Why the Royals haven’t made a decision on their next stadium location
Half an hour before the Royals’ home opener Monday, the scoreboard in center field played an instructional video on a new replay challenge system that’s been the talk of the sport for a few days.
Hours earlier, before the sun came up in Kansas City, a team official talked about the stadium moving in its outfield fences, its first dimensional change in 23 years.
The team itself has a bit of a different feeling, its coaches believe — disappointed and motivated rather than dazzled by a season above .500.
A lot has changed around here.
But inside the interview room at Kauffman Stadium, the opening day conversation has remained the same for a few years running now.
What’s the latest on the search for a new stadium?
In short, as team owner John Sherman replied this time, same as he has for a while now: It’s to be determined.
But Sherman offered a bit more detail Monday on exactly what needs to be determined before the Royals announce where they plan to pursue a move when their lease expires in 2031.
“I think we would want to have site control and certainly the public financing in place before we announce it,” Sherman said when asked by The Star what needs to fall in place before making a decision. “There will be work still to do, but those two things are important.”
When might that happen?
Where might that happen?
That’s the to-be-determined part — same as they’ve categorized it since Jackson County voters in April 2024 turned aside the extension of a 3/8th-cent sales tax to keep both the Royals and Chiefs in the county.
The Chiefs since bolted for a sweetheart deal in Kansas.
On the Royals, well, we wait.
They have studied sites across the metro since the vote that took place two years ago Thursday — most prominently Washington Square Park in downtown Kansas City, along with options in North Kansas City (in Clay County) and Kansas.
Sherman said the team is operating with a sense of urgency and hopes for something “sooner rather than later,” but then said the club is still considering “multiple (stadium) opportunities,” including those in North Kansas City and Kansas.
The Royals, however, missed deadlines both of those jurisdictions publicly imposed, and it’s not clear to the degree with which either is actually still seriously in play. They also previously explored the former Sprint Campus site in suburban Kansas but have since stated it will not be the home for a new ballpark.
But for months now, if not longer, the vibe among those involved in the stadium conversation has not been how many options the Royals have — it’s how realistic those options have been. It’s whether the Royals can bring them to fruition. It’s the hurdles those options would require them to leap. It’s whether they fit their preferences to move in the first place.
The Royals want to be downtown, and it’s received much of their energy. Sherman reiterated two months ago, on the eve of spring training, that despite all their explorations, he would still “love to see us kind of in the heart of the city.”
They need site control to execute that vision. They prefer public financing to help carry the load.
None of it has been easy for them to secure — because none of it should be easy to secure when there are hundreds of millions of dollars in public financing and incentives in play, and particularly when the taxpayers have turned aside one project.
The Royals’ talks (and asks) have included city, state and county leadership. Those inside the talks — and fans alike — have grown exhausted and frustrated by this conversation.
“Time’s up,” one Kansas state official said at the turn of the year.
“I’m done,” a Clay County official told The Star a couple of weeks later.
In recent weeks, the Royals’ original vision — downtown baseball — has revolved around Washington Square Park, sources continue to tell The Star. The site, which has support from City Hall and Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas, sits just north of Crown Center and east of Union Station along the Streetcar line.
Asked if there were other options downtown still in consideration, Sherman said Monday, in part, “We’re kind of zeroing in on an opportunity downtown.”
He declined to say whether the team has confidence in obtaining full site control and public financing in place at Washington Square Park specifically. At that location, site control could mean the acquisition of surrounding properties, such as the former Blue KC building nearby, and fleshed-out agreements with Kansas City, which operates the park itself. The paths to site control were easier outside downtown — undoubtedly part of their appeal — but it’s not the location the Royals have long preferred.
They notably did not lock up site control of the Crossroads District location on which their vote pivoted.
The logic says they aren’t there with Washington Square Park — at least not yet.
In fact, the items on Sherman’s to-do list— site control and public financing — outline exactly what they’ve not yet managed to obtain after a half-decade runway.
This story was originally published March 30, 2026 at 5:29 PM.