A Royals stadium in downtown KC? We asked 100 fans. Here’s what they said
One month into the Kansas City Royals’ schedule and not only is the season heating up, but so too is talk — once again — of whether the franchise, starting its 53rd year at Kauffman Stadium, will get a new home.
Say it ain’t so!, lovers of the stadium and its history yell. Fix it where it sits.
But Royals principal owner John Sherman once made his voice clear: He wanted a new stadium — in or around downtown — although exactly where (Washington Square Park near Crown Center, or Clay County’s North Kansas City?) is still anyone’s guess.
Kansas lawmakers, meanwhile, have said they’d be willing to lure the team, spawning rumors about western Wyandotte County or maybe the old Sprint campus in Overland Park.
But one voice not being heard, at least collectively, is that of the Royals fans from far and wide — which is why on Tuesday, before and during a Royals v. Colorado Rockies game,The Star ventured to Kauffman Stadium to survey 100 random fans.
Not just Jackson County residents, who a year ago this month resoundingly defeated, in a 52% to 42% vote, a 40-year sales tax that would have helped fund a new ballpark in downtown’s East Crossroads, plus renovate Arrowhead Stadium.
These fans — 60 male, 40 female — and ranging in age from 18 to 86, included residents of Jackson County (33 people) and Johnson County (28 people), Wyandotte, Cass, Clay, Leavenworth, and areas farther afield.
Yes, the findings are pseudo-scientific at best — hardly the stuff for the baseball almanac.
But 100 people also offer a few insights.
Royals stadium opinions
The main takeaways:
A good number of people, albeit a minority — 38 of 100 — flat out said “no,” they don’t want a new stadium.
They love The K as it is. But if it must be rebuilt, “Re-do this one,” said Stephen Oliver, who came to the game with his son, Satchel (yes, after pitcher Satchel Paige).
The prime reason: sentiment and more than a half century of memories.
Jeremy Swygard’s voice caught with emotion as the Olathe resident recalled how he and his father, who has since died, attended the 2015 American League Championship Series together at Kauffman Stadium on the team’s way to winning its first World Series in 30 years. If he had his way, the stadium would go nowhere.
“Love The K,” he said simply.
Casey Teel of Overland Park called the Royals’ stadium, “home.”
“I have a lot of nostalgia for this ballpark,” he said. “I’ve been coming here since I was a kid and I don’t want it to leave here.”
Others, raising the specter of gridlock traffic near a downtown park, cited Kauffman’s practicalities, like copious parking, easy highway access from the suburbs, and pre-game fun.
“The vast majority of people that come out here want to tailgate,” said Rene Jones of Kansas City. “They don’t want to go from their house to a parking garage, walk four blocks to a stadium, walk back after the game is over. They want to come to the parking lot, have an experience and bring their family.”
Margie Stone of Kansas City said, “If you’re from here and grew up with this one, there’s so many memories here that it can’t be replaced. And, also, the parking anywhere else doesn’t make sense.”
Devin Bogaars, originally from Tampa, Florida and now stationed at Whiteman Air Force Base with his spouse, Caroline of Belton, put it this way: “You guys won two World Series here. Best stadium you could ask for.”
A downtown stadium?
Thirty-eight blanket nos leaves a majority of yeses: 62 out of 100 said they would be in favor of building a new Royals Stadium. But it is a number that needs breaking down.
Of the 62, 46 were like Bella Deseo of Kansas City, excited about downtown baseball specifically.
“Downtown would be sick,” she said.
The reasons enthusiasts cite: Bars. Restaurants. Nightlife. The ability to walk or take the streetcar from home or work to at least 81 home games each year, providing more adrenaline to Kansas City’s urban energy.
Supporters talk of the fun of going to games in cities like Chicago, Cleveland, Denver and Baltimore, where the view is the city’s urban skyline, as opposed to the interstate. Kauffman’s current placement, they argue, offers an entertainment wasteland beyond its parking lot gates. A downtown stadium, they said, would create a new experience.
“I’m envisioning Wrigleyville,” Jordyn Spainhour of Lenexa said, likening the atmosphere around a downtown park to the restaurants, bars and entertainment venues surrounding the Chicago Cubs’ Wrigley Field.
“If you ever go to Saint Louis,” said Lily Miller of Kearney, “the vibe there is so cool and just seeing the stadium downtown is so cool. If the Royals built a stadium downtown, I think it would be just as cool, if not cooler.”
Clay, Johnson and Wyandotte counties
As it turns out, the prospect of hauling down the Royals’ scoreboard crown and possibly watching it rise in Johnson, Wyandotte or even Clay County is not something many wanted to see.
Out of the 100 surveyed, 16 people said they thought moving the stadium to the suburbs was a decent option. No one mentioned North Kansas City in Clay County as their preferred choice.
Samantha Hedrick of Liberty, in Clay County, said she was open to a North Kansas City ballpark, although she favored downtown.
“I really think they should’ve put the new stadium where they put the soccer stadium,” she said. The Kansas City Current’s CPKC Stadium is along the southern edge of the Missouri River. “I thought that would have been cool.”
Brandon Green, a police officer from Wyandotte County, was at the game with two other officers. All three said they’d far prefer Wyandotte County over a downtown stadium: too much traffic congestion. Where would they tailgate downtown?
“I’m not from the city,” Ray Munger, of Weston, said, “so I would prefer out of downtown. The Legends” — the shopping center in western Wyandotte County — “would be intriguing to me.”
A couple fans from Leavenworth agreed, keeping with the closer-to-home reasoning. Some Johnson County residents like Jay Jamal of Stilwell felt the same, saying he’d prefer a stadium in Overland Park over a downtown ballpark any day.
“I work in downtown and I dread driving in there,” he said, again envisioning horrendous congestion. “Kansas Citians are spoiled. We like to park, walk, get in. If we wanted buses and trains, we’d have moved to New York.”
Mike Norcus of, well, Overland Park, was succinct.
“Move it to the old Sprint Campus in Overland Park so I can be five minutes away from the stadium.”
They’re not The Kansas Royals
Defying self-interest, most Johnson Countians on Tuesday actually did not agree.
Of the 28 Johnson County residents surveyed, the most — 46% — wanted The K to stay exactly where it was.
While five (18% of those surveyed) thought it should be built anyplace other than downtown, 10 — or 36% — were like Faunlee Gooley and her husband, Chad, of Prairie Village. They said that if the stadium was destined to move, downtown KC was the right place for it rise.
“I don’t know why we have to move it,” Faunlee Gooley said. “The parking is great. It’s easy to get here.”
But if they must?
”I don’t want it in Kansas,” Gooley said. “They’re a Kansas City team. They’re the Kansas City Royals.”
Not surprisingly, the majority of Jackson County residents felt the same. Of the 100 people surveyed, 33 were from Jackson County — with most from Kansas City, but also from Raytown, Lee’s Summit and surrounding towns.
Of the 33, 22 people — 67% — said they would support building a new stadium. Of that group, 86% (19 of 22) wanted it downtown.
Among the strongest opinions expressed — effectively universal among Missourians — is they wanted the ballpark to remain on the Missouri side of the state line.
“It should always be in Missouri,” Monica Massey of Liberty said of the ballpark, because that is where the team is from. “It is Kansas City, Missouri, not Kansas City, Kansas.”
Nos that are yeses
And then there is this meaningful subset — fans who will always be fans, and whose love for the team has the power to turn nos to yeses.
They are people like Moya Joslin of Raytown. Does she want Kauffman Stadium to move?
No.
“I love the one we’re in,” she said.
Does she want it to go downtown near, say, Washington Square Park?
No, she said again.
Joslin worries about congestion, stealing parking from Union Station and Crown Center. She wonders if the area around a downtown ballpark would be as safe for teens to roam.
But would she, nonetheless, support building a new stadium, using both her vote and tax dollars, if the Royals asked her to, even if it meant them going downtown?
“I’d hate to say yes, but yes,” Joslin said with reluctant hesitation. She voted for it last April and said she would vote for it again.
Why?
“Because,” Joslin said, “I love baseball more than anything.”
Meaning she loves the Royals.
Sherman, the Royals principal owner, has said in the past that once the team’s lease with Jackson County expires in 2031, he does not envision the Royals remaining at the Truman Sports Complex.
Meanwhile, in Jefferson City, with less than a month left in the legislative session, Missouri state lawmakers so far have taken few steps that guarantee public support for new Chiefs and Royals stadiums, a fact that is raising some alarm.
“I don’t see enough movement from the state right now to keep the Royals and the Chiefs,” House Minority Leader Ashley Aune, a Kansas City Democrat, said earlier this week.
“I’m not certain that the leadership in Jackson County is poised to move very quickly on this right now, either. So, I’m pretty worried about the fate of our professional sports teams.”
At the game, that prompted a survey within a survey. Out of 20 who initially said “no” to a new statement, how many would change their minds and say “yes” if it were clear that the Royals had no intention of remaining at the existing stadium?
Answer: 15 people — 75%.
“Anywhere but Kansas,” Maureen Moretto of Lee’s Summit insisted, as did her husband..
“Joco’s my first option if they have to get rid of The K,” said Olathe’s Jeremy Swygard, who had attended the American League championship with his father.
“I’d rather be here,” said Jason Tatum of Kansas City. “But, if not, then KCMO, downtown.”
With his family, he and his mother, who was in a wheelchair and traveled 109 miles from Dalton, Missouri, to come to the game, entered the ballpark.
On a warm spring evening, they watched the Royals win.
