The Kansas City Royals announced their long-anticipated plans for a new ballpark Tuesday, and the project is ambitious and huge in scope.
The organization tweeted, “An open letter from Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman,” detailing plans for the new stadium and surrounding development.
The proposed project in downtown Kansas City is expected to cost $2 billion and include restaurants and shops, office spaces, hotels, and a variety of housing. A public-private partnership would fund the venture, and Sherman said the club has several sites under consideration.
An open letter from Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman. pic.twitter.com/jdj8ed2MXr
— Kansas City Royals (@Royals) November 15, 2022
Sherman estimated the development around the new ballpark could spur $500 million in annual economic output.
The Royals’ current facility, Kauffman Stadium opened in 1973, and the team’s lease there ends in 2030. The Royals ranked 26th among 30 MLB teams in attendance last season, averaging just under 16,000 fans per game.
“Please know that any final decisions will be made with broad community input, and in the best interests of our fans, the Royals’ long-term future, and our Greater Kansas City community,” Sherman wrote.
MLB fans had mixed feelings about the Royals’ stadium announcement.
“A downtown ballpark is impractical and ridiculous on many levels,” tweeted one user.
“The K is my favorite place in the world. But this should make the entire Royals baseball experience better, and life in Kansas City better,” tweeted Jared Koller.
the economic claims herein will be breathlessly repeated by incurious media, even though the entire history of publicly-funded sports facilities tells us they are fabrications https://t.co/16NdSlkfaj
— keithlaw (@keithlaw) November 15, 2022
A downtown ballpark is impractical and ridiculous on many levels. First, the traffic downtown is already a nightmare. Second, you do not have adequate parking now let alone to accommodate a crowd for a game. Third there would be no ability to tailgate.
— Jack (@Jackcal44) November 15, 2022
The K is my favorite place in the world. But this should make the whole #Royals baseball experience better, and life in Kansas City better. Saying goodbye to Kauffman Stadium will suck, but making sure we have a vibrant baseball community takes precedent over nostalgia. https://t.co/ETWQ1qttga
— Jared Koller (@JaredKCTV5) November 15, 2022
How about NO. Downtown is not setup for this, nor can/will it be anytime soon.
Don’t get me wrong, downtown is evolving and in a good way. Don’t need you screwing it up by getting in the middle of it.
mr. Kauffman would roll over in his grave.
— Matt Thorne November 15, 2022
Interesting stuff as Royals’ ballpark vision inches forward. Some of the numbers here – provided by the club – are indeed quite large. Know this: it’s very difficult to pin down true economic costs/benefits when it comes to unbuilt projects, but again, numbers here. Large ones. https://t.co/G16u2DSEoI
— Jeff Rosen (@jeff_rosen88) November 15, 2022
Won’t attend another game once they move…attended 3 last year
— Terri Geis (@TGeis73) November 15, 2022
The render is cool, but it HAS to have the iconic jumbotron of Kauffman or at least a new design of it. Don’t just do a big screen. https://t.co/LP9fISLEJt
— Claude Thompson (@Th3Claude) November 16, 2022
Anyone who is complaining about parking has never looked at a map of downtown. There is parking EVERYWHERE. This map doesn’t even include underground garages! pic.twitter.com/j3VslkFuHw
— Nicholas Weber (@WeberN) November 15, 2022