Reality Check dispatch: The last step before KC gets moving on Royals deal
Editor’s note: The following is from this week’s Reality Check newsletter, published weekly on Wednesdays. You can sign up here to get them delivered to your inbox.
Hi Star readers,
When the Kansas City Chiefs and Royals announced their intentions to leave Truman Sports Complex, local officials began scrambling to keep the teams from moving across the river, or the state line.
Months later, the Chiefs are decisively out, with a nearly finalized plan to relocate to Kansas. But KC leaders are moving full-tilt toward a pitch to relocate the Royals to a new stadium near downtown.
The city took two major steps forward on the path to downtown baseball this week, authorizing city manager Mario Vasquez to negotiate with the team over a potential $1.9 billion stadium plan. Hours later, Vasquez got the green light to negotiate a lease for the Royals on city-owned Washington Square Park, which the City Council would need to approve at a later date.
Together, the two votes laid the groundwork for Kansas City to solidify its offer to the Royals, potentially securing the team’s home for the next three decades.
Top Royals officials are starting to signal public support for the potential move, my colleagues Kacen Bayless and Sam McDowell report. Another bulletin is expected to come Thursday, in a vote that’s been characterized as the last step preceding “a big, fancy announcement.”
If you have a question about your local government or a tip about what else we should look into, please email iarougheti@kcstar.com.
Elsewhere in the metro
✅ If Whitney VinZant doesn’t already own your favorite KC area eatery, he’s probably already got an eye on it. The local restaurateur is on a controversial buying spree.
✅ The executive director of the Kansas City Youth Symphony was fired after allegedly embezzling 7% of the organization’s budget. It’s the second position he’s lost this week.
✅ The sale of mini liquor bottles and single-serve beers is now banned in five major parts of KC. Convenience store owners warn their businesses could collapse.
✅ Independence residents warned that city officials’ support of an incoming AI data center would affect their votes for mayor and city council — then made good on their word at the polls.
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