I don't think anybody realized that the Royals plan was doomed until long after the Chiefs added their plan to the ballot question. I think the majority thought it would probably "barely pass". So if Clark was hard-charging to get out of it, he took a major risk. Plus their ads talking about there's "no place better than Arrowhead" specifically.

I suppose if we really see zero effort to independently pass something for Arrowhead that isn't intertwined with a controversial downtown baseball plan that will bolster your theory.

Ok, fair enough. Never did quite get their whole deal.

I don’t think the ballys site is large enough? Could wheeler airport be relocated? Lots of land there?

But the smell...it's not constant, but when it kicks, it causes Havana Syndrome.

I don't see how Jackson Countians will ever trust Shyster Sherman after all his dirty tricks trying to get this passed. He may move them or sell the team. I'd be all for that dudes a turd and have always been.

Good thoughts...what we haven't seen yet is much from Mike Parson...I would expect the State of Missouri to step up and get involved with grants or muni bonds to calm down the Chiefs FO. The Latter Day Saints just released 2,000 acres for sale along 470. However, they would still have to deal with Jackson County (but maybe not Frank White, as there was a petition to sack him at the polling location!).

In all honesty, I don't think he is, I think his strength is oil and gas, not real estate development, marketing, and PR. I think he was burned by consulting firms he relied on, who were in way too deep as they started the feasibility studies likely before he bought the team. The official process started in an economic boom, and when the economy soured, they couldn't/wouldn't correct the course. Not excusing their poor performance, but I don't think doing "business as usual" on tax projects (that have always passed) makes someone an evil POS

That answer just doesn't work. I understand that's how you feel and its legitimate, but from a team (ie business perspective) it just doesn't work that way.


This is a really good post.

Here is my my take on all of this.

1. The public has do decide if they want a piece of the action or not. I get the argument that the tax payer shouldn't have foot the bill for a new baseball stadium downtown when they love the existing one. And why are we building stadiums for rich owners anyway.

On the other hand, by not extending an existing tax that helps fund the stadiums, both teams will explore their options and they are going to do what's in their best financial interest. While I think the Chiefs are locked into the area, baseball is a different story, what if Oklahoma City really wants a baseball team? It wouldn't surprise me at all if they would bend over backwards to build a downtown stadium. Another option would be Nashville. Both of those cities would love to bring another sports franchise to their cities, and if I were them I'd be aggressive as hell. Going to either city makes sense for both the city and team.

2. As someone mentioned here the other day the Chiefs are now in a power position. If they did decided to leave the Truman Sports complex, people will rightly point to this vote as the reason why it didn't work.

If I'm the Chiefs, I can't justify sinking hundreds of millions of dollars into facilities that they public no longer wants to support and the team doesn't own. So the only option for the Truman Sports Complex is for the county to sell it to Hunt and the Chiefs. Its a great piece of property, but you are going to sell it for pennies on the dollar (like the Snead trade) because you are getting the Hunt family to permanently stay and invst there and in return you get to property tax revenue from the property.

The Chiefs owning the Truman Sports Complex allows them to totally reimagine it. I'm sure local governments would give the team some tax incentives (TIF) to help with the cost of redevelopment. You could also give the team a sales tax rebate which would allow them to keep a chunk of the sales tax generated on the grounds for period of time.

Such incentives would encourage the team to build a new stadium, build new state of the art facilities, and probably an entertainment district (Hotels, Restaurants, and Bars), which is what I want to see done.

I doubt the city would want to do that. That airports gets a lot of traffic with commuter and executive airlines.

One place I find interesting is that shithole Harlem. Its on the North side Missouri River between the New Buck O'Neil Bridge and Heart of America Bridge. It has an excellent view of downtown and is still KCMo. It may still be Jackson County because of the river channel change for Municipal Airport.

<iframe src="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d17090.97187156563!2d-94.58274188451863!3d39.1127714404584!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x87c0f0eda25 1ac33%3A0x7ebc6df1d0a1aa20!2sHarlem%2C%20Kansas%20City%2C%20MO%2064116!5e1!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v171233047 9030!5m2!1sen!2sus" width="600" height="450" style="border:0;" allowfullscreen="" loading="lazy" referrerpolicy="no-referrer-when-downgrade"></iframe>

and climate controlled...only exterior facade is exposed to the elements and is not load bearing like upper tanks and columns

I was just looking at that area...move Wheeler to the big field where the Arabian Steam Boat was excavated (both are Flood Zones) across the river south of Parkville. Probably very expensive to build on flood plain, but at least it's out of Jackson Co.

Interesting. You’d have buy out a lot of other properties for harlem to be big enough? And you’d have to relocate the rail road system. You’d probably need to go all the way to 10th Ave to get enough land. That just seems more complicated with so many moving parts. With the airport, it’s just one property. You don’t have to disrupt the railroad either.

I think the best plan is putting the Arrowhead renovation funds in escrow, pass gambling (Missouri will eventually, they always take the "Show Me" approach and watch what happens in other states first), go "River Quay" on KC Tenants HQ, and build a shiny new stadium with bigger screens and a retractable roof...turf is out of the question. KC will never host a SB though, and I personally could GAF. When the stadium is complete, tix will be about $8,000.

I still can't picture a better site for the Royals than the Crossroads...with the ability to walk from CBD and P&L to the stadium via the South Loop Parks, and the street car coming all the way from UMKC or Brookside, that would be a destination trip anyone in the country would think is cool. Again, RIver Quaying the KC Tenants is a great 1st step

In the Andy Reid era the Chiefs home record has been 66-24 vs. 62-27 on the road.

They're a little better at home than they are on the road, just as the average NFL team is.

You can tell yourself whatever you want, but that's an awfully tough sell to the people that actually have to foot that bill.

Interesting idea, Hoover. Has it actually been floated at all?

Maybe if you give Clark a free hand with the land in the area (and take the Royals out of there so that he can build that sort of entertainment district where they're sitting) he'll convince himself that he can manage what city leaders have failed at for so long.

It really is just a question of making the investment worthwhile for him. If he thinks it can be done in a way that allows them to stay in Jackson County, I suspect Arrowhead is still being replaced, but he'd probably be happy to do so and build a new stadium if it the investment can be recovered.

And for that to be the case I think you're right - it's gotta be his land. Jackson County would still benefit hugely by the tax revenues (sales tax in addition to property). Though without the Chiefs, what's the actual value of that land anyway?