McDowell: Why The Chiefs Pursuit to Renovate Arrowhead Has Hit A Snag

[tk13]

We've been talking about this for a few weeks over in the Royals thread. It's been interesting to see how quiet the Chiefs have been while the Royals negotiate for a new stadium, and in the last couple weeks there's more and more smoke that the Chiefs and Royals staying in Jackson County is not a sure thing. Sam McDowell finally wrote about it. It's a very long column so I just picked some highlights. It's a good breakdown of the situation. It sounds like Kansas hasn't made any serious offers but they're the obvious alternative if Jackson County decides to punt, and it sounds like the Royals and Chiefs want answers soon.

https://www.kansascity.com/sports/sp...282553078.html

The Chiefs are quietly evaluating the need to pursue alternatives outside Jackson County as their push to negotiate a renewal of a county-wide sales tax has failed to launch substantive conversations, multiple sources told The Star. Well, it was quietly. You’re probably aware of the recent rhetoric, including from some local politicians, implying that the Chiefs already have one foot out the door — and are strutting toward Kansas, no less. That gasoline-on-the-fire message follows a worst-case-scenario playbook, not to mention a Kansas City tactic of pitting two states against each other for its prized assets. But this doesn’t paint an entirely accurate picture. The Chiefs have not engaged in serious conversations with outside parties about a move across the state line, sources told me, a sentiment confirmed to The Star’s Katie Bernard by Brianna Johnson, a spokeswoman for Kansas Gov. Laura Kelly. That doesn’t mean they won’t.

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The Royals started and initially drove the stadium conversation, not only publicly, but behind the scenes too. The Chiefs weren’t completely silent observers, but they appeared content to allow the Royals to negotiate a new lease with Jackson County and county executive Frank White, and then follow with what would ideally be a smoother and quicker conversation.

The latter has just simply not been the case. The former, waiting on the conclusion of Royals’ negotiations, has since changed. What’s been lost along the way is that the Chiefs, too, are interested in an April 2024 ballot measure, for reasons I’ll cover here. And as a Jan. 23 deadline to secure that ballot measure has neared, they ignited their own talks, separate from the Royals, earlier this fall. “We have met with Frank and the county attorneys in an introductory meeting,” Chiefs team president Mark Donovan said in a statement. “We shared that we would like to focus on extending the current 3/8th-cent sales tax. This partnership has served us well for over 50 years, and we look forward to working with them to enhance the amazing community asset that GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium has become.” Where do those talks stand now? “We have not heard back from the county,” Donovan said.

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The Chiefs have sought a 25-year renewal of the 3/8th-cent sales tax passed in 2006, as Donovan’s statement said, with no significant additions to the long-standing lease. That’s the path they are attempting to navigate, with a conclusion that would keep them at Arrowhead, a fan-favorite, for the next quarter-century. But in my discussions with an array of politicos, it’s evident to many that White does not believe the current lease agreement benefits Jackson County, which funds and manages the facilities but does not receive direct revenue from the stadiums. The deal is more complicated than the tax — for example, no one has raised a hand to pay for demolition of Kauffman Stadium if the Royals move, an expense that would total tens of millions of dollars.

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White is positioned at the center of this saga as the county executive who just so happens to be a member of the Royals Hall of Fame. But his lack of eagerness to extend the status quo is not an isolated view within the county, sources said. He has at least some support from the legislature, though there are varying opinions about the reach and depth of that support. And therefore it’s notable that others within the county government want to create a path for the Chiefs to circumvent White by securing backing from a majority of the legislators to extend the sales tax. There is doubt, however, about whether they would have enough support to override a potential veto from White, if it were to come to that.

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The Royals, who have had more frequent meetings with the county, have stated their preference to play downtown baseball sooner rather than later. Their recent focus has primarily been analyzing the logistics of the former Kansas City Star press building along the south loop, and they have started the process of creating renderings for the site, sources said. They’ve also publicly stated their target of an April ballot measure, which comes with that rapidly approaching Jan. 23 deadline. It’s a deadline that the Chiefs are targeting, too — with a more concrete plan, at least to date. I’ll put this out there before I continue: In the course of speaking with several people for this column, there are overwhelmingly more who classify an April ballot measure as a long-shot than those who expect the county and teams to reach an agreement before the mid-January date.

Read more at: https://www.kansascity.com/sports/sp...#storylink=cpy

[TEX]

Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk

Arrowhead need to bring back the rolling cover concept.

Now THAT would really be something!

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Mr_Tomahawk

Arrowhead need to bring back the rolling cover concept.

Why? I don't see a scenario where the Royals stay at Kaufmann.

[Woogieman]

Originally Posted by Discuss Thrower

Hard to fill luxury boxes with corporate clients with corporations don't stick around..

Cerner, DST, KC Southern..

Kansas City has never been a huge corporate town but sells out a 75,000 seat Arrowhead every game, including all the recently-built suite additions. In addition to 4 Light, there are several other housing and other projects beginning in Downtown. In 2012, KC Downtown had 225,000 out of town vistors, a decade later, the number is 10+ million and steadily increasing.
A Royals Stadium location anywhere other than Downtown would be a monumental disaster. Nobody wants to come to KC from Minnesota, Chi, Stl, Iowa, Omaha, et al and spend the weekend at the Legends. It's just silly talk/posturing.

[TribalElder]

Maybe Frank White will do everyone a favor an die

That would be great for this whole nonsense and the entire Jackson county property tax scam thats a back alley abortion with rusty equipment

[Bob Dole]

I really don’t understand the entire downtown stadium thing. Are you there for the game, or something else? The Truman sports complex was a brilliant idea 50 years ago, and continues to shine. “But I can’t find a BW3 or an AirBNB within walking distance” is a shit excuse to spend a billion and remove an iconic facility.

[Chief Roundup]

Would it be better for the Chiefs if the Royals were removed from the equation? I would think it certainly could be better and really should be better because of the disparity between the two franchise's situations and the drive to obtain wins and provide the best product for the tax payers and fans.

[Woogieman]

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

I really don’t understand the entire downtown stadium thing. Are you there for the game, or something else? The Truman sports complex was a brilliant idea 50 years ago, and continues to shine. “But I can’t find a BW3 or an AirBNB within walking distance” is a shit excuse to spend a billion and remove an iconic facility.

I think The K is fine (convenient, unparalleled parking ease), but Sherman says (at gunpoint) that the only way to stay competitive is to create alternate/additional income streams with a new facility. I personally think the "crumbling" state of the K is an exaggeration at best, and I would MUCH rather see MLB get it's shit together and institute a real salary cap, but IF they must leave the K, the Downtown model has proven a success in nearly every city. The Rs avg just over 16K/game, they need to do something.

[BigRedChief]

Originally Posted by Woogieman

I think The K is fine (convenient, unparalleled parking ease), but Sherman says (at gunpoint) that the only way to stay competitive is to create alternate/additional income streams with a new facility. I personally think the "crumbling" state of the K is an exaggeration at best, and I would MUCH rather see MLB get it's shit together and institute a real salary cap, but IF they must leave the K, the Downtown model has proven a success in nearly every city. The Rs avg just over 16K/game, they need to do something.

No idea about the condition of the underlying infrastructure. As a non-Royals fan, I can say that the “K” without a doubt is one of the best places to watch a game in the entire MLB.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by Titty Meat

Lol this is an awful excuse to pay for billionaires. As a KCMO resident it would be awesome if both went to KS

I don't know if you are in this category, but a lot of people who feel like you do, don't actually understand the revenue that is generated in the city of Kansas City proper, because of the location of the Chiefs and Royals.

While the loss of said revenue would not be immediately felt, over the course of time the city will have to raise taxes, sales taxes, property taxes, etc. to start recouping the monies lost.

City governments are slow to react to trends like a steady loss of tax revenue, especially revenue that isn't easily tracked or quantified, as in this case, and that delay could end up causing long term damage to the city that would more than likely be a long term issue.

I don't know. I am super high, but I remember lectures from economics in college talking about this type of issue. Actually, I am thinking of a lecture hosted by the economics and political science professors. I can't remember the freaking introduction of the lecture, but I feel like it was something about city management, but I am really high and can't remember.

[L.A. Chieffan]

Royals is one thing but if the Chiefs leave Arrowhead it'd be like if they knocked down the Louvre

[Woogieman]

Originally Posted by BigRedChief

No idea about the condition of the underlying infrastructure. As a non-Royals fan, I can say that the “K” without a doubt is one of the best places to watch a game in the entire MLB.

Could the infrastructure have "crumbled" that badly in 14 years? It must have, since none of the $250,000,000 renovation was earmarked towards infrastructure

[ghak99]

Frank White can go **** himself with a rusty fork.

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by Woogieman

I think The K is fine (convenient, unparalleled parking ease), but Sherman says (at gunpoint) that the only way to stay competitive is to create alternate/additional income streams with a new facility. I personally think the "crumbling" state of the K is an exaggeration at best, and I would MUCH rather see MLB get it's shit together and institute a real salary cap, but IF they must leave the K, the Downtown model has proven a success in nearly every city. The Rs avg just over 16K/game, they need to do something.

The R’s average that because they put up a shit team. Does a downtown stadium change that?

[Bob Dole]

Originally Posted by Chief Roundup

Would it be better for the Chiefs if the Royals were removed from the equation? I would think it certainly could be better and really should be better because of the disparity between the two franchise's situations and the drive to obtain wins and provide the best product for the tax payers and fans.

Word salad.

[Woogieman]

Originally Posted by Bob Dole

The R’s average that because they put up a shit team. Does a downtown stadium change that?

Yes, if it increases revenue...that's the whole point.