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Royals announce plans for new stadium just south of downtown Kansas City
TL;DR
The Kansas City Royals will build a new nearly $2 billion stadium in Crown Center, just south of downtown Kansas City. This decision follows a lengthy search for a replacement for Kauffman Stadium and the rejection of a sales tax by Jackson County voters.
Key points
- Royals announced plans for a new stadium
- New stadium will cost nearly $2 billion
- Location is Crown Center, south of downtown Kansas City
- Decision follows rejection of a sales tax by voters
- Kauffman Stadium will be replaced
Mentioned in this story
Crown CenterKansas CityMissouri
Kansas City Royals
The Royals are making plans to depart Kauffman Stadium for a new home in Kansas City. (Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins/Getty Images)
(Brace Hemmelgarn/Minnesota Twins via Getty Images)
The Kansas City Royals officially have a site for a new stadium.
The team announced Wednesday that it will be building a nearly $2 billion stadium in Crown Center, just south of downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The announcement comes after a years-long search for Kauffman Stadium’s replacement and after Jackson County, Missouri, voters rejected a sales tax that would have funded a new Royals stadium at a different site.
Crown Center — the site of Hallmark’s headquarters — is just blocks from downtown Kansas City and has been a popular retail and entertainment space in Kansas City for decades. A week ago, the Kansas City Council approved a $600 million funding package for the stadium at a park adjacent to Crown Center.
“Our founder Ewing Kauffman wanted the Royals to be Kansas City’s forever, and he wanted the team to benefit his hometown as much as possible,” Royals owner John Sherman said in a statement. “Joining Hallmark with this project achieves both and extends the Hall family’s critical legacy of helping Kansas City grow.”
The Royals’ move comes months after the Kansas City Chiefs announced they will be moving from Arrowhead Stadium to a $3 billion domed stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, ahead of the 2031 season.
Arrowhead and Kauffman are located side-by-side in the Truman Sports Complex, a Jackson County-owned site on the east side of Kansas City, Missouri. Arrowhead opened in 1972, and Kauffman opened a year later in 1973. The teams’ leases at their respective stadiums run through the 2030 seasons.
Before moving to Kauffman Stadium, the Royals played their first four seasons at Municipal Stadium just southeast of downtown.
The April 2024 vote for the sales tax would have also funded renovations to Arrowhead Stadium to keep the Chiefs at their current home. Jackson County voters voted 58% to 42% against the sales tax.
That put the Chiefs on the path to negotiating with the state of Kansas for their new stadium and left the Royals without an immediately obvious site for a new stadium. The team looked at options in North Kansas City, just north of downtown, and in Kansas at a different site than the Chiefs’ new stadium before it became clear that the most viable site was Washington Square Park.
Q&A
What is the location of the new Kansas City Royals stadium?
The new Kansas City Royals stadium will be located in Crown Center, just south of downtown Kansas City, Missouri.
How much will the new Royals stadium cost?
The new stadium is expected to cost nearly $2 billion.
Why did the Royals decide to build a new stadium?
The decision to build a new stadium follows a years-long search for a replacement for Kauffman Stadium and the rejection of a sales tax by Jackson County voters to fund a different site.
