Royals $3 Billion Ballpark Development Gets Key Approval

The Royals are officially moving to downtown Kansas City after city officials approved bonding to support a $3 billion ballpark and mixed-use development. 

The city council ratified on Thursday the creation of a tax-increment financing district that will support the project in Kansas City, as well as the issuance of $537 million in public bonds and the rezoning of the Crown Center site. While the approvals were expected for weeks, there had been some prior tension around the planned taxpayer support of the ballpark.

Ultimately, the bond measure and creation of the TIF district passed by two overwhelming 11–2 votes and the rezoning was unanimous with a 13–0 approval. 

First unveiled in April, the Royals’ project will involve a roughly 34,000-seat ballpark at Crown Center, near Kansas City’s Union Station, in partnership with locally based greeting cards giant Hallmark. The ballpark district will include the company’s new headquarters, as well as an 85-acre development that will include a “park-like central square” with fountains that are also a signature element of Kansas City and Kauffman Stadium, the Royals’ current home.

“Kansas City voted to keep Major League Baseball and Hallmark Cards in Kansas City, clearing the way for a transformational, baseball-centered district that delivers for residents, workers, and neighborhoods,” said city Mayor Quinton Lucas following the votes. 

The Royals’ deal with the city includes signing a 30-year lease with options for five two-year extensions. The club will be responsible for stadium operating costs and upkeep, while the city will be due 5% of net profits from non-baseball events held at the ballpark. 

The approvals marked the second major MLB stadium deal to happen in the last two months following the Rays’ long-awaited pact in late August. While not nearly as long or combative as the Rays’ saga, the Royals’ stadium search had its own twists and turns, particularly after voters strongly rejected a prior effort in April 2024. 

A Changing Region

Retaining the Royals became a priority for state and local officials in Missouri after the NFL’s Chiefs struck a deal late last year with neighboring Kansas for a $3 billion domed stadium and a separate headquarters and training complex worth more than $1 billion. 

With the Chiefs and Royals now set to move to new stadiums, officials in Jackson County, Missouri, are planning for the future of the Truman Sports Complex without those teams. County leaders are proposing to retain Arrowhead Stadium and use it for events such as concerts, college football, soccer, and rugby. Kauffman Stadium would be demolished and replaced with a hotel, convention center, and an entertainment district on the site with dining, shopping, and live music.

While the two teams’ current stadium leases do not expire until early 2031, Royals owner John Sherman intends to begin playing in the new facility in 2030 after a groundbreaking next spring.

“We’re bringing together in this project two iconic Kansas City brands to do something special for the city that we love,” Sherman said earlier this week regarding Hallmark. “It would be bigger and better than anything we could have done on our own.”