Royals’ Owner John Sherman is still seeking a stadium site.
It appears that Jackson County, Missouri is trying to figure out how to help finance a new stadium for Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals’ franchise owner John Sherman. There seems to be a plan whereby Jackson County would send Sherman $15 million a year for 20 years and put up $300 million toward the construction of what would be a stadium-village with Sherman’s Royals’ venue serving as an anchor with retail space, offices and housing surrounding the baseball structure. Clay County and North Kansas City may also want to help fund a Royals’ stadium-village but that might require voters’ approval and if there is one thing that sports owners and sports leagues loathe is the public weighing in a building a stadium or an arena as the owners of the National Hockey League’s Arizona franchise found out in May, 2023 when Tempe voters said no to building a hockey arena on a city toxic dump property.
Sherman’s business operates at a stadium that was funded by Jackson County, Missouri more than 50 years ago and renovations of the building were funded by Jackson County taxpayers. Sherman will go to that well again. “We want them to give us their best shot,” Sherman said of Jackson County. “And we’re going to give them our best shot to do it there. But I think we should be clear that there is certainly an alternative to that area. A new stadium will generate more revenue than this one does. In addition to that, we will control surrounding real estate that will also generate revenue for the club.” North Kansas City and Clay County politicians have looked at Sherman’s plan. Sherman had hoped to pick out a stadium site by the end of the 2023 season. The Kansas City stadium game is now in extra innings.
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