Downtown Baseball Stadium

[WoodDraw]

I don’t want to be an ass, but it is so much easier to read if people do paragraphs.

[TheUrbanRoo]

There is simply no way at this point the Royals can pass their stadium without the Chiefs on the ballot with them. They’re heading towards one of the 5 worst seasons in MLB history. It’s Chiefs or bust.

[AllThingsKC]

Looking more and more like KC is getting the St. Louis Rams treatment from team owners.

Step 1: Tank the team to discourage attendance.
Step 2: Float some stadium proposals that have no chance at passing because people aren't interested due to the team tanking.
Step 3: Say you tried to get stadium deals done, but the city/fans/taxpayers were unwilling to agree.
Step 4: Find a market willing to pay for a new stadium.
Step 5: Meet your Nashville Royals.

[beautyfromashes]

Looking more and more like KC is getting the St. Louis Rams treatment from team owners.

Step 1: Tank the team to discourage attendance.
Step 2: Float some stadium proposals that have no chance at passing because people aren't interested due to the team tanking.
Step 3: Say you tried to get stadium deals done, but the city/fans/taxpayers were unwilling to agree.
Step 4: Find a market willing to pay for a new stadium.
Step 5: Meet your Nashville Royals.

Zero chance. The other owners would never approve a move. They saw how fanatic this town can be with a winner. Amazing ASG, stacked the voting the year after so much they had to change how voting counts, packed playoff games and most watched team. We’ll put a fair proposal to pay for a stadium and the team will take it.

[dukuboy1]

Yeah I'm not too worried about this team moving to Nashville. The ownership group is all from KC and or has KC roots. They seem pretty invested in wanting to make it work in KC. Now their plan thus far has been terrible, but buying the team and then COVID hit really set them back. However they have not been effective in managing their way out of that and leadership thus far has not been great in their plan & strategy.

All that said, the only way this team moves to Nashville is if they sell it to a new owner who wants to bring the Team to Nashville. I don't see them selling the team.

[AllThingsKC]

You can replace Nashville with any non-MLB market. If there is a market willing to pay up to lure a MLB team, the Royals have the be high on the list as teams that could possibly relocate.

I don't think an ASG from 11 years ago and ASG voting from 10 years ago is best argument to show how much KC would support a winning team. In 2016, coming off a WS win, the Royals were middle of the pack in attendance in the MLB.

I'm not saying there's 100% chance of them moving out of KC. But if they weren't looking to move out of KC, what would they be doing differently?

[langosta]

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[AllThingsKC]

The team is not looking to move but I see it as a possibility if a new stadium isnt approved

Exactly. Which would put us at step two:

Step 2: Float some stadium proposals that have no chance at passing because people aren't interested due to the team tanking.

[langosta]

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[beautyfromashes]

I don't think an ASG from 11 years ago and ASG voting from 10 years ago is best argument to show how much KC would support a winning team. In 2016, coming off a WS win, the Royals were middle of the pack in attendance in the MLB.

Which was exactly what our record was. We have the lowest season ticket base of any major league team, by far! And that’s what drives attendance, locking people in for a seasons worth of tickets and giving them at least a decent possibility of reaching the playoffs. When this team gives the tiniest semblance of hope to not see a loser all season long, the fans support them. Ownership has to realize that they have to invest in the team and lose money to recapture the fans. They did absolutely nothing this last offseason. Minor league OFs, all unproven (besides Greinke) pitching staff. No 3B. I just don’t know what they were expecting. Maybe, they’re cash poor after buying the team, but they had to know this would be a lousy team. If I didn’t live downtown, I’d vote against this stadium.

[langosta]

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[dukuboy1]

You can replace Nashville with any non-MLB market. If there is a market willing to pay up to lure a MLB team, the Royals have the be high on the list as teams that could possibly relocate.

I don't think an ASG from 11 years ago and ASG voting from 10 years ago is best argument to show how much KC would support a winning team. In 2016, coming off a WS win, the Royals were middle of the pack in attendance in the MLB.

I'm not saying there's 100% chance of them moving out of KC. But if they weren't looking to move out of KC, what would they be doing differently?

Luckily we do have some history working in our favor in terms of fans & fanbase. Yes, I am well aware baseball has lost fans over the years & has done a terrible job getting new and younger fans. But it is still baseball and still has nostalgia and appeal across all ages. But it's nice to have had the Royals here since 1969 and the ability to build generational fanbases over the years. Plus we know the town loves the Royals and will go ape shit over winning. Just we have been ground down to a nub by ownership/leadership recently and honestly every since the Mr. K died.

But it still has the draw & appeal and the history. I'd say teams like Tampa Bay or Miami would be in more peril of going to a "trendy/hot" market like Nashville. Oakland just wants out of Oakland and into Vegas, as it appears they want to keep as much of their fanbase still interested by staying out West and in the Pacific time zone. But if Nashville really wanted to go all in why not look at the Rays or Miami. Rays ownership seem to value money & smart business over anything else. Plus they have a model of success in player development and being competitive. They do have fans but nothing I would consider die hard generational fans. If they left for Nashville not sure there would be a huge uproar as they still have NFL & NHL. Plus in states like FL there is a lot more to do and they have generations of residents who were finding things to do before baseball came around. IMO if Nashville wanted a team badly they may find an easier path in luring away a Tampa Bay than the Royals.

[langosta]

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[Eon Blue]

Yeah I'm not too worried about this team moving to Nashville. The ownership group is all from KC and or has KC roots.

Stan Kroenke had local roots...

[TheUrbanRoo]

Dukuboy is correct that if any team is moving to Nashville it would be Tampa Bay Rays. There’s much more uncertainty there than with the Royals.

With that being said, imagine having your worst season (by far) in franchise history during the same year you’re trying to get votes for a new stadium. Like holy shit. It can’t get much more dire than that.

[UMKCroo]

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/a ... 61431.html

[TheUrbanRoo]

https://www.kansascity.com/news/local/a ... 61431.html

Jfc

[taxi]

I don't know a whole lot about baseball, but I know that very rich people love money. If things aren't going the owners' way and they aren't getting the support they need for a downtown stadium and they are faced with dumping a bunch of money into the team or selling them for a profit, which one will they take? Loyalty to the hometown and losing lots of money or making more money?

[phuqueue]

In 2016, coming off a WS win, the Royals were middle of the pack in attendance in the MLB.

In 2016, they were 12th in attendance and 16th in overall record.

Everything people have ever told me or that I have seen was that even in the best years we were ok on attendance. I really do think it’s a market and stadium location/experience issue. The best years show that even when the team is good we do not pack the stadium.

They were routinely top 10, sometimes top 5 attendance during their good seasons in the 70s and early 80s. They were typically only outdrawn by much larger cities and/or better teams (1976-1978, they were outdrawn each year by NYY, LA, Philadelphia, Boston, and Cincinnati's Big Red Machine).

The Royals will draw fine if they ever put a decent product on the field, but they seem to be just institutionally inept, which would likely follow them to Nashville or wherever. I don't hold any romantic view of team ownership that they would never chase dollars to another city because there's too much history or whatever, much more shocking team moves have happened before. But hopefully Royals ownership is at least competent enough to understand that the city is not what's wrong with the team, and that whatever honeymoon they enjoy for their first few years in their new home probably isn't going to offset the costs associated with moving in the first place if they continue to field as awful a team as they have for most of this century. And failing that, maybe we can get Josh Hawley to threaten MLB's antitrust exemption.

[langosta]

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