Royals to leave Kauffman Stadium?

[East Coast Twin]

Owner John Sherman proposes to build a $2B stadium, entertainment district in or near downtown Kansas City.

https://www.kshb.com/sports/royals-to-leave-kauffman-stadium-seek-2b-plan-for-stadium-entertainment-district-in-missouri

 

[Vanimal46]

Boy, this sure sounds similar. I’m old enough to remember when the Pohlads made this same plea to the public that a new stadium is needed to make the team competitive. 

[Blyleven2011]

I sure like the location and Kaufmann park , they have done lots of  remodeling improvements over the years  and for an older  stadium  it is a great ballpark to watch a game  ...

[Nine of twelve]

I made my first visit to Kauffman stadium in September to take in a couple Twins games. Having heard generally positive reviews of the stadium, I was surprised to find that I was less than impressed. The field itself was good and I came away with a good impression of KC fans and stadium employees. But the stadium itself has lots of bad seats. The upper deck from foul pole to foul pole goes waaaay up and back from the field and the sections are wide. Look at a 3D view of the stadium on Google Maps or similar and you can see what I'm talking about. People in those seats are a long way from the field and because the rows are so long there will be a lot of inconvenience anytime someone in the middle of the row wants to get out. I guess I'm a bit spoiled by Target Field but I certainly understand why it's worthwhile to design and build a new stadium as opposed to spending a boatload of money to try to upgrade a stadium that will never measure up to something new.

[MMMordabito]

28 minutes ago, Blyleven2011 said:

I sure like the location and Kaufmann park , they have done lots of  remodeling improvements over the years  and for an older  stadium  it is a great ballpark to watch a game  ...

Couldn't agree more, but, in the end, they'll follow the greenbacks.  

I can't imagine a downtown location having those massive tailgate lots, and that will be a bummer for many.

[Mike Sixel]

Proving baseball ownership is all about real estate development for many owners.... The media will repeat the ridiculous claims about jobs and a huge impact on the economy, and the taxpayers will subsidize the billionaire.

[Vanimal46]

9 minutes ago, Mike Sixel said:

Proving baseball ownership is all about real estate development for many owners.... The media will repeat the ridiculous claims about jobs and a huge impact on the economy, and the taxpayers will subsidize the billionaire.

Why own a team when you can own an entire neighborhood? They can collect rent from shops/restaurants and rent from apartments built above the shops/restaurants. 

[nicksaviking]

5 hours ago, Blyleven2011 said:

I sure like the location and Kaufmann park , they have done lots of  remodeling improvements over the years  and for an older  stadium  it is a great ballpark to watch a game  ...

As someone who typically doesn't bring or rent a car when I travel, I actually really, really dislike the suburban ballparks. Building in the boonies and surrounding it with a sea of pavement is both inconvenient and also an eyesore. I hate that trend. In my opinion, large stadiums SHOULD be downtown in the heart of the city where fans can experience the culture and history the city has to offer in addition to taking in a game.

But I also don't like the trend of giving these billionaires free money and land to build into a personal cash-printing real estate scheme. 

[notoriousgod71]

Guess the Drury inn/lotus hotel will be losing my business.

[dxpavelka]

Always baffled that there is ZERO development anywhere near the Truman Sports Complex in KC.  Love all the parking but it's just bizarre that there is nothing else within miles.

[dxpavelka]

On 11/16/2022 at 11:31 AM, nicksaviking said:

As someone who typically doesn't bring or rent a car when I travel, I actually really, really dislike the suburban ballparks. Building in the boonies and surrounding it with a sea of pavement is both inconvenient and also an eyesore. I hate that trend. In my opinion, large stadiums SHOULD be downtown in the heart of the city where fans can experience the culture and history the city has to offer in addition to taking in a game.

But I also don't like the trend of giving these billionaires free money and land to build into a personal cash-printing real estate scheme. 

Typically the plan is build a tax generating scheme.

[IndianaTwin]

Aside from the worthy discussions of downtown vs. suburban, parking vs. development, Kauffman Stadium will always hold a special place in my heart for that night in July 1974, when an eight-year-old kid was living the dream as he got to see his first major league baseball game.

For that reason alone, I'm bummed to see the possibility of a new stadium, and I'll definitely want to get back there at least one more time. Each time I've been there since (most recently when it happened to coincide with Miguel Sano's callup), I've been impressed with their attempts to modernize. 

[DJL44]

On 11/15/2022 at 9:01 PM, Vanimal46 said:

Boy, this sure sounds similar. I’m old enough to remember when the Pohlads made this same plea to the public that a new stadium is needed to make the team competitive. 

Except Kauffman is a MUCH better baseball stadium than the old Metrodome.

At least he proposed building downtown. Most of the new development is in Kansas (NASCAR, soccer, minor league baseball).

[Parfigliano]

On 11/16/2022 at 7:48 AM, Blyleven2011 said:

I sure like the location and Kaufmann park , they have done lots of  remodeling improvements over the years  and for an older  stadium  it is a great ballpark to watch a game  ...

Love Kaufmann

[Parfigliano]

On 11/28/2022 at 9:40 PM, dxpavelka said:

Always baffled that there is ZERO development anywhere near the Truman Sports Complex in KC.  Love all the parking but it's just bizarre that there is nothing else within miles.

Theres a couple hotels

[Vanimal46]

On 11/29/2022 at 9:24 AM, DJL44 said:

Except Kauffman is a MUCH better baseball stadium than the old Metrodome.

At least he proposed building downtown. Most of the new development is in Kansas (NASCAR, soccer, minor league baseball).

Agreed. The point of my first post is Kansas City could build a multi-billion, 9th wonder of the world stadium and still come up with the same excuses Minnesota does to have a self imposed payroll limitation. Poor TV contract, small market size, low attendance, etc. There will always be a reason why they’ll be a mid-market team. 

[dxpavelka]

18 minutes ago, Parfigliano said:

Theres a couple hotels

Not very close are they?  Been a few years since I've been there.  Within walking distance from either venue?

[nicksaviking]

13 hours ago, dxpavelka said:

Not very close are they?  Been a few years since I've been there.  Within walking distance from either venue?

One hotel on the stadium side of the interstate and another hotel on the other side. And a Taco Bell. The stadiums are the only thing to do see in that part of town. Not even a bar to walk to to wait for game day traffic to thin out.