but I don’t know why anyone thinks the Royals aren’t gone without a new ballpark because they are.

Battered wife fan syndrome.

[comochiefsfan]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

Battered wife fan syndrome.

The Royals are gone without a new stadium. This is just reality.

Whether you think they should pay for it is one thing, but they aren't staying at the K and if they don't get a new one here then they will get one somewhere else.

[Fish]

We'll see....

How will Royals manage parking for 38,000 fans in KC Crossroads? Architects detail plan

[...]

HOW WOULD PARKING WORK AT A NEW ROYALS STADIUM?
While parking spaces are privately owned in the area of the proposed stadium, the developers say they are working on a plan that would include using some of these spaces as prepaid parking zones, similar to how parking is at Kauffman Stadium.

Jeff McKerrow, a senior transportation engineer with Kimley-Horn, said an app similar to Park KC app could be developed so that fans could pre-purchase parking spots in a zone ahead of Royals games.

The Royals would be looking to negotiate rates with private lot owners, said Sarah Dempster, Populous senior architect. She said that they would also be working with the city to establish how many spots they are willing to sell for event days.

“Certain lot owners may prefer to say ‘No we are going to keep all of our spots, this is my private lot,’ and that is certainly one approach they could take,” Dempster said. “But I know the Royals are interested in having those conversations so their patrons are taken care of and we are able to guarantee a certain number of spots.”

They are also looking into creating an integrated operations center to monitor downtown traffic during game days, McKerrow said. The center would address traffic and parking needs when there are multiple events happening downtown and in the Crossroads, like a concert at the T-Mobile Center or the First Fridays every month.

An integrated operations center is used at other developments Kimley-Horn helped plan, like U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, where the Minnesota Vikings play.

“We’ve worked in other communities where we’ve developed a playbook,” McKerrow said. “If we have these different activities going on, we’re going to shift our traffic or parking management to adjust for those and plan for those moving forward.”

The plan would include the prepaid parking zones and protecting street parking and small parking lots for local businesses.

HOW MANY PARKING SPOTS WILL FANS NEED ON GAMEDAYS?
McKerrow said the Royals will build 1,500 parking spots with the stadium for fans. He expects a typical ballgame to generate an additional 7,500 cars, which would park in one of the 40,000 parking spots within a 20-minute walk of the proposed ballpark location.

They plan for about 70% of fans to drive, 10% to take the streetcar or bus, 10% to use rideshare, and the other 10% to walk, bike or scooter to the stadium.

Depending on the day of the game, a slideshow shared at the conference showed how many spots would be needed for the planned 38,000-capacity stadium.

A weekday game would require at least 8,900 spaces, while a weekend game would require 8,300 spaces. Based on the developer’s study, they anticipate three fans per car attending weekday games, and 3.2 fans per car coming to a weekend game.

So, on a given night, the Royals could use anywhere between 6,800 and 7,400 parking spaces that are already built in the area, according to the presentation.

[...]

[comochiefsfan]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

There's no fiscal benefit to these publicly funded stadiums.

Ok.

I didn't argue that. There's benefits to having the teams though and the teams won't be here without the stadiums.

I won't fight anyone who claims that the owners should pay for their own stadiums. Unfortunately in the world we live in, either Jackson County pays for it or some other county in some other city will pay for it.

If you don't want to pay the tax then more power to you and that's your right as a citizen to vote that way. You just also have to consider when you're voting that way how much the Kansas City Royals being the Kansas City Royals and not, say, the Nashville Royals means to you.

[RealSNR]

The Bills could win the next four Super Bowls and Buffalo would still be an economically depressed town with almost zero hope of ever being revived back into a thriving metropolitan area.

Kansas City will either thrive or decline irrespective of a downtown sports team and whether or not it's a successful franchise.

[Titty Meat]

Originally Posted by comochiefsfan

Yeah sorry I don’t subscribe to those reports.

I know what economists say but there are intangible things that sports brings to a community that are extremely valuable that can’t be measured in dollars and cents.

If you want to look at it through that lense then that is certainly a legitimate perspective if you’re only interested in the financial aspect of it.

Also the Chiefs aren’t going anywhere but I don’t know why anyone thinks the Royals aren’t gone without a new ballpark because they are.

All this round will do is bring the Royals back to the table with a more detailed plan next year