Featured image credit: Kansas City Royals/Populous
The NFL’s Kansas City Chiefs and Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals have announced a commitment to remain in Jackson County if voters approve the extension of the 3/8-cent sales tax at a ballot in April.
The Chiefs and the Royals currently play at Arrowhead Stadium and Kauffman Stadium, respectively, with the two venues located next to each other at the Truman Sports Complex.
The stadiums opened in the early 1970s, with the Chiefs and the Royals having partnered with Jackson County for 50 years to maintain the facilities. As part of the newly proposed agreement between the Chiefs, the Royals and Jackson County, the teams have agreed to provide more than $200m (£157m/€183m) in new economic benefits to the county over 40 years through a new lease deal.
The teams said the lease agreement will alleviate Jackson County’s obligation to pay stadium insurance premiums as well as the park levy to the teams. The Chiefs will conduct extensive renovation work at Arrowhead Stadium, while the Royals will build a new downtown stadium and privately fund a $1bn ballpark district.
The Chiefs and the Royals have committed to providing the county with significant additional benefits by paying for insurance coverages for their respective facilities, and for the extension term of the Chiefs’ lease and new term of the Royals’ lease. According to the teams, this will result in cost savings to Jackson County of approximately $80m to $100m over the course of the extended and new term of the leases.
Both teams’ current lease deals expire in 2031 and the Chiefs have been weighing up the possibility of building a new facility, but the team now appears committed to renovating its current home. Last July, Clark Hunt, chief executive of the Chiefs, said that a renovation of Arrowhead Stadium could extend the life of the venue by up to 25 years.
The Royals, meanwhile, have previously detailed plans for a new stadium. In August, together with design partner Populous, the Royals issued the first detailed renderings for their two proposed stadium concepts.
The first site under consideration was in Jackson County at a site in the East Village near the downtown loop, while the second was in North Kansas City in Clay County. The latter has more space available for a potential ballpark village-style development, but the East Village looks to have emerged as the preferred option after the Royals committed to staying in Jackson County.
A new stadium in the East Village (pictured) would have a capacity of 34,500 to 35,000 fixed seats. The project would consist of a ballpark anchoring a 27-acre development close to the Power & Light District, where the T-Mobile Center arena already exists.
The Royals have targeted Opening Day of the 2028 MLB season for a new ballpark to be delivered. The team has maintained that a new ballpark is required, as opposed to renovation of Kauffman Stadium.
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