Questões sobre financiamento de estádios permanecem para Kansas City Royals

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As Mayor Quinton Lucas prepared to unveil a massive funding plan for a new Kansas City Royals downtown stadium on Thursday, he cast the proposal as “sitting in the bottom of the ninth with bases loaded.”

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By the afternoon, the city had put its offer on the table: $600 million towards a $1.9 billion project at Washington Square Park near the Crown Center and Union Station.

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“If you’re somebody who lives in Kansas City, Missouri, I think the news that we have today should give you an incredible amount of confidence,” Lucas told reporters inside City Hall.

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He called it “material step,” but several key elements were missing from the announcement — including the full financial picture.

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So far, it remains unclear exactly how much Missouri and Jackson County plan to contribute to a potential new stadium — or if Jackson County will contribute at all.

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Perhaps more notably, the Royals themselves have also not publicly committed to the plan.

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While Thursday’s announcement marked a crucial step towards a baseball stadium near downtown, it also left open questions about additional funding — and a firm commitment from the Royals — for the nearly $2 billion project.

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The stadium plan would still seek state financial support after a sweeping funding package Missouri lawmakers approved last summer in an attempt to keep the team inside its lines. The law, called the “Show-Me Sports Investment Act,” allows Missouri to pay for up to 50% of a new stadium for the team — but that doesn’t mean it will simply raise its hand for half the costs.

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Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe championed Thursday’s announcement and said he was committed to working alongside Kansas City and the Royals to secure a stadium near downtown. But a spokesperson for the Republican governor, in a statement to The Star, left it uncertain how much that commitment will cost the state and its taxpayers.

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“We do not have a specific number to share at this time,” said Kehoe spokesperson Gabby Picard. “A local funding commitment is a requirement to access state funds under the Show-Me Sports Investment Act, so this proposed ordinance is an important step in the process for the project to qualify for the program.”

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Under Missouri’s stadium plan, the state cannot simply hand the Royals a blank check to build a stadium. The team has to prove to the Missouri Department of Economic Development that its stadium plan qualifies for the incentives program.

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On its face, the project unveiled on Thursday appears to qualify. The incentives package sets a minimum project cost of $500 million and stadiums must have a seating capacity of more than 30,000.

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Total state dollars cannot exceed 50% of total project costs, according to the legislation. The program benefit won’t last longer than 30 years and contributions from local governments are also required. Under the bill, state incentives would be clawed back if a team relocates its stadium, headquarters or training facility outside Missouri.

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House Speaker Jonathan Patterson, a Lee’s Summit Republican who helped steer the stadium package across the finish line last year, confirmed in an interview that Missouri’s economic development department would have the final say over how much the state contributes.

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“I think that the legislation that we passed is there and that the team could count on it and it would be a very good foundation for a funding program that gets the stadium done and makes downtown baseball a reality,” Patterson said.

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But Patterson, the top Republican in the Missouri House, was less certain about what that funding would look like — both at the state and city levels.

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“The funding, I’m not completely sure about at the city level,” Patterson said. “I would assume that they have it pretty well planned out and looked at the numbers before they’d make a public announcement like that.”

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In addition to funds from Missouri’s incentives package, Kansas City’s plan also allows City Manager Mario Vasquez to apply for up to $50 million in state tax credits from the Missouri Development Finance Board. The plan does not lay out a process for securing those credits.

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Will Jackson County contribute?

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In the previous plan for downtown baseball — a Royals move to the Crossroads District — Jackson County voters would have done the heaviest lifting. But they rejected that structure at the ballot box.

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How much will they contribute to a Washington Square Park project? Or will they contribute at all?

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That’s to be determined.

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In a statement to The Star, Jackson County Executive Phil LeVota said he’s been in “ongoing conversations with the Royals and local leadership, including the Mayor.” But there hasn’t been any agreement on a number, or from what source any contribution might derive.

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LeVota, who has led the county’s stadium conversations since voters recalled his predecessor, Frank White Jr., in September, said an identified location “gives us a real opportunity to begin a more informed public conversation about what this means for our community.”

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He added that “any proposal must be transparent, accountable and make sense for taxpayers. We’re ready to be at the table and to make sure this is done the right way.”

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In April 2024, Jackson County residents sharply rejected a measure to devote a 3/8th-cent sales tax toward Royals and Chiefs stadium proposals — which would have served as the primary funding mechanism for the projects.

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“Those in my district rejected it (overwhelmingly),” said Jackson County Legislative Chair Manny Abarca, who represents the county’s First District. “But it’s not just my district. So I think as we talk about a path to fund millions of dollars from taxpayers, I expect Jackson County would have to justify to people in Oak Grove, Grain Valley and Blue Springs why it’s putting money toward a stadium that’s moving from the center of the county to the furthest point west.”

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Abarca, elected as the chair for the nine-member legislature in January, told The Star he would not support helping to fund the stadium absent a public vote.

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“That’s a critical element,” he said.

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That’s undoubtedly part of the appeal of the city’s proposal, which it publicized Thursday: It does not require a public vote.

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While the proposed ordinance still needs to wind through the city’s legislative process, Thursday’s proposal marks the city’s most significant step for downtown baseball. What’s still unclear is whether the state, county and the team itself are fully on board.

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The Royals, for their part, touted the ordinance — adding that the team appreciated the work of city leaders — but they did not indicate whether they intended to accept the deal.

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“We are grateful for their engagement in this process, as well as for the critical work of the State of Missouri, and look forward to more detailed conversations as we consider solutions that are best for our team, our fans, and our community,” the statement said.

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Kacen Bayless

A estrela de Kansas City

Kacen Bayless é Democracy Insider do The Kansas City Star, uma posição que revela como a política e o governo afetam as comunidades em toda a extensa área de Kansas City. Antes dessa função, ele cobriu a política do Missouri para o The Star. Formado pela Universidade de Missouri, ele anteriormente foi repórter investigativo na costa da Carolina do Sul.

Sam McDowell

A estrela de Kansas City

Sam McDowell é colunista do The Star e cobre esportes de Kansas City há mais de uma década. Ele ganhou prêmios nacionais por colunas, reportagens e trabalhos empresariais. O Headliner Awards o nomeou o colunista esportivo nacional do ano em 2024.