The Kansas City Royals, of baseball’s MLB, have struck a new $3 billion stadium funding agreement that will keep the franchise in Kansas City, Missouri, in partnership with greeting card brand Hallmark.
A public-private partnership for the venue will see Hallmark, the Royals, and various commercial partners provide “at least” two-thirds of the overall $3 billion estimated budget, with the remainder coming from the state of Missouri and the city of Kansas City.
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The Royals will construct a new stadium in downtown Kansas City on the site of the current Hallmark corporate headquarters, ending four years of speculation about whether the team would move across state lines to Kansas.
Currently, the Royals’ lease agreement with the Jackson County municipality for its current home, the 37,903-capacity Kauffman Stadium, is set to expire after the 2030 campaign.
However, the franchise is planning to move into the new venue by the start of that year’s MLB season, breaking ground on the ballpark site in 2027.
Kauffman Stadium is the fourth-oldest venue in MLB, and ranks 25th in the league for capacity, while the proposed new location would be in the middle of a busy downtown commercial area.
Original plans to relocate the team, broached in 2022, were shot down, with Jackson County voters striking down an amendment that would have raised sales taxes to fund the new venue.
Mike Kehoe, Missouri governor, commented: “This has got to be a good return on investment for taxpayers. If the Royals left, you get nothing. So using the Show Me State Investment Act, we think helps keep the team here — or as I say, a business with thousands of employees — and ensure Kansas City’s future in a downtown [sic].”
This is a win for Missouri sports fans, and Kehoe in particular, whose attempts to keep the Kansas City Chiefs NFL franchise on the Missouri side of the city failed last year.
In December, it was announced that the Chiefs franchise will move from its iconic Arrowhead Stadium home in Missouri to a new domed venue in neighbouring Kansas.
The franchise has said it will aim to move into this venue ahead of the 2031 NFL campaign, when the team’s lease for Arrowhead Stadium expires.
The Chiefs will also build a new practice facility in the city of Olathe, Kansas.
Kehoe and the state legislature had been working to agree on a funding deal that would keep the Chiefs in the state, but they were ultimately unsuccessful.
With the Royals committed to staying in the state, the number of Missouri franchises in the US major sports leagues will remain at six until the departure of the Chiefs.
The Kansas City Current of women’s soccer’s NWSL is Kansas City’s sole other professional sports franchise, while the St. Louis Blues (NHL), St. Louis Cardinals (MLB), and St. Louis City SC (MLS) all reside on the opposite side of the state.
Since its foundation in 1969, the Royals have won the World Series twice, most recently in 2015, after which they did not return to the postseason until 2024, when they secured a wildcard slot.
