Former KC Star development reporter Kevin Collison has done a great job with his CitySceneKC website. If you don’t subscribe, I suggest you do so. At $6 a month, it’s the best bargain in town for keeping up with what’s going on in the heart of the city, between the River Market and the Crossroads District.
The thing you have to keep in mind about Kevin, however, is that he’s a cheerleader. First of all, like me, he loves Kansas City and wants to see it prosper. And then there’s the personal consideration: The more action there is downtown, the more it creates interest in his website.
The problem is that Kevin’s advocacy and rosy view sometimes get in the way of a clear-eyed look at a situation.
Take the prospect of a downtown baseball stadium…In general, Kevin has been a promoter of a downtown stadium, and at this point anyway that seems to be running counter to public sentiment.
In today’s edition of CitySceneKC, Kevin has an analysis of “parking, traffic and taxpayer costs” related to the downtown stadium idea being pushed first and foremost by KC Royals’ majority owner John Sherman.
Essentially, Kevin contends, there’s plenty of parking downtown and (fingers crossed) Sherman might not be planning to ask for a tremendous amount of help from the city — that is, from you and me.
So, let’s take a look at some of Kevin’s specific points and assume that the preferred stadium site is the downtown “East Village,” which starts at about 12th and Holmes and extends north to about Eighth Street.
Kevin says…
First off, there is a lot of parking already available to the public downtown. Just within the Loop, there are 17,100 garage and 3,300 surface lot spaces, according to a survey done recently by the Downtown Council.
I say, get real, Kevin…The number of people who will park in a downtown garage to go to a stadium several blocks from the stadium will be ridiculously small. Some people would be interested in parking in a multi-level stadium garage, of course, but the prospect of being stuck in an exit queue for an hour or more would scare off many people…The price of surface-lot parking would jump from about $15 to $50, and you could forget about close-in street parking. All that street parking along Holmes and Charlotte (a great place to park if you’re going to City Hall or the Couthouse) would go away with a new stadium.
Kevin says…
There’s also the streetcar, which by the time a new ballpark would open, would extend on Main Street from UMKC to the riverfront. If the East Village is the site chosen for the Royals ballpark…it would be a less than a half-mile walk to the closest streetcar station at 12th and Main. That’s about eight minutes.
I don’t know how Kevin calculated eight minutes, but it takes the little stick-like pedestrian on Google maps 12 minutes to get from 12th and Main to 10th and Holmes. That’s seven long blocks — from Main to Walnut to Grand to McGee to Oak to Locust to Cherry and finally — “Ah, we can now see the stadium” — to Holmes. And, remember, that 12-minute walk just gets you to the vicinity of the stadium, not inside and to your seats.
Kevin says…
Fans could also use parking lots and garages along the streetcar route including Union Station, Crown Center, the riverfront and Country Club Plaza to reach their destination. People living near the route could leave their cars behind.
Oh, my. Pack your lunch and be sure to bring your credit card for dinner along the way. Such a trip would be in the category of a “great adventure.” About the only people I can see who’d be interested in going the streetcar route from Union Station or anywhere south of it would be members of the Kansas City Hiking Club, if there is such a thing. The vast majority of people attending games just want to park fairly close, get in their seats and get out as fast as possible.
Kevin says…
There’s also a notion that city taxpayers would be asked to be a big funder of a downtown ballpark. Nowhere in Sherman’s letter is there any ask from the city, although there will likely be a request for tax incentive help.
A notion? Duh! A $2 billion stadium project is clearly out of Jackson County’s league. County Executive Frank White might be on deck but he will never get to the plate…Will there be an “ask” from the city? You bet your ass there will. And it will be big. I’m guessing a sales-tax increase of at least one cent on the dollar, a city property-tax increase and scores of millions in property-tax breaks for the developer, Sherman and Co.
Finally, Kevin says…
Cordish, the operator of the Power & Light District, has had discussions with Sherman about potentially participating in the redevelopment plan.
The city is already supplementing the P&L District to the tune of $14 million a year because revenue projections didn’t pan out and development of the district lapped over into the Great Recession. The only way I can see Cordish participating in this plan is if the stadium site would be within easy walking distance of P&L. Sherman envisions a “Ballpark Village” type of development around the stadium, with bars and restaurants and perhaps office buildings. Such a development on the east side of downtown would be curtains for Cordish.
…There you go, Kevin. Sorry to burst your bubble. We’re still buddies, right? It’s just “business.” But, please, take off those rose-colored glasses and get Costco to order you some clear lenses.
JimmyCsays: At the juncture of journalism and daily life in KC 
If they don’t build it, they can’t steal from it.
What’s the problem with the current stadium? Plenty of parking, roads designed to ease access and more than enough seating for a team of their capabilities.
I think the important thing for us to ask ourselves about this colossally expensive foray is, “Would it improve the quality of life for the average Kansas Citian?” And it’s very difficult to get to “yes.”
Nothing is wrong with the current stadium, for you and I, as fans. But we’re not the primary driver of revenue, and I could no longer afford it if we were.
The overarching question is, how many locals and nearbys (e.g., Omaha, Des Moines) are willing, on a regular basis, to pay $50 to park or walk a dozen blocks to see a mediocre team play?
Unless the Royals can get a ton of additional revenue from owning an adjacent garage or three, significantly higher ticket prices and astronomical concession prices, I don’t see how a new downtown stadium changes the fundamental problem of being a small-market franchise.
It was only ~20 years ago when “Royals” were mentioned in the same breath as the two Cs: “contraction” and “Charlotte.” What’s changed for the better since then?
Well, we did win the World Series in 2015 and the American League championship in 2014. That was a nice change. Too bad we reverted to form thereafter.
Don’t get trapped into the small market and we can not spend trap. Milwaukee is the same size market, they spend more, and they have a consistently competitive team. Other teams like Cleveland and Tampa Bay are similar and are consistently competitive.
Jim Duquette, a former MLB General Manager, has said on MLB Network radio several times each MLB team is now getting $100 million a year in national broadcast revenue. It is estimated that the Royals TV contract with Bally Sports pays them an additional $50 million a year. I suspect they get a million or two from the radio rights.
That is over $150 million in revenue before you open the gates. Duquette says is costs about $16 million to run your minor league operation. The Royals big league payroll is less $100 million. This would seem to indicate they are in the black without even opening the gates, selling tickets, selling parking, selling concessions, and selling whatever else they do.
The minority owners of the Tampa Bay Rays are suing the majority owner for hiding $400 million in profit to make it look like the team is losing money and is not profitable.
Accountants can do many things with a organization’s books. Especially when team owners are trying to get the public to fund a new stadium for them,
For the downtown stadium idea to even have a chance being passed by voters, Sherman is going to have to build a consistently winning team. Considering Royals have already said they are not going to spend any more money on payroll in 2023, I am not sure how they plan to do that.
I was listening to a podcast the other idea where two local sports guys were discussing it. If the team wins consistently, the locals will put up with the cost. If the team is a consistent loser (which the Royals are now), no way will the public back it. An example they gave were the Cubs which the Ricketts family has spent a bunch of bucks to build their “Ballpark Village” and the fans are watching a team decline to being a bad team. And they are getting plenty of criticism in Chicago for it. All it looks like the team was used to get the owner(s) a great real estate deal.
One thing they pointed out is that any near term idea this will be built is absurd. Any new stadium will be built and would be ready when the lease runs out at Kauffman in 2031.
The main argument I hear from the new stadium folks we need it to be a big league city. And I find it constantly amazing the people who say this do not live in the city or Jackson County and live in areas which never offer to pay for anything.
And I suspect Frank White may turn out to be a major pain in the neck of the Royals. He was fired from his broadcasting job with them for being too critical. I would not be surprised he still has contacts in the front office that keep him appraised what is going on. I also would not surprised that he might turn the screws on them as pay back.
If Mayor Lucas and County Executive White were smart, they would get the council and county legislature to jointly fund an independent engineering study of Kauffman Stadium. Assess what is wrong and what it would cost to fix it long term. Use that as a negotiation point when the Royals come hat in hand asking for money.
“If Mayor Lucas and County Executive White were smart, they would get the council and county legislature to jointly fund an independent engineering study of Kauffman Stadium. Assess what is wrong and what it would cost to fix it long term. Use that as a negotiation point when the Royals come hat in hand asking for money.”
WOW – that is a solid idea, and one that needs to be acted on quickly. I’m open to the possibility of downtown baseball, and was the last time this came up. Target Field is an absolute gem. However, their alternative was upgrading the Metrodome and it didn’t take much to mark that off the list. We’re in a far different situation, and one that absolutely needs to be evaluated with clear eyes. There’s a lot of emotion against leaving the K, and I get that. I have a lifetime of memories tied up in that place as well. Whichever we decide has to be done responsibly.
Thanks for letting me know how my quasi cousin Kevin is doing!! Lost him when I kicked the physical KC Star to the curb. (That’s another story)
Has anyone actually looked at the downtown stadiums in other cities? I agree with what you said. City driving is already a PITA. This new stadium would make it more so. Although I do have a fondness for the park & ride aspect having done so for several wrestling events.
I’ll send him your regards, Wanda. PITA…Hadn’t seen that acronym.
I’m with you, JimmyC. I live downtown, and as our resident population grows, we are in need of green spaces, not concrete & traffic.
My vision: The current stadium lots become a beautiful park and ride center for a new transit system connecting the eastern burbs to downtown and the expanding streetcar system. This would encourage me to go to the ballpark, which I don’t today because of parking and commuting hassle & costs.
The transit system then offloads weekday commuter traffic in and out of the city, every day, not just on game days, with all kinds of environmental & time & stress benefits.
The transit system also makes it easy for folks to get to entertainment venues and restaurants anyplace along the transit corridors.
So spend some that $2billion for a modern transit system, that serves thousands of people every day!
I think concerns about parking and traffic with a downtown stadium are really overblown. One of the benefits of having a stadium in the city and on the grid is it allows for many more ways to get in and out of the area in your car. At Truman Sports complex there are 6 gates that every single car has to enter and exit. As someone who goes to a lot of games out there, I think it’s fair to say that it isn’t always quick. As far as a lack of parking downtown, Sprint Center (19,000+ seats) was built without anything other than a handful of dedicated parking spaces and somehow we’ve managed to survive. Plus, with places to go before and after the games not everyone will arrive and leave the area at the same time. I cannot wait for a downtown stadium.