I wish to congratulate the mayor of Kansas Metropolis (State of Missouri) for making one of the vital ridiculous arguments that I’ve seen to this point this 12 months. However first, let me again up barely. Presently, issues don’t look good for the Kansas Metropolis Royals. They maintain lacking deadlines. Final week, the Kansas Home Speaker famous how the Royals had missed a December 31 deadline, which might have allowed the group to make use of a state of Kansas funding bundle for sports activities venues. This week, one county official advised the Kansas Metropolis Star that he had given the Royals a January eighth deadline to make a brand new ballpark proposal that may very well be placed on the April 2026 poll. This week, that deadline handed, and the official talked about to the newspaper that he was “done” negotiating with the group.
The Kansas City Star just lately wrote a narrative detailing how some public leaders are looking for methods of going across the taxpayers to pay for a brand new Royals Ballpark. In 2024, Jackson County voters decisively rejected an increased stadium sales tax for the Kansas Metropolis Chiefs and Royals. Because the Star article mentions, there’s merely no means that the vote could be any totally different if carried out at the moment. Just some weeks in the past, I wrote an article on the absolutely ridiculous and unfocused way that the Royals had been attempting to maneuver ahead with a brand new ballpark. The Royals have promised transparency but have given virtually nothing to the general public. We nonetheless do not know the place a brand new ballpark could be constructed, who would pay for any of it, and even who would pay for any price overruns or infrastructure issues. Metropolis officers appear virtually in shock on the questions which can be nonetheless unanswered. For instance, one of many newest Royals proposals to metropolis officers STILL didn’t reply or clarify the place or who would pay for almost $650M worth of expenses.
So, how precisely are the Royals going to get a brand new ballpark? By going across the taxpayers:
“Two high officers advised The Star that Kansas Metropolis might supply the group a brand new stadium dedication with out a public vote…officers are contemplating a stadium-funding plan that will keep away from a defeat on the poll field” — 01/08/2026, Kansas City Star
Will anybody inform us how metropolis officers plan to pay for this new ballpark? Will somebody inform the taxpayers how town has the monetary means to present many thousands and thousands or billions to the Royals? After all not. Missouri Home Speaker Jonathan Patterson sat down for an interview final week and steered {that a} perk of the Royals constructing a brand new ballpark within the downtown space was “that it would not be subject to a vote.” Patterson would go on to state that town has “existing programs in place to secure the Royals.” He didn’t go into element concerning the packages that will be used or how a lot cash was being mentioned.
The mayor of Kansas Metropolis was not significantly better. The mayor advised the Star this week that town “already had available tools in place to make an offer to the team.” What are these instruments? The mayor by no means answered that query other than claiming that funding for a brand new ballpark would come from “users of the venue” and new developments round a brand new ballpark. The mayor does promise, although, that this deal will “not require the entire city to back the project” and that town has the “best tools to get something done.” I’m left to marvel if the mayor is in contact with actuality when he claims that they’ll and pays for a brand new ballpark “in a fiscally responsible manner.” When the Star continued to ask the mayor what he meant by town having the perfect instruments to fund a stadium, he once more prevented the query with a imprecise reply. The one reply that the mayor seems to give is {that a} new stadium will in some way be constructed from individuals visiting the stadium and a few new improvement across the venue.
Nevertheless, the mayor simply desires us to belief him. He claims that town may have a “robust package that looks to outstanding, additional tools” to pay for any new ballpark. It isn’t like he has tried to cover virtually every bit of negotiation info from the general public prior to now? Nevermind, he did and has continued to do that. However he has by no means lied to the general public about who has funded slanted polling outcomes? Scratch that. He has done that. Simply consider what the mayor says, okay?
