Downtown Baseball Stadium

[Metro]

I'll never root for a Kansas based team. I'll literally burn my Chiefs merch if they announce a deal with Kansas.

A bit much

[bricknose]

less than 24 hours after the vote here is how I see this all playing out

- Chiefs play flirty eyes with KS, pretty designs and all
- MO leadership are beside themselves about losing every NFL team and rallies the state to keep Chiefs
- Royals and Chiefs agree to separate. Chiefs play nice with JaxCo, Royals tell them to get bent
- Royals work with KCMO to get the funding needed (don't ask me how, I don't know)
- Big beautiful fully fleshed out plan comes out from the Royals.
- Royals go back to whatever vote they need to go back to next April
- Chiefs take longer to get their vote.
- Downtown baseball 2029
- New Arrowhead with a real redone stadium 2032?

If this happens, I’ll have to post a lot of apologies for my snarky retorts on Reddit, but it will be worth it.

[taxi]

Arrowhead name is owned by the County, I believe. No, “Arrowhead West”.

Arrowhead UK

[KC_JAYHAWK]

I'm not sure there is time to save the chiefs. KS will not mess around and will have something signed in the middle of the night in the coming months. It's just like sporting kc.

Royaks have a little more time and I don't know if Sherman woukd entertain moving to ks so quickly, but I can see ks offering up a location in Overland Park or something.

I think their is plenty of time. The Chiefs aren't going to Kansas. No way Parsons lets two NFL franchises leave Missouri. Plus the Chiefs weren't planning to do anything with the money until after the 2026 World Cup. I just don't think Clark Hunt would abandon what his father built. The Hunts are worth billions of dollars, they need to quit whining and come up with something big that excites the voters, while keeping Arrowhead's bowl in contact.

[DColeKC]

Weird, the people who make these decisions disagree with you. Today at least.

Not sure how many times I'm going to have to explain how Cordish played a role here. They wanted downtown baseball, they didn't twist arms into the East Crossroads site. There was some nudging but it wasn't by Cordish.

Well, Cordish is out. I'm hoping the Royals choose a good partner for their development and go back to the original plan to fund with the revenue around the stadium. My only concern is that they won't realize that they need to come to the table with more resources. They're going to have to put up more money.

Cordish was never in. jFC. And let’s be real here, if the Royals officially partnered with Cordish on the development side it would help. The Royals aren’t developers. Cordish has a track record and could have told the story about here’s what we signed up to do and here’s what we’ve done. Regardless, let’s drop the crosshairs talk for once.

[dukuboy1]

Weird, the people who make these decisions disagree with you. Today at least.

Not sure how many times I'm going to have to explain how Cordish played a role here. They wanted downtown baseball, they didn't twist arms into the East Crossroads site. There was some nudging but it wasn't by Cordish.

Well, Cordish is out. I'm hoping the Royals choose a good partner for their development and go back to the original plan to fund with the revenue around the stadium. My only concern is that they won't realize that they need to come to the table with more resources. They're going to have to put up more money.

Cordish was never in. jFC. And let’s be real here, if the Royals officially partnered with Cordish on the development side it would help. The Royals aren’t developers. Cordish has a track record and could have told the story about here’s what we signed up to do and here’s what we’ve done. Regardless, let’s drop the crosshairs talk for once.

I had a nice post ready to go but for whatever reason it did not post. But I agree with you 100% on the Royals need to seek professional developers, PR firm, and consultants to get it done. They can no longer rely on in house assets to get this thing across the finish line. I for one am baffled why there is so much Cordish discord amongst people. Perhaps it is a just a few very vocal people on this forum that are very consistent with their criticism. I am all about accountability and no one is above criticism. But to me Cordish has been a good partner and really fulfilled on 90% of what they said they would do. Has there been struggles with filling and keeping filled the retail? Yes, but that has more to do with the macro economics of retailers & the food and beverage industry. Plus 2 years of a global pandemic crippled those industries and they are only now starting to limp back. The Pandemic effected the office environment as well. So there were significant headwinds to deal with. But Cordish still build 2 & 3 light. Still going to build 4 light.

Are people mad they got a sweet deal and the city has to cover revenue losses for P&L. Sure that sucks but it won't be there forever and gets better over time (at least I think it has). I'm not blaming Cordish for that, city signed the deal and everyone worked together in good faith just the analysis did not pan out like they thought it would. This happens in business all the time. No need to constantly vilify Cordish for things that were out of their hands. Plus I don't see them trying to be a "sleazy partner" and just take the money and run so to speak. They have remained committed to their development and downtown KC. Even KC as a market where they see even more potential growth. Honestly it has been good for both KCMO and Cordish, and if you can't see that you biases run so deep that you never will.

That said I hope things can be done right for the Royals and their Crossroads plans. Take some time, get some outside professional help and really work to make it happen. Improve the design, answer the questions and quell the fears. But get smarter people than yourself on the job right away. They need to understand their weaknesses and then go about turning those into strengths by getting professionals onboard to truly create the Team you need to get this done.

Finally I'd love to see some sort of parking garage structures that include retail street level activation, be developed on some of the existing surface lots in the EV. I think this would be a slam dunk to help address the "parking fears" of people and provide a very viable revenue stream for the developers. Not only would it help Royals games but could be shared parking for existing & new business development and of course be there for new proposed residential. I also feel a similar project could be done somewhere along Grand south of the proposed site around the intersection of Grand & 20th street. Again not make it all parking but mixed use where you have a parking structure that could be used for the Royals, as well as Crossroads, and any other new development of residential or retail in that general area. I just think it will be smart for the Royals to work with land owners/developers in these 2 sites to provide some development opportunities that help them and the "parking fears". Legitimate fears or not your fans will be coming mostly from outside the downtown area and they will have anxiety navigating the area. Yes, over time it will get better. But if you can provide some splashy solutions upfront why not do this? I think that will go a long way with swaying people as it addresses a big concern but also paves the way for the Royals to look at development opportunities away from the ballpark footprint and thus help minimize the impact of displacing existing businesses.

[dnweava]

Oakland A's are officially moving to Sacramento next season. Oakland is going to try to get an expansion team and they have owners lined up, if they don't get an expansion team, they may try to lure the Royals.

[Chris Stritzel]

Honest to God, I’m getting annoyed at everyone saying the Royals are going to Nashville or Salt Lake City. Now we’re talking about potentially Oakland (a city that doesn’t give a shit about the A’s)? Give it a rest. Seriously. The Royals are not leaving the KC Metro. Anyone saying they’re leaving cannot be taken seriously.

[beautyfromashes]

Honest to God, I’m getting annoyed at everyone saying the Royals are going to Nashville or Salt Lake City. Now we’re talking about potentially Oakland (a city that doesn’t give a shit about the A’s)? Give it a rest. Seriously. The Royals are not leaving the KC Metro. Anyone saying they’re leaving cannot be taken seriously.

It's like Manny Albarca is posting.

[GRID]

I think the Royals end up in NKC. EV would be a long shot, but my bet is on NKC now.

[Chris Stritzel]

Honest to God, I’m getting annoyed at everyone saying the Royals are going to Nashville or Salt Lake City. Now we’re talking about potentially Oakland (a city that doesn’t give a shit about the A’s)? Give it a rest. Seriously. The Royals are not leaving the KC Metro. Anyone saying they’re leaving cannot be taken seriously.

It's like Manny Albarca is posting.

Well, it’s not. But if this is what he’s posting, it’s because it’s true. They aren’t going anywhere besides to one of our surrounding counties (at the worst).

[beautyfromashes]

Well, it’s not. But if this is what he’s posting, it’s because it’s true. They aren’t going anywhere besides to one of our surrounding counties (at the worst).

And I’m not really scared about that too much if it’s the Chiefs. All the fear about Chiefs moving to Dallas and Royals to a dozen other places is ridiculous. The chance of either leaving the metro is negligible.

[Chris Stritzel]

People on this forum have turned into defeatists at a level not seen before.

Need it be reminded that Tampa has been going through this for two decades and are finally moving in a position to get a new stadium, and district, for the Rays? I think so. Things take time. There will always be setbacks.

We heard from a large swath of people that they voted no because they weren’t sure what they were voting on. This is true. If the Royals took a full year to work with folks to get a plan together, in the Crossroads, and return to voters, it would pass. People want details. The details need to be set in stone as a way to shut out the Save the K people, KCTenants, and other opponents who scream about this.

If you want to make yourself pissed, and upset, at the vote results and immediately result to believing the Royals and Chiefs are gone forever, go ahead. That’s not the attitude of people I want to work with on advancing KC. People who can’t take a setback in the bigger picture are more of a problem to the advancement of Kansas City than any other force.

And I’m not really scared about that too much if it’s the Chiefs. All the fear about Chiefs moving to Dallas and Royals to a dozen other places is ridiculous. The chance of either leaving the metro is negligible.

I agree. That’s the point I’m making. It’s such a low probability that people preaching that it’s a conclusion are fooling themselves.

[KCPowercat]

It's just easy to post defeatist posts right now most of the board is exactly how it was.

[dnweava]

I agree. That’s the point I’m making. It’s such a low probability that people preaching that it’s a conclusion are fooling themselves.

As a former Rams fan, this is insanely wrong. I lied to myself and said they'd never move. Why would a Missourian move the team? They are legally obligated to work in good faith, they have a lease, etc. Billionaires have zero allegiance and don't give hometown discounts. They will move your team to make a buck even if it means breaking leases are breaking the law, those things don't apply to the super rich.

Nope, gone. STL sued and won $800 million but they are never getting another NFL team. Enjoy MLB while it lasts because it's days are numbered I'm KC.

[phuqueue]

The Rams were transparently trying to move, and they had a much more lucrative destination in mind than anywhere the Royals could go. What is happening with the A's is a much better comp to the Rams than the Royals are. I'm not going to make any bold predictions about what will or won't ultimately end up happening, but the idea that the Royals are definitely going to move because the Rams moved is silly.

[beautyfromashes]

Kansas City is not St. Louis, which is probably why there are so many posters on here who used to be from St. Louis.

[mourban]

Well, it’s not. But if this is what he’s posting, it’s because it’s true. They aren’t going anywhere besides to one of our surrounding counties (at the worst).

And I’m not really scared about that too much if it’s the Chiefs. All the fear about Chiefs moving to Dallas and Royals to a dozen other places is ridiculous. The chance of either leaving the metro is negligible.

You guys must have never been Saint Louis Rams fans. Don’t let your KC hate for STL blind you. Austin, San Antonio, Charlotte, Nashville and Salt Lake City are growing rapidly. Investors like growth and it’s easy to sell untapped markets on building stadiums to get new teams.

I’m not saying they’ll move but KC shouldn’t rest on their laurels here

[Highlander]

I think the Royals end up in NKC. EV would be a long shot, but my bet is on NKC now.

That would be a huge missed opportunity for Kansas City.

[beautyfromashes]

You guys must have never been Saint Louis Rams fans. Don’t let your KC hate for STL blind you. Austin, San Antonio, Charlotte, Nashville and Salt Lake City are growing rapidly. Investors like growth and it’s easy to sell untapped markets on building stadiums to get new teams.

I’m not saying they’ll move but KC shouldn’t rest on their laurels here

I bought a PSL to the Edward Jones dome and had season tickets to the Rams for a bit. I see why they left. You're talking apples and oranges.