Voters in Jackson County, Missouri voted overwhelmingly towards a gross sales tax measure that might have given cash to the Royals and Chiefs, per stories from Dave Skretta of the Related Press and Mike Hendricks of The Kansas Metropolis Star. 58% of voters had been towards the measure with simply 42% in assist.
The Royals at the moment play in Kauffman Stadium whereas the Chiefs play in Arrowhead Stadium, with each services sitting subsequent to one another as a part of the Truman Sports activities Complicated. The Royals are hoping to construct a brand new stadium at a brand new location, revealing some plans again in February. The Chiefs are hoping to remain at Arrowhead however had been hoping to safe funding for renovations. Sam Robinson of Professional Soccer Rumors just lately took a take a look at the information from the Chiefs’ perspective.
The proposed measure would have changed an present three-eighths of a cent capital enhancements gross sales tax, which was accepted by voters in 2006, with a brand new three-eighths of a cent gross sales tax that might run via 2064. Per the proposal, the cash from that tax would assist pay for the Royals’ deliberate new ballpark and renovations of Arrowhead.
Royals proprietor John Sherman stated he was “deeply disillusioned” with the end result however didn’t reveal what his subsequent steps can be. “We’ll take a while to replicate on and course of the end result and discover a path ahead that works for the Royals and our followers,” he stated.
Homeowners of sports activities franchises typically dangle the specter of leaving city as a method of hopefully extracting public cash for constructing or upgrading stadiums. That is one thing Sherman did in current weeks, per Hendricks. “That is about sustaining ourselves as a significant league metropolis,” Sherman stated final month. “There’s a number of cities that might like to have these franchises.”
Per this week’s reporting, Sherman has backed off of that stance, saying that it was an concept that got here from political strategists. “Any person smarter than me finds that could be a message that resonates,” he stated to a query about the specter of leaving Kansas Metropolis. “However I reply that query with, ‘That is my hometown.’”
The membership may alter their proposal to voters but it surely didn’t appear as if Sherman had a powerful urge for food for that within the wake of yesterday’s outcomes. “There is no such thing as a redo of this marketing campaign,” stated a joint letter from Sherman and Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt. “This isn’t going again on the poll in November. There is no such thing as a plan B.”
Per the stories from Skretta and Hendricks, voters had been towards the plan for numerous causes, together with the shortage of economic particulars and the potential impression on downtown companies, whereas some felt the cash could possibly be higher spent on different priorities like inexpensive housing or public transportation. The Royals additionally initially proposed two potential spots for relocation, one on the japanese a part of the downtown and the opposite in Clay County, Missouri, throughout the Missouri River. They finally scrapped each of these and settled on a distinct downtown neighborhood referred to as the Crossroads, however the plans for that web site had been nonetheless thought-about to be missing intimately.
Kauffman Stadium opened in 1973 and is the sixth-oldest of the 30 stadiums in Main League Baseball. Fenway Park opened in 1912, the Cubs started enjoying in Wrigley Area in 1916, Dodgers Stadium opened in 1962, Angel Stadium in 1966 and the A’s started their tenure on the Oakland Coliseum in 1968. Assuming the A’s efficiently transfer to Las Vegas within the coming years as deliberate, the Royals will transfer as much as fifth on that listing.
The present lease for each the Royals and Chiefs runs via January 31, 2031. The Royals had deliberate to maneuver into their new stadium for the beginning of the 2028 season but it surely’s potential this setback might power them to vary that concentrate on.