KCRag Forum

I didn't mean permanently! The event is once a year. North Loop is all parking lots for days right now. Set up the BBQ there.

beautyfromashes wrote:I didn't mean permanently! The event is once a year. North Loop is all parking lots for days right now. Set up the BBQ there.

Thats still not big enough. They use about twice the north loop in parking.

They are still trying to prove they can make it just as good or better without the Kemper location. I really hope they come to their senses and bring it back to Kemper in one of the first weeks of October. The event and atmosphere were already great, but they never quite figured out how to make it accessible to outsiders who didn't have a connection to a specific party. There is even less incentive to go out to the speedway for me because I was primarily interested in the event for the atmosphere. Now, it is just a really big version of every other BBQ competition, but somewhere I have to drive that is really far away from most of the city.

Agree to everything here. The BBQ belongs in the Bottoms, although space and access are surely at a premium there.

Why not just hold it at Penn Valley? If they can make RockFest work, i'm sure they can make a BBQ competition work. You would have a great backdrop with the skyline

brewcrew1000 wrote:Why not just hold it at Penn Valley? If they can make RockFest work, i'm sure they can make a BBQ competition work. You would have a great backdrop with the skyline

parking. no, not for visitors but the competitors.

The BBQ contest is a sea of RVs and tents.

Is an opportunity for another BBQ competition to form in W Bottoms that is more engaging with the public. Maybe not a 'competition' but a giant BBQ/beer party with music similar to Boulevardia however with focus on Q, with maybe public seminars by the masters to teach how to grill and slow smoke, share some techniques.

Why don't we have a truly local BBQ competition? Just have those that have restaurants in the metro compete for the annual title of KCs best BBQ. Gates vs. Joes vs. Q39, etc.

The mayor wants an art fair. Why not take the food idea and fold this into it? Regional art, regional entertainment, regional food. The best the Kansas City region has to offer. BBQ absolutely would need to be a centerpiece of this.

He wants it at Swope Park and there would be no issues with finding enough space there so the event could scale up well.

^ Why Swope Park? I don't really find that any better than The Legends. Needs to be in the city and needs to be focused on one event or no one really understands what it is. Is it art? Is it BBQ? Is it music? If it's a celebration of everything KC, it won't be a regional or national draw.

American Royal to build facility in Wyandotte County

http://www.kmbc.com/article/google-tren ... es/7274170

If that happens then the Kansas City Royals Baseball Club should change their name to something else since the American Royal will have nothing to do with the State of Missouri or KCMO anymore.

Sad the Royal is leaving their historic home in the Bottoms.

I've mentioned before but take a look at what Denver is doing with their former stockyards area as evidence of what could be accomplished with the right vision - http://www.bizjournals.com/denver/blog/ ... stock.html

It sounds like the Royal is relying on a substantial amount of private fundraising to make this happen as planned. Not sure how quickly they will achieve that goal, if at all. Will be curious to see what shape the West Bottoms/Stockyard District takes moving forward without the AR.

At some point KCMO needs to work to continue building/maintaining regional attractions within the urban core, development beyond apartments and restaurants.

They've already raised the first $80 million via Kansas welfare. Pretty interesting that the state of Kansas is still giving up huge chunks of tax money while KCMO is the one trying to be fiscally responsible (in this instance). On the down side, the Royal was a great historic attribute to the WB. On the up side, the WB is no longer hindered by those in charge at the AR, and others with vision can step in on a pretty blank slate. If the KC Royals new what was good for them, they would buy some space down here while the getting is still good. My downtown-ish baseball stadium fantasy will never die, but we are probably within 5 years of the next ask for huge money or renovations by the Royals.

Meh...history and tradition are apparently passe. Too bad the folks at the Royal don't get it. Much of the allure of the West Bottoms party was an opportunity to congregate and party like hell in a very cool urban backdrop under overpasses amidst a sea of people and hickory smoke. A greenfield behind a modern ag exhibit doesn't quite host the same allure. On the bright side...Chili's and Sonic will be nearby. <---SARCASM

I don't know of any side unhappy with this move

I think a lot of people assume the American Royal is mostly just the BBQ. The BBQ is only one event, but the AR has a lot of other things that are really their main focus. The ultimate win/win would be for the Royal to move to their new digs and for the BBQ to come back to the West Bottoms. The entire unique party atmosphere of the event is forever gone when you put it in a location that feels like any other BBQ event. I think the move is a great short-term decision for the organization in that there will be a lot of fanfare when it first opens and they now have a lot more potential for other programs.

However, there have been a lot of people trying to figure out how to stay relevant beyond the BBQ event for many many years to no avail. There is still a risk that, long-term, the waning interest in things like the rodeo and livestock shows, coupled with the potential diminished brand of the AR BBQ competition, could really put a hurt on an organization like this. It is similar to the Junior League in that it heavily relies on donated time from (primarily) women in wealthy/upper crust families. They will continue to raise a good deal of money so long as the BOTAR Ball is seen as a desirable status symbol for young adults and Cerner folks drop money on it, but if the volunteers don't like driving out to the speedway, the amount of money required to run the place and maintain such a modern facility could really skyrocket.

American Royal, Sporting and Cerner has a lot of ownership/management overlap so they're putting everything they can out in one location with taxpayer assistance. Do you think they care about atmosphere?

Cerner got $232 million in assistance in 2013
http://www.bizjournals.com/kansascity/n ... -move.html

Sporting got $229 million in 2009
http://www.bonnersprings.com/news/2009/ ... lage-west/

Now the Royal is getting $80 million in tax credits.

That's $541 million

flyingember wrote:They held their parade around the stadiums last year. They didn't have to move that from downtown and they did.

Do you think they care about atmosphere?

I think they don't right now because they have set out to prove they can do it just as good or better without KCMO. Personally, my feeling is that they will be asking to have it downtown again in a few years because of the faceplant that will be the next few events. As for the BBQ, the actual competitors may like the logistics of the speedway better, but it will definitely be harder for the small guys who can only afford the entry fees because they threw a party the night before. This is my problem with the thing. It will just become a more prestigious version of the Lenexa BBQ competition and will differ very little from the Jack Daniels BBQ competition. If their numbers start to shrink, both ticket sales-wise and competitor-wise, they may be asking for the BBQ to come back as well. I could certainly be wrong, but I just don't see the allure other than it is an event at a great time of the year for a BBQ event. I'm definitely not driving out to the speedway to then have to drive back after a few beers, but maybe more people are comfortable with that or aren't drinking than I'd expect.

Cerner and, specifically, the Pattersons get my award for worst offenders in holding the urban core back. Even if they come crawling back I wouldn't take the AR back. ::door in the ass::

BBQ Parties will definitely decrease after the transportation mess of last year will probably be worse this year. The only nice thing about last year was every team got more space..but everything was so separated it lost a lot of charm and fun.