Well, if anyone needs a taxpayer funded stadium it would be KC.

Well, if anyone needs a taxpayer funded stadium it would be KC.

But since no one does, this is just garbage.

Kauffman is a gem. Keep it.

Did he use Comic Sans?

That's cool. How's he paying for it?

But a new ballpark will help the Royals be competitive! Just like PNC Park in Pittsburgh -- the Pirates have a whopping four winning seasons in the 22 years of the park's existence.

It looks like the Pirates' lease expires around the same time as the Royals', so I guess the Pirates are going to start begging soon.

The Pirates have the best damn ballpark in the whole damn world. It's a crime the team they put out there to play 81 games a year in it.

The Onion crushes Pirates almost a decade ago

The K is a gem, but it is showing its age a bit, and there's no reason they can't build a gem downtown. The vibe does suck there, even when they were good. It's a stadium in a cow pasture. Downtown baseball is a lot more fun.

FWIW, the angle isn't "this will keep us competitive", it's "let's invest public funds in an area where Kansas City can get more bang for our buck" - Sherman wants a ballpark district with restaurants and hotels and housing. The Chiefs want to do the same thing. I don't think they want the same district, so one of them is probably moving from the Truman Sports Complex. The most likely site is the east loop, which is the deadest part of downtown because its all government buildings (and the site of the headquarters for a construction company that happens to be a minority owner of the Royals!) Another potential site would be near 18th and Vine, which would be kinda cool and could hopefully revive the area around the Negro League Baseball Museum.

They haven't released specifics on funding other than a $2B pricetag, but it will almost certainly be tax increment financing for a large portion of it. I don't see the conservative state legislature being all that amenable to giving money to "liberal crime-ridden" Kansas City. In any case, they're either getting public funding to keep the K or a downtown stadium, and IMO a downtown stadium is a better investment.

Unless a ballpark is dropping concrete on people it isn't showing its age.

11. Will they just try to replicate (more or less ) the existing stadium with more amenities or design a new concept ? Seems like a carbon copy in a diff location woikd just be fine

11. Will they just try to replicate (more or less ) the existing stadium with more amenities or design a new concept ? Seems like a carbon copy in a diff location would just be fine

I think they will get the public funds they need. Royals baseball is critical to that area and it's a point of pride that Missouri has two teams

@10/RoyalsRetro: I've only been to KC once and that was for a Royals game in 2010, and I agree it's a gem.

Stupid out of towner question: given both teams' desire to create a new entertainment district, would it make sense to redo the stadiums for the Chiefs + the Royals roughly where they are and try to build a fresh entertainment/shopping/hotels district anew out there? Between the Royals and Chiefs, there would be sports attractions from April to December, at least.

NYC just greenlit a new soccer-specific stadium with hotels/entertainment/etc. near Citi Field, which is within walking distance from Arthur Ashe Stadium, a lovely park, and not much else. Hence why the non-downtown stadium sports-based entertainment district idea came to mind.

It seems like that would make sense, but everything I hear is that the teams want to split up. Seems like it makes even less sense to have a district around the Arrowhead for, what 10 game days and maybe a few concerts? How do the districts around the Patriots and Cowboys stadiums do financially? My guess is the Royals go downtown, and the Chiefs either stay put or bolt across the state line to Kansas if KC balks. There already is a nice district around the soccer stadium and NASCAR stadium there, not sure if the Chiefs want part of that, or they want their own thing.

Unless a ballpark is dropping concrete on people it isn't showing its age.

This is why SCIENCE is so awesome. It's been proven that just dropping concrete is what the professionals call an "early indicator" and that you shouldn't wait until the concrete falls on someone to do something.

The K is a gem, but it is showing its age a bit, and there's no reason they can't build a gem downtown. The vibe does suck there, even when they were good. It's a stadium in a cow pasture. Downtown baseball is a lot more fun.

So? Dodger Stadium has also aged a bit and, by LA standards, is in the middle of nowhere.

Baltimore has a casino, Ravens and orioles all in one area and the immediate area around it is a ######## or pretty much useless to the modern city usage goals.

They haven't released specifics on funding other than a $2B pricetag, but it will almost certainly be tax increment financing for a large portion of it. I don't see the conservative state legislature being all that amenable to giving money to "liberal crime-ridden" Kansas City. In any case, they're either getting public funding to keep the K or a downtown stadium, and IMO a downtown stadium is a better investment.

What does a Downtown KC ballpark realistically mean for fans who live neither within or close to the city confines?

It means you're driving into KC

It means you're driving into KC

Nice to see you've matured so much in the past couple of years.

What does a Downtown KC ballpark realistically mean for fans who live neither within or close to the city confines?

That's another thing - when Kauffman was built, that was kind of the center of the metro population that had fled to the suburbs. Since then, much of the suburbs have migrated west to Kansas, so downtown is pretty central to the metro now.

Seems like it makes even less sense to have a district around the Arrowhead for, what 10 game days and maybe a few concerts?

Sure it makes zero sense from a regional economic perspective, but it makes tons of sense from the perspective of the billionaire Hunt family that they be gifted a free entertainment district that they control the scheduling of and revenue from.

The concept art is underwhelming. Looks like a carbon copy of Kauffman stadium with some buildings outside.

Let the owner write the check.
With money from His bank account.

24. That wouldn't be bad. That's what I would do.

Yeah, but $2 billion is a lot of money to spend for the same thing in a different location.