Staying Put (Maybe)

The Royals are getting a new ballpark.

I wasn’t sure what punctuation to use after that sentence. An exclamation point, suggesting excitement? A question mark, noting that despite the length of yesterday’s press conference there weren’t a lot of hard details, and given how long this saga has already stretched it is probably premature to suggest this is the actual finish line? A period is probably best, taking emotion out of the statement.

Reading some summaries this morning, it seems like A LOT of particulars still need to be hammered out.

I’ve lived away from Kansas City too long to have intimate details of the area where the new stadium is planned, but a lot of folks had questions about exactly what buildings would and would not be razed to make room for the project. I found it fascinating that the artist renderings show Our Lady of Sorrows church still in its current location, feet from the main entrance of the stadium. My guess is the team knew they could not erase a church without a prior agreement to relocate it, so left it and there will be negotiations to move the church. Which is always a difficult process for many reasons, so there might actually be a functioning church next to the stadium.[1]

Without many hard numbers, it is tough to critique the plan. Which is probably how the Royals want it. This morning I read some rough estimates that the annual debt burden the city would have to take on could be as high as double the estimated tax revenues.

I’m not a Kansas City resident or tax payer anymore, so my primary goal is that the Royals remain in the Kansas City area regardless of the cost. If you are a KCMO resident, I guess you have to ask yourself is making up for that difference, which will probably grow, a reasonable cost for keeping an MLB team? An endless frustration of modern life in the big city is how our local governments struggle to keep public schools functioning, maintain roads that aren’t littered with potholes, and support the citizens who are suffering from hard times but can always find billions of dollars in the cushions when a professional sports franchise needs a new stadium.

It would help if the team won games and filled the stadium most nights instead of losing nine of ten as the current team is doing. I doubt a team that plays .320 baseball is going to generate the ticket, concessions, and other associated revenue the Royals are hoping for.

The renderings look cool. Crown Center is a good location. Hallmark getting involved is fascinating on multiple levels. If Kansas City doesn’t pay to build the stadium, some other city will. So I guess the city (and state) might as well pony up and keep the Royals in KC.