‘We are at a critical point’: Downtown KC Council urges KCMO to keep Royals
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Kansas City Royals will play their last season at Kauffman Stadium in 2030. Owner John Sherman hopes to announce the site of the team’s future home in the coming months.
At the Royals Rally early February, Sherman said the organization hoped to provide some certainty by the middle of 2025. In the meantime, Downtown Council - a group representing Kansas City’s downtown businesses and organizations - has made a push encouraging the Kansas City Council to make a renewed push at keeping the Royals in Kansas City, Missouri.
“We are at a critical point in our effort to retain the Royals in Kansas City, Missouri, and to build an iconic new stadium and mixed-use ballpark district in our revitalized downtown,” the council stated.
In April 2024, Jackson County voters rejected a 3/8 cent sales tax to move the Royals downtown and renovate Arrowhead Stadium.
Kansas legislators saw that as an opportunity to lure the teams to Sunflower State with a bill.
Governor Laura Kelly signed the STAR Bonds bill to attract a professional sports team using the Sales Tax and Revenue Bonds to finance a major development such as a new stadium or practice facility.
In August, ideas floated around as to where the Chiefs or Royals could go. The idea of Washington Square Park came up for the baseball team.
In late February, local state lawmakers filed a bill in the Missouri Legislature that would incentivize retaining and attracting professional sports teams and entertainment venues under the Missouri Entertainment Facility -- Capital Assistance Program (MEF-CAP) Act.
Kansas City’s mayor expressed his support for the bill, stating that “the Kansas City Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs are Kansas City’s teams today and will remain Kansas City’s teams for generations to come.”
The Downtown Council drafted a resolution urging the City of Kansas City to work with the Royals and other political jurisdictions and economic development agencies in Missouri to finalize an agreement to bring the stadium downtown.
"A thriving, vibrant downtown is essential to the vitality of the entire Kansas City region," the Downtown Council stated. “Out-of-town visitors, businesses, and investors—not to mention the next generation of creative talent—form their opinions of our city largely based upon the health of our urban core. Losing the Royals to a suburban Kansas location would be a monumental lost opportunity for not only downtown but for the entire Kansas City region."
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