The Royals realize their vision for a new ballpark. Twice.

Still seemingly undecided between the East Village and Clay County, the Royals released renderings of what their "ballpark village" could look like at both sites. They also provided some fuzzy math.

You always want a little sizzle to go with that steak. On Tuesday, the Royals brought the sizzle to their new ballpark entertainment district endeavor with the release of new renderings of not one, but two developments. Yes, two!

The Royals are still deciding where to drop their new yard, so they decided to pitch both to the Kansas City region. It’s like two developments for the price of one!

It’s just that we’re still missing that steak.

The renderings, provided by Populous, the stadium building gurus, were beautiful. Can you imagine a ballpark and entertainment district downtown? It’s easy if you try. (Sorry for that.)

Or perhaps a more suburban setting north of the river is more your style.

Pictures and renderings always get people excited. It’s easy to imagine yourself in one of these settings…Or both of them!

While the renderings were indeed release-worthy, the rest of the press conference unearthed little in the way of new information. On one hand, that continues to be understandable. They need to, you know, actually pick a site before they can lay out any concrete plans. At the moment, these renderings amount to wish lists. Last month the Royals said they would select a spot for their ballpark and accompanying entertainment district by the “end of the summer.”

Gosh, with these pictures, how can anyone possibly choose?

In addition to shiny new renders, the Royals provided some newish numbers on economic impact. I write “newish” because I can’t keep up with the fantasies that churn around this project. Naturally, they didn’t say how they arrived at these numbers, that their new ballpark district would bring in “X” millions in “net new regional economic input” along with “Y” number of new jobs generated from “increased hotel stays and associated spending.” You are simply supposed to trust them.

I don’t trust them.

I will not quote the numbers the Royals provided because the organization will not say how they arrived at these figures. The “increased hotel stays” phrase actually made me laugh out loud. If you want to see the fantasy economic impact with no basis in reality, check some local media twitter accounts that dutifully pushed the team agenda.

I will again urge you to ignore the local media hacks who will breathlessly promote these numbers the Royals serve up as legitimate. As this process continues to unfold, the Royals will use the local media to their advantage to sell the presumed benefits of their construction project and why voters in either Jackson County or Clay County should provide funding for their wishlist. From Public Policy Toward Professional Sports Stadiums: A Review, written by J.C. Bradbury, Dennis Coates and Brad R. Humphreys:

The most basic form of uncritical media coverage is limiting reporting to basic facts regarding a proposed stadium deal without including context regarding potential policy implications. Reporting may include relevant financial figures, logistics regarding political hurdles for approval, and schedules for stadium construction with little policy commentary. In some cases, economic impact estimates from advocacy reports may be repeated without external validation of credibility, and press release statements from stadium boosters are quoted in stories without critical assessment.

Be wary numbers lacking context presented as truth.

Remember that economists, such as the three above, are near unanimous in their findings that these stadium projects never provide the economic impact promised. Atlanta’s Truist Park and the adjoining Battery is the new gold standard for baseball in these ballpark developments, and one often name-checked by the Royals as their ultimate vision for their new stadium and ballpark village. Again, a lot of sizzle. It turns out the project in Atlanta is actually running a deficit for the county.

Truist Park (2017) represents the most prominent recent example of an ancillary mixed-use real estate development strategy used to justify public subsidization of a new stadium. The Atlanta Braves stadium is a part of The Battery Atlanta, a mixed-use campus containing hospitality, retail, and residential space. Following the announcement of the project, the team executive who negotiated $300 million in public funding boasted that the novel integrated development project would differentiate it from past stadium boondoggles:

[T]he tired old story pontificated by certain professors is there’s been some carnage in these deals. There’s no doubt and no debate to that fact. [Truist] Park, as a standalone sports venue (without the mixed-use component), like every one of these, probably cannot pencil out financially. ...we’re going to build a city and we’re going to create tons of jobs, tons of density and year-round tax revenues. And that’s what’s going to make this whole formula set a new standard and result. (Murphy 2019a)

This prediction did not prove accurate, as the stadium-led project has so far run an annual deficit of approximately $12 to $15 million for the funding County (Bradbury 2023b, 2022c).

Not only is the project in the red, it hasn’t fulfilled the promise that it would be a lift to the businesses already existing in the area. has not only failed to increase property value, these business that already existed haven’t seen the promised spill-over effect from this new development.

most businesses in the new tax district operated long before the stadium opened and continue to earn income from economic activity unconnected to the stadium-development. These local firms also compete with new businesses operating within the team-owned development, which their taxes subsidize.

It looks nice, though! And 45 percent of it was built on the public nickel.

The target date for the new ballpark is Opening Day, 2028. Ah! But what about the lease the Royals have with Jackson County to play at Kauffman Stadium through the 2030 season? Royals President Brooks Sherman (no relation to John) said they won’t break their lease. “It’s a negotiation,” he said. “We have no thought of breaking the lease whatsoever. It’s a negotiation.”

On one hand, if the Royals were to move from their current home to downtown, they would remain in Jackson County, so it would stand to reason they would continue to be doing business with both the city and the county. The lease at the old yard would probably be bought out or money would be shifted to cover the move to downtown. As Brooks Sherman said, it’s a negotiation and one that would presumably be simple.

The Clay County site could be a bit more problematic should the Royals need to get out of the lease at the Truman Sports Complex to move north of the river. Brooks Sherman reiterated they would negotiate in that situation, but I can’t imagine those would be easy discussions. And if we know anything about Jackson County Executive Frank White, it’s that he can hold a grudge. Can you imagine if he was the guy who lost the Royals? (Obviously, there’s plenty going on in Jackson County these days, so we can’t assume White will still be in his position, but while he’s there, he’s a factor.)

That’s just one of the issues that makes Clay County an unattractive spot for the Royals’ new ballpark village.

I’m not going to tell you that Clay County won’t be the final destination, nor will I guarantee anything about this process. (I thought about writing something preposterous like, “I’ll eat a Royals jersey if they land in North Kansas City,” except I don’t possess a taste for fabric.) I will say that when making a list of options for a new ballpark and entertainment district site, the East Village is the ownership’s clear number one. Clay County as an option is slightly ahead of remaining at the Truman Sports Complex. Brooks Sherman said the two sites were “on equal footing” but I believe that as much as I believe those economic impact numbers they brought out.

Watching those videos does nothing to change my opinion which I have held since Clay County became an option in the current ballpark follies. They exist only as leverage for the team to wrangle a better deal from Jackson County and Kansas City. The Royals do not want to build their precious entertainment district in Clay County. Clay County is a patsy.

But here’s the rub…Bluffs get called sometimes. If the Royals run into resistance to building their ballpark and entertainment district downtown and Clay County somehow steps forward, that would be a tremendous mistake for the team. I just don’t see that happening.

It was noted during the press conference that the proposed site in Clay County lacks the infrastructure that currently exists in the East Village. That’s a huge deal, although I’m sure some of that currently existing East Village infrastructure will need some updating. Traffic will also be more of an issue north of the river. So will acquiring the land for their ballpark village. If they’re looking for a 365-day-a-year destination, it’s really difficult to envision that in the location they’re discussing north of the river.

Parking, thankfully, will not be a problem at either site.

The Royals say they remain on track to name their destination by the end of the summer, which I’m presuming means the end of the season, not in a couple of weeks around Labor Day.

The press conference was an exercise is elusiveness. I believe the Royals know what they want, but with Clay County in the picture as leverage against Jackson County, they can’t be specific. The details will become a little more clear once a site is settled upon.

There was a very specific point to this event: The Royals are beginning the push to build momentum to the vote for funding. As I wrote in the lede, nothing gets people more excited than some spiffy drawings of a new house. Hell, I’m excited. They look nice and I would assume that as they get fleshed out a little more, they will only improve.

There will be more news to come. I think the safe assumption is the next time we get an official statement from the club on the ballpark village is when they select the site. There will probably be a new round of renderings then, along with some happy city officials and team leaders who will tell us how great this is for the region.

It’s a trail of breadcrumbs that the Royals hope will lead to the “yes” lever in the ballot box in April.

It’s tough owning a baseball club these days. The poor Oakland A’s may not have a home for the next couple of seasons while they await their boondoggle on the Las Vegas Strip to be built. Meanwhile, the Milwaukee Brewers have their hands out for some government funding to the tune of $448 million and last week started floating the “R” word themselves. John Angelos is dragging his feet on signing a lease for the Orioles to continue playing at Camden Yards beyond this season. He wants $600 million from the state and land around the stadium (that doesn’t really exist) to build his own ballpark village. Noted standup guy and good citizen Jerry Reinsdorf voiced displeasure with his current stadium situation, likewise talking relocation, naming Nashville as a potential destination. The last time Reinsdorf bitched about his stadium, the city of St. Petersburg, Florida built a dome. The White Sox, of course, stayed in Chicago and Reinsdorf explained that “a savvy negotiator creates leverage.”

It remains to be seen if the Royals are savvy negotiators.

A lot of teams with newer stadiums than the Royals have their hands out, begging for public funds. Again, I’m not opposed to the Royals moving from The K to a newer yard, I’m against public funding for a project that doesn’t provide a proper return on investment while further lining the pockets of ownership. But we also need to realize from the latest public fits from the owners above, Kansas City will be in this territory sometime around 2048, being hit up for another round of handouts to keep their stadium “state of the art” or whatever vague clause for improvements they can negotiate in their new lease. When it comes to stadiums and public funding, it’s a never ending cycle.