Royals Eye Downtown Ballpark Site As Governor Pushes for a Decision

There is a potentially impactful new twist in the long-running Royals stadium saga, one arriving against the backdrop of an increasingly impatient Missouri Gov. Mike Parson.

The MLB club is now considering Washington Square Park, on the southern edge of downtown Kansas City, as a site option for a new ballpark. The location, if chosen, could give further momentum to the Royals staying in Missouri after Jackson County voters in April soundly rejected a sales tax measure tied in part to a proposed ballpark in the city’s Crossroads neighborhood.

“If the Royals are looking at downtown, then we’ll do all we can to make sure—while having respect for our taxpayers—that we come up with that proper balance,” said Kansas City mayor Quinton Lucas.

The Washington Square Park site was first proposed two decades ago as a potential new home for the Royals, but then team owner David Glass opted to remain at a renovated Kauffman Stadium—an upgrade now reaching the end of its workable life.

The latest development arrives as Missouri leaders are heightening their efforts to keep both the Royals and their current Truman Sports Complex neighbors, the NFL’s Chiefs. The state is facing fast-growing competition to retain the franchises as the Kansas legislature approved bonding in June to help build new stadiums for the two teams.

Get It Done

The reworked site search is also emerging as Parson has made it clear the Royals have a narrow window of less than four months to get a new funding deal done in Missouri—should they decide to do so. The governor said waiting until next year will make obtaining public-sector help much more difficult. Parson, not coincidentally, is term-limited and will complete his governorship in January. 

“Some decisions have to be made. I don’t know how to sugarcoat this, but the Royals have got to make a decision,” Parson said recently on KCMO Talk Radio. “You can’t make a plan in November, December, and expect the state to come in and help you.”

That comment is a rather marked change in tone from early last month, when Parson quipped, “I’ve got six months. How much more time do you need?”

The Chiefs, meanwhile, last month set a loose deadline of January 2025 to decide their stadium future. That team’s options include staying in a renovated Arrowhead Stadium or building a new facility. In part because of that renovation possibility—something not on the table for the Royals—the Chiefs’ situation has not assumed quite as much urgency.