Downtown Baseball Stadium

[KCPowercat]

Whew. I almost closed the whole dang site!

[KC_JAYHAWK]

I was a strong Yes on the April vote and have spent considerable time on the Waldo Neighborhood page as to why, all related to the Royals announcement. Now I’m not sure. The Chiefs (Hunt) have really deflated my expectations for a “re-envisioned Arrowhead”. Clark Hunt has come off like a cheap ass and basically saying Kansas City residents are fortunate to have the Chiefs, yet he’s only putting in $300m for a team that has won 3 Superbowls in 5 years. The Chiefs need to step up with something big. Why not a glass exoskeleton to make the stadium look more modern with LED light displays incorporated in the glass? Something that says “wow”.

[TheUrbanRoo]

I was a strong Yes on the April vote and have spent considerable time on the Waldo Neighborhood page as to why, all related to the Royals announcement. Now I’m not sure. The Chiefs (Hunt) have really deflated my expectations for a “re-envisioned Arrowhead”. Clark Hunt has come off like a cheap ass and basically saying Kansas City residents are fortunate to have the Chiefs, yet he’s only putting in $300m for a team that has won 3 Superbowls in 5 years. The Chiefs need to step up with something big. Why not a glass exoskeleton to make the stadium look more modern with LED light displays incorporated in the glass? Something that says “wow”.

Concur.

Chiefs really killed the vibes of this whole thing with their giant nothingberger. Like wtf was that rendering. It could've been a picture from 1970 and I wouldn't have known a difference.

[bspecht]

Why not a glass exoskeleton to make the stadium look more modern with LED light displays incorporated in the glass? Something that says “wow”.

Because they're spending the money on things that make the actual experience modern...

Anything that would have obstructed the original shape of the bowl was out (and would have made just as many people angry). Nobody in the organization wants a roof.

[KC_JAYHAWK]

Why not a glass exoskeleton to make the stadium look more modern with LED light displays incorporated in the glass? Something that says “wow”.

Because they're spending the money on things that make the actual experience modern...

Anything that would have obstructed the original shape of the bowl was out (and would have made just as many people angry). Nobody in the organization wants a roof.

A glass exoskeleton around the exterior doesn’t affect the bowl. From what I see, it’s some infrastructure, bigger video boards and a lot of VIP upgrades, meaning those with a lot of money and Hunt pocketing more money, while investing only $300M. I’m probably a no vote on this now because of cheap ass Hunt. All this talk from him about “reimagining Arrowhead “ for the next generation is BS.

[KCPowercat]

New baseball stadium downtown has my yes vote if they can be cool with the neighborhood

[KC_JAYHAWK]

New baseball stadium downtown has my yes vote if they can be cool with the neighborhood

I was, even though my mind isn’t completely made up, but Hunt has made me question the vote and maybe come back in August with something better. Royals got my vote. Sherman should go kick little prick Clark in the ass for effing up the vote…lol

[KC_Ari]

Really just shows that the teams should be split up for any future votes, including this one, if they aren't both going to be at the same complex.

[FangKC]

KC curveball: If voters OK sales taxes for a ballpark, Royals will ask the city and state for up to $700 million more

The Royals are pitching a $1 billion sales tax to pay for a new stadium, but they’ll need another $700 million to make the stadium happen. That’s where the team expects Kansas City and Missouri to come in.

The proposed extension of Jackson County’s sales tax won’t be enough to pay for a new downtown Kansas City Royals stadium.

So the team is in conversation with city officials and Missouri Gov. Mike Parson to fill a $700 million funding gap with taxpayer dollars from Kansas City and the state.
...
As for the Royals, the $1 billion in sales tax money would go toward the new stadium. The team would be on its own to raise money for its surrounding ballpark district.

But that $1 billion will only cover a third of the stadium’s costs.

Before the Royals can use the county sales tax money, the county must still pay off nearly $200 million in debt on the Truman Sports Complex. Plus, because the Royals plan to take out a loan to finance construction costs up front, much of the sales tax revenue will have to pay for interest.

That leaves somewhere between $250 million and $350 million that can actually be used to cover stadium expenses — and leaves more than two-thirds of the stadium’s cost unaccounted for.
...
Schulte said the Royals plan to fill that gap with money from Kansas City and Missouri, but without this document, the specifics remain unclear.
...

https://kcbeacon.org/stories/2024/03/01 ... nding-gap/

[Chris Stritzel]

Convenient article considering the current environment.

Reads like a lot of assumptions and unknowns in this.

[WoodDraw]

"The team would be on its own to raise money for its surrounding ballpark district."

Lol. What ballpark district?

This is all vapor.

[DColeKC]

"The team would be on its own to raise money for its surrounding ballpark district."

Lol. What ballpark district?

This is all vapor.

No, it's not. A new stadium alone isn't the magic pill to increase revenue and put a better team on the field. People keep inaccurately assuming John Sherman is just a rich smuck who wants more money from taxpayers to pad his own personal wealth. He wants to leave a legacy of winning and he knows it ain't happening consistently at The K.

[WoodDraw]

Right now it's vapor. They don't even own the land.

Come out and say this is our plan and this is how we are financing it. They keep just making up numbers.

[DColeKC]

Right now it's vapor. They don't even own the land.

Come out and say this is our plan and this is how we are financing it. They keep just making up numbers.

Well if that's how we are judging if things are vapor, I guess the entire idea of a new stadium is vapor. This location, Kansas, NKC... all vapor.

How will the fund it? Well, the city will be pitching in but only if it's this location.

[KCPowercat]

"The team would be on its own to raise money for its surrounding ballpark district."

Lol. What ballpark district?

This is all vapor.

No, it's not. A new stadium alone isn't the magic pill to increase revenue and put a better team on the field. People keep inaccurately assuming John Sherman is just a rich smuck who wants more money from taxpayers to pad his own personal wealth. He wants to leave a legacy of winning and he knows it ain't happening consistently at The K.

They need to show their math on all this. Nobody has seen anything to back this up.

[DColeKC]

"The team would be on its own to raise money for its surrounding ballpark district."

Lol. What ballpark district?

This is all vapor.

No, it's not. A new stadium alone isn't the magic pill to increase revenue and put a better team on the field. People keep inaccurately assuming John Sherman is just a rich smuck who wants more money from taxpayers to pad his own personal wealth. He wants to leave a legacy of winning and he knows it ain't happening consistently at The K.

They need to show their math on all this. Nobody has seen anything to back this up.

Because it's all a pointless exercise if they can't even get this one critical vote won. This is step one of several when asking for such a low sales tax. It would be much different if they were asking for this one tax to cover all the costs. The other funding depends on this vote and won't require a vote from the public.

[droopy]

So the plan is to ask for more taxpayer money to fund their retirement their costs that the public won’t be able to have an additional vote to approve?

I hope this is clearly communicated prior to April.

[DColeKC]

So the plan is to ask for more taxpayer money to fund their retirement their costs that the public won’t be able to have an additional vote to approve?

I hope this is clearly communicated prior to April.

This tax is meant to help build sure, but's the most critical portion because it's a long term commitment from the county to help fund the upkeep and operations of the stadium long term. The rest of the construction costs will come from city and state backed bonds which won't require a public vote as they'll be a part of the city and states budget appropriations. However, state and local elected officials will have to approve it.

If Jackson County voters don't want to make a long term commitment to maintain and operate a new stadium, then why in the hell move on past that? It's step one and the biggest step at that.

[WoodDraw]

You're begging the question. The royals can't give us details unless we pass a tax, therefore we should pass a tax so the royals give us details.

It's complete circular logic.

[beautyfromashes]

Even the vote means nothing if there isn't a lease.