Downtown Baseball Stadium

[AlkaliAxel]

Out of curiosity, if the stadium is put at 18th & Vine are you guys expecting a lot of people to walk there from Crown Center and the loop after they get off work at their 9-5 job? Are you expecting people to be willing to park in the garages at those places and then walk to the game? The distance (1 to 1.5 miles) seems to be right at the point where it's inconvenient yet not unmanageable. If the stadium had stayed there all along then people would probably just suck it up and deal with it just because that's just how it's always been done. But if you put a new stadium in there today I'd expect a fair amount of grumbling, but I don't have a good sense for how strong that grumbling would be or how that would translate into behavior patterns. I've always just assumed that a new stadium at 18th & Vine would be accompanied by a lot more new parking than other locations.

Not to mention you're having them walk past Troost which is a big no no for many of them

[Anthony_Hugo98]

LOL No it wouldnt you're now just making shit up to make your shitty fantasy of a baseball stadium at the violent money pit.

You’re really disproving my points above by *checks notes* saying nothing to refute any of my above..

You have zero evidence it will face the highway you're full of shit.

I linked a graphic further back which shows the orientation of every major league stadium, they can’t face west due to Sunlight, and the vast majority face from slightly northeast, to predominantly east, there are a handful of outliers, some facing further south east, and one facing slightly north west. Again, can’t face west due to sun, and all of the other angles point it directly towards highway interchanges. Look at google maps if needed, but it’d be pretty hard to get any decent view in the EV location..

[KCPowercat]

The streetcar especially when it goes to the plaza and hopefully NKC would for sure be useful and used for a game.

Even in it's current form it's used successfully for events like TMobile games and celebration at the station

[AlkaliAxel]

The streetcar especially when it goes to the plaza and hopefully NKC would for sure be useful and used for a game.

Even in it's current form it's used successfully for events like TMobile games and celebration at the station

My hot take has been that we’ll have an NBA team (New Orleans) here before the Royals play their first game downtown here in 2031.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

The streetcar especially when it goes to the plaza and hopefully NKC would for sure be useful and used for a game.

Even in it's current form it's used successfully for events like TMobile games and celebration at the station

My hot take has been that we’ll have an NBA team (New Orleans) here before the Royals play their first game downtown here in 2031.

Definitely can see it happening

[AlkaliAxel]

The streetcar especially when it goes to the plaza and hopefully NKC would for sure be useful and used for a game.

Even in it's current form it's used successfully for events like TMobile games and celebration at the station

My hot take has been that we’ll have an NBA team (New Orleans) here before the Royals play their first game downtown here in 2031.

Definitely can see it happening

I’m still convinced a good majority under 35 in KC metro would vote to trade Royals for an NBA team in heartbeat too.

[Anthony_Hugo98]

My hot take has been that we’ll have an NBA team (New Orleans) here before the Royals play their first game downtown here in 2031.

Definitely can see it happening

I’m still convinced a good majority under 35 in KC metro would vote to trade Royals for an NBA team in heartbeat too.

My friend group is mostly 20 something’s, and to be fair it’s anecdotal, but all of us much prefer Baseball to Basketball

[normalthings]

I don't really care for NBA but its popular with young people and would be about the most urban sport experience possible in KC. NBA team values have surpassed those of the MLB although revenues are lagging. I almost would be okay with trading MLB for NBA + Sprint Center renovation.

NFL Stadiums are at most usable for other events: concerts, soccer, collegiate, monster trucks, etc. MLB has limited other uses.

[AlkaliAxel]

I don't really care for NBA but its popular with young people and would be about the most urban sport experience possible in KC. NBA team values have surpassed those of the MLB although revenues are lagging. I almost would be okay with trading MLB for NBA + Sprint Center renovation.

NFL Stadiums are at least usable for other events: concerts, soccer, collegiate, monster trucks, etc. MLB has limited other uses.

We have the room to support all 3. Don’t let anyone say otherwise.

[normalthings]

I don't really care for NBA but its popular with young people and would be about the most urban sport experience possible in KC. NBA team values have surpassed those of the MLB although revenues are lagging. I almost would be okay with trading MLB for NBA + Sprint Center renovation.

NFL Stadiums are at least usable for other events: concerts, soccer, collegiate, monster trucks, etc. MLB has limited other uses.

We have the room to support all 3. Don’t let anyone say otherwise.

Wouldn't we be even more over weight in terms of pro-teams.

[KCKev]

We once had KC Kings at Kemper. Is it any different now as far as support?

[KCPowercat]

I don't really care for NBA but its popular with young people and would be about the most urban sport experience possible in KC. NBA team values have surpassed those of the MLB although revenues are lagging. I almost would be okay with trading MLB for NBA + Sprint Center renovation.

NFL Stadiums are at least usable for other events: concerts, soccer, collegiate, monster trucks, etc. MLB has limited other uses.

Hmm I'd say MLB is the least usable for other events. Especially if you throw a roof on the nfl stadium. The seat layout of MLB makes it less usable for concerts. Historically MLB stadiums didn't host anything else. That's changed a bit.

[normalthings]

I don't really care for NBA but its popular with young people and would be about the most urban sport experience possible in KC. NBA team values have surpassed those of the MLB although revenues are lagging. I almost would be okay with trading MLB for NBA + Sprint Center renovation.

NFL Stadiums are at least usable for other events: concerts, soccer, collegiate, monster trucks, etc. MLB has limited other uses.

Hmm I'd say MLB is the least usable for other events. Especially if you throw a roof on the nfl stadium. The seat layout of MLB makes it less usable for concerts. Historically MLB stadiums didn't host anything else. That's changed a bit.

Agreed. I meant most-usable for other events. MLB is pretty much entirely single use. Hockey/NBA are the most flexible. NFL pretty flexible from my understanding.

[GRID]

Why would swapping MLB for NBA be good for KC?

KC already has an arena, so the multi use of the venue is not really an added value to KC having an NBA team. Actually KC is likely to lose some concert dates it already has if it had a primary major league tenant at the arena taking up many dates.

Then you are swapping out a team that has 81 home games for a team that has 41 home games. And even in KC, the Royals attendance is generally higher per game than what most NBA arenas even hold.

I also think MLB has a bigger tourism draw for KC. People come to KC and go to a Royals game, Worlds of Fun, the Zoo, Union Station etc. I'm not so sure NBA or NHL has the kind of superregional or even national draw that MLB teams do. That's how KC can put 20k in Kauffman Stadium 80 times a year. MLB is major family friendly summer attraction for KC for tourists from Omaha, Des Moines etc.

Finally, KC would likely be a nobody team in the NBA. Small market, not a very established fan base and not a very attractive city in general to NBA players. It might beat out OKC and Memphis as far as that goes. But would KC fans support a bad team after a year or two? They do with the Royals because the fanbase goes back many decades.

The KC Royals are huge part of KC's culture and history and in general, having a MLB team is far more prestigious than having an NBA team. Try to bring a NBA team to town, but to trade a team for the Royals would be really stupid IMO.

[GRID]

And I know KC is small market, but it could easily support a NBA or NHL team in addition to the teams it has.

So what if it became the smallest market with 4 pro teams. The city is absolutely bonkers over sports and there is not as much to do in the winter. If KC can support MLB, NFL, MLS which all overlap with each other other major tourist attractions which are most active during the summer, then KC can support one pro team during the winter when not much else is going on.

[AlkaliAxel]

We once had KC Kings at Kemper. Is it any different now as far as support?

Oh yeah, absolutely. Since 1985, the NBA is significantly more popular now than baseball.

And yeah, KC is a great sports town. The fans here will go to anything. We can easily support a 3rd pro-team. I think we’ve been ready since about like 2010.

[GRID]

Oh yeah, absolutely. Since 1985, the NBA is significantly more popular now than baseball.

But that's not really true. The NBA is more popular in some ways, primarily playoffs, finals etc, but MLB draws far more people per game and has double the games. The NBA has more of a sex appeal, especially during the playoffs, but I would not say it's more popular and it really depends on the market too. Here, the DC Wizards are basically non-existent. The Nationals and Capitals are far more popular.

Even in markets with top tier NBA teams like LA, the Dodgers are still extremely popular.

And yeah, KC is a great sports town. The fans here will go to anything. We can easily support a 3rd pro-team. I think we’ve been ready since about like 2010.

I agree. While I don't think KC would have a top tier team (unless it gets lucky for a year or two), I do think KC would show up well enough to support a team. Especially being in downtown. I really think KC would go nuts to have a pro team that actually played downtown. KC just needs a owner. Maybe Mahomes will be the answer some day.

[GRID]

If KC got an NBA team youd have to assume that would be the team for the Omaha/St Louis markets as well which would put them around the same size as the Boston market for example

I'm sure that KC would get those media markets, which would help it get better media contracts, but I doubt it would get a ton of fans going to games from that far. However a few from StL, Omaha, Des Moines, Springfield, Tulsa.....It adds up.

The immediate KC market is not that small. It's not Boston, but there is around 3 million people within about 90 minutes of downtown KC and with the fans that would drive in from Omaha, StL, Des Moines, Wichita and rival fans with OKC, Minnesota etc, KC would do fine with attendance I think.

No need to trade the Royals either.

[AlkaliAxel]

If KC got an NBA team youd have to assume that would be the team for the Omaha/St Louis markets as well which would put them around the same size as the Boston market for example

Goonies is pretty much right. Our NBA market would be like the size of what the Chiefs get..you'd be hardcore pulling fans from all of Missouri, Kansas, Nebraska, half of Iowa too. That's a bigger market than probably a 1/3rd of the current NBA teams.

Honestly we have a much better market for NBA than we do MLB, given the Cardinals suck off everything in MO outside of KC metro. The Cubs & Cards own Iowa too.

[shinatoo]

Average home attendance per season/game:

MLS: 374k/22k
NFL: 529k/66k
NBA: 738k/18k
NHL: 738k/18k
MLB: 1,539k/19k

Nobody comes close to MLB in attendance.