Royals downtown stadium announcement didn’t happen overnight. Here’s how we got here

On Tuesday the Royals announced plans for a new downtown ballpark in Kansas City’s East Crossroads neighborhood.

But talks about downtown baseball in Kansas City go back a few years, building up to April’s local election when Jackson County voters will decide whether or not to approve a 40-year sales tax to help pay for a new Royals stadium and renovations for the Chiefs at Arrowhead.

Here’s a timeline of how we got here.

2019

John Sherman buys the Royals, and officials close to him suggest he’s open to the idea of downtown baseball.

2021

Sherman starts talking openly about his desire for a move downtown and later about how a new ballpark could boost Kansas City’s economy.

2022

Sherman wrote a letter to the public in November, proposing a downtown Royals stadium with a $2 billion price tag, describing it as “the largest public-private development project in Kansas City history.”

He described a “ballpark district” that would include a stadium, restaurants and shops, office spaces, hotels and housing, including affordable housing options.

The team faced questions about how it plans to pay for the project and if taxpayers should help pay for a new stadium for a team with a losing record.

Sherman said the Royals wouldn’t ask Jackson County residents to contribute any more tax dollars than they already do through the current stadium’s sales tax.

In December, the team held a “listening tour” with forums in Kansas City. The Royals tell residents they’ve looked at 14 sites and that they plan to stay in KCMO. Big questions remain.

2023

June: Stadium deal negotiations with elected officials are not progressing as expected, and the Royals talk about bringing a sales tax for the team to a public vote anyway.

August: Royals say they’ll pick between two final sites: the East Village or North Kansas City by the end of September.

The team releases renderings for the two final sites, and team leaders talk about how they still need the support of elected officials to pull off a downtown stadium development.

October: The Royals remain committed to asking for a long-term sales tax even though a lot of teams fund stadiums through tourism taxes.

The economic benefits of a new stadium come into question, and a financial analysis shows the stadium would cost way more than the team is saying, which the team counters.

November: The Royals still haven’t picked a site and re-introduce the Kansas City Star Press Pavilion as a frontrunner.

Businesses in the Crossroads are caught off guard, and local labor groups highlight that the team hasn’t engaged in any negotiations for a community benefits agreement to be part of a stadium deal.

Dec. 14: Jackson County legislator DaRon McGee moves to put a 40-year stadium sales tax on the April ballot without a selected site, a lease or any other public commitments from either of the teams.

Dec. 15: Jackson County Executive Frank White says he wants a stadium deal that is more beneficial to the county and wants more formal binding commitments from the teams before the county decides to put anything on the ballot.

2024

Jan. 5: Jackson County legislator Manny Abarca adds the possibility of a Chiefs-only tax to the county’s legislative agenda.

The Royals and Chiefs issue a joint statement promising a few concessions to the county if voters approve a sales tax for both teams.

Jan. 8: Jackson County Legislature approves McGee’s ordinance to put the stadium tax on the ballot with an 8-1 majority.

Jan. 12: White says he wants a commitment from the Chiefs to keep their practice facility and headquarters in Jackson County, which the team has not promised to do.

Jan. 18: White vetoes the ordinance the county legislature passed on Jan. 8, and four legislators (enough votes to prevent an override) issued public statements saying they support White’s veto and plan to sustain it.

Some of the statements include lists of conditions the legislators would need the teams to address before they’d support putting a tax on the ballot. Abarca puts out a statement blasting White and the legislators who supported him, threatening that the teams will leave Kansas City if this tax doesn’t get on the April ballot. (The teams have never said this publicly.)

Together, these actions place doubt on whether anything more would be done to meet the Jan. 23 deadline to put the stadium tax decision in front of voters this spring.

Jan. 19: The teams and county legislators negotiate over the weekend to try to reach a deal that satisfies all parties, addressing where the discrepancies are between what the county wants and what the teams have publicly promised so far.

Jan. 22: Two legislators who had planned to sustain the veto on Thursday decide over the weekend that they will vote to override it, after the teams sent the county a new signed letter of intent making written commitments to some of the requests the legislators had.

The Jackson County Legislature then votes to override White’s veto, putting the stadium’s sales tax on the April 2 ballot.

Jan. 26: Resurrection Church in the Crossroads moves forward with major renovations despite being in the area where the Royals potentially want a new ballpark.

Feb. 2: Royals owner Sherman says the team will be making a major announcement soon because of early voting starts for some Jackson County residents as soon as Feb. 16 for overseas military members, and absentee voting starts Feb. 20.

Feb. 12: The Star breaks the news that the Royals chose the site in the Crossroads.

Feb. 13: The Royals release renderings of its proposed stadium, which would cover blocks of the East Crossroads where various local businesses are located, offering few details about how they plan to pay for it.

The Star’s Mike Hendricks, Sam McDowell, Blair Kerkhoff and Vahe Gregorian contributed reporting.

This story was originally published February 13, 2024 at 6:56 PM.

Allison Dikanovic

The Kansas City Star

Allison Dikanovic is The Star’s local government accountability editor. She’s been in Kansas City since 2021, previously leading the service journalism team. She has worked in newsrooms and classrooms in Milwaukee, Oakland and New York. She holds degrees from Marquette University and the Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism at CUNY.