Kansas City Royals to Stay in Kansas City, Build New Downtown Ballpark

KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Mayor Quinton Lucas today joined Kansas City Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman, Hallmark Chairman of the Board Donald Hall, and Missouri Governor Mike Kehoe to announce that the Kansas City Royals will remain in Kansas City and build a new ballpark and Baseball District at Crown Center and Washington Square Park in the heart of Downtown Kansas City.

The new Royals Stadium and Baseball District will generate 20,000 jobs in the construction trades located on transit lines and accessible to workers from every corner of the region. The stadium will support 1,000 union jobs on every game day and bring millions of new visitors downtown for 81 home games and hundreds of additional events each year, fueling growth for Kansas City's hospitality industry, small businesses, and surrounding neighborhoods.

The project is structured as a public-private partnership that relies on revenues generated by baseball and ancillary development with no new taxes and no large special taxing districts.

"I am proud of the steps we have taken to build a strong future for Royals baseball in Downtown Kansas City," said Mayor Lucas during his remarks. "The Royals are staying home, and they are building a new home at the center of our region's culture, arts, vibrance, and entrepreneurial success. This is the best in public-private partnership - funded by baseball and development, with no new tax increases, and with the kind of conservative fiscal management Kansas City families deserve. We are the visionaries of today, and we are changing Kansas City for the better."

Mayor Lucas has led work with the Kansas City Royals over the past several years on the successful effort to keep the Royals in Kansas City. In early April, Mayor Lucas introduced legislation that outlined future Royals agreements to facilitate downtown stadium and district development. City Council approved the item by an 11-1-1 vote. In the same week, the Kansas City Board of Parks and Recreation Commissioners approved unanimously legislation supporting Royals management and oversight of a reimagined Washington Square Park.

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