Downtown KCMO ballpark remains in play as Kansas aggressively pursues Royals

Editor’s note: The perspectives expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Gib Kerr is the chair of the Downtown Council of Kansas City, Missouri, managing director at Cushman & Wakefield, and an author. This piece was first published by the Downtown Council.

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Where should the Royals play baseball?

Last year, the debate was whether to stay at Kauffman Stadium or move to a new ballpark downtown.

This year, however, it’s a whole new discussion. With the Royals’ unequivocal decision to vacate Kauffman when their lease expires in 2031, the narrative has shifted. The question now is whether the Royals should build a new stadium downtown or move to Kansas.

Gib Kerr, Cushman & Wakefield

We are at a critical point in our effort to retain the Royals in Kansas City, Missouri, and to build an iconic new stadium and mixed-use ballpark district in our revitalized downtown.

The Royals have extended their decision-making timeline to June 2025. This doesn’t leave us much time to tell the story on why downtown is the best location for the Royals, our city, and our region. Downtown provides the greatest measurable positive regional impact, economic growth, and improved quality of life for everyone in the Kansas City metroplex. It’s also the location that provides the most benefit to the Royals franchise by delivering positive fan base growth, a superior fan experience, and significantly enhanced team value.

To advance that goal, we have drafted a Resolution urging the City of Kansas City, Missouri to work with the Royals and other political jurisdictions and economic development agencies in Missouri to finalize an agreement to bring the stadium downtown. This Resolution highlights the numerous benefits of a downtown stadium for not only the urban core, but for the entire Kansas City region.

The State of Kansas is aggressively pursuing the Royals by offering a generous incentives package of STAR bonds that could potentially pay for the entire cost of a new stadium. We cannot ignore this very real competition.

A thriving, vibrant downtown is essential to the vitality of the entire Kansas City region. Out-of-town visitors, businesses, and investors—not to mention the next generation of creative talent—form their opinions of our city largely based upon the health of our urban core. Losing the Royals to a suburban Kansas location would be a monumental lost opportunity for not only downtown but for the entire Kansas City region.

We are meeting with all involved parties to discuss the downtown baseball initiative. Our Resolution strives to reinforce the Downtown Council’s strong support and encouragement for City Hall to lead the effort and to finalize an agreement with the Royals as soon as possible.

Click here to review the resolution.

Please help us spread the word and build broad based business community support for the best option, which is downtown. We would like to meet with as many organizations and individuals as possible to share our belief that downtown delivers the best benefits to the Royals and our broader community.

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The Downtown Council of Kansas City is a private, nonprofit membership organization representing Kansas City’s best businesses, property owners, nonprofit organizations, and anyone invested in Downtown’s success.