Late Tuesday afternoon, just hours after the club Announce a series of menu movements Which included protecting Rule 5 and signing a contract, the Kansas City Royals dropped another big piece of news. Team President and CEO John Sherman He issued a four-page open letter It contains a lot of information about the team’s current search for a place to build a new stadium. The letter, which also included an offer at the end, discussed a potential football field area, construction costs, public-private financing and more:
While the Royals’ current lease on the Truman Sports Complex doesn’t expire until 2031, Kansas City is trying to get ahead of things and decide what it wants to do next on the stadium front. Is the idea of a new stadium a good idea? he is this is better idea? The within the royal family The crew gathered to chime in on Sherman’s open letter and what might come next for the organization.
Sean Bowman: The state-of-the-art stadium will surely be a shiny thing to attract visitors for a few years. If baseball’s long losing streaks persist, it won’t be long before the novelty wears off. Will the cost required to pay for and maintain the stadium be deducted from the payroll? The public-private partnership means that taxpayers will finance a large portion of the $2 billion price tag, no matter what is said. It’s interesting to think about it outside of my range of interests above. But, as a lifelong royal family fan, I’ll always think, “Do we deserve good things”? At the moment it doesn’t look like we do; Hopefully, that will change in 2031.
Trevor Hahn: I’m all in a new stadium. I’ve been working at ‘The K’ for four years and have seen firsthand how old parts of the stadium are not in public view. It’s time for the Royals to have their own area of the city dedicated to the team and its history. Also, whether we like it or not, it’s happening and it’s time the fandom embraced it.
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Mark Van Syckle: The Royals had been eyeing moving downtown for decades, but the timing just wasn’t right — it’s the perfect storm to lease the Truman Sports Complex in 2031, and the Kansas City Chiefs wanted the sports complex to themselves and a new club. property group. The memories that come from Kaufman Stadium will make fans crave the nostalgia of the fountains and Crown Vision. However, I have a feeling they’ll pay homage to the best parts of “The K” while making something engaging and fresh for fans of all ages as they look to the future.
When all is said and done, this will be a net positive for everyone involved; From adding new jobs and investing in a downtown attraction, to building ownership to the team’s net worth, to the players and convenience of a new and updated workspace and fan experience. I can’t wait to see what the final product looks like. It will be an exciting time in Kansas City as it pays off.
Jerry Edwards: My thoughts on the new stadium are well documented. My fears come from my belief that winning should be the main focus and not on how to put pressure on the fans to get a shiny new stadium. Kauffman’s problem is that he’s decades old and lacks the cultural significance of Wrigley or Fenway to make them attractive to outsiders.
Kauffman is the last of the cookie-cutter era of stadiums and was one of the last stadiums (in my opinion) where baseball was the main draw. Building this stadium wouldn’t give the Royals money, nor would it make them analytically astute as the Rays. The Royals have yet to fix these issues to fill their new game, or else they will remain empty like Kaufman did this season.
Jacob Melham: I find it hard to name many of the negatives about the Royals moving downtown. It provides the franchise with a fresh start, away from an old stadium with little relevance outside of the Royals fan base. Change is difficult, but hopefully this will expand the Royals brand and bring in more casual baseball fans. The new playground, added accessibility to the games, and more will make playing ball games an even better experience. I hope more generations of Royals fans will experience wild card insanity or the World Series in a new stadium. A lot could change for this franchise between now and then, but one thing that won’t change are the memories made in Kaufman.