Omaha Forums

Just a question to everyone at eomaha.com, do you guys think it would be a good idea to build a downtown baseball stadium in KC??

http://www.downtownbaseball.com

Check it out, a tentative proposal was made today by the downtown council of KC to build a 40,000+ seat stadium along with numerous luxury suites to accomodate the Royals and their lease agreement /disagreement with Jackson County, MO. The stadium would cost roughly $357 million and could open as early as 2009.

If there are any KC/O Royals fans that do support the Royals moving downtown, please call the Royals or email dan glass at

dan.glass@kcroyals.com

Thanks.

Beautiful proposal! Are you sure you don't want to just build this in Omaha's North Downtown, and move the Royals here? :-)

Do you think it will spur light rail talks in KC (if there aren't already)?

That sure is a gorgeous rendering!

It said on the site "to make sure the Royals stay in KC." Is there a danger of them leaving? 'Cause you know we'd love to take 'em off ya!

Wow, I always liked having the baseball and football stadiums adjacent down there. Not a bad idea though I suppose to move downtown. Maybe they could build at the stockyards and tear down Dumper, I mean Kemper Arena.

Yes, the county (jackson) MO could default on both leases for the Royals and the Chiefs as early as next year..

This is a very hot topic right now in KC... KC is in danger of losing one or both of their professional sports teams if something is not done soon.

Light rail has already been thrown around for decades here in KC. The truth is however, KC will need some type of 'destination' downtown for light rail to completly take off. I believe that with the new Sprint Center (arena) and a new proposed downtown ballpark for the Royals, and the $3.5 billion dollars of private/public investment in downtown KC, light rail is only a few years away.

Screw the Royals Build a downtown football stadium for the Chiefs. At least they have an ownership that deserves a new stadium.

That being said, I can't see either franchise leaving the city. Where would they go? The Chiefs are an Icon in the NFL and you just can't pull them from the city anymore than you could pull the Packers from Green Bay.

The Royals, let em go. The ownership may enjoy a slight bump in revenue by going to another city but it won't last as long as they keep throwing the |expletive| they call baseball out on the field.

The Packers are an anomoly in professional sports. They will never leave Green Bay because they are owned by the city.

But don't think for a second that the Chiefs couldn't leave KC for LA or San Antonio. If Baltimore can lose the Colts and Cleveland can lose the Browns, anything goes. Baseball is even more whorish than the NFL.

Wouldn't it be fun if Omaha suddenly had higher level professional baseball than Kansas City?

-Big E

I'd hate to see KC lose the Cheifs, especially if it were to LA!

That being said, I'd accept the Royals to Omaha with open arms.

Is this the REAL reason for the north downtown ballpark? Did they just fudge the numbers to throw people off the trail???

First of all why in the world would you build a new stadium for the Chiefs downtown when they play 10 games a year. Two of those being pre-season. That's 355 days a year where you have a massive structure not being used taking up a huge section of your downtown. And secondly if the Royals go anywhere it will be to a bigger market without a team. Um Portland comes to mind.

MrTwister wrote:Screw the Royals Build a downtown football stadium for the Chiefs. At least they have an ownership that deserves a new stadium.

I personally like Arrowhead, and I really don't see any need for an NFL stadium upgrade. Is there even any talk to upgrade on Arrowhead? As far as a new stadium for Royals, it would be cool to see them move downtown, but they really suck and they have more to worry about than the venue they play in.

I'd just love to see some kind of year-round street level use for any stadium built in any residential or downtown area. Ring the building with bars, restaurants and retail so that the block isn't JUST a stadium and gates. Wrigley Field and Camden Yards come to mind (as I've been to both and can't really comment on others), but take the concept further. Heck, you could even add executive suites in the structure.

-Big E

the chiefs arent going downtown in the forseeable future. no one is even suggesting they move them. that would sabatoge any progress on the royals. besides, the tailgating culture wouldnt allow for that. baseball, on the other hand, is a more urban sport. a baseball stadium just belongs in a downtown, not amongst suburban sprawl.

warwickland wrote:the chiefs arent going downtown in the forseeable future. no one is even suggesting they move them. that would sabatoge any progress on the royals. besides, the tailgating culture wouldnt allow for that. baseball, on the other hand, is a more urban sport. a baseball stadium just belongs in a downtown, not amongst suburban sprawl.

Isn't it odd how kansas city at one time had an airport and a baseball / football stadium near or in the downtown area. As years went by kansas city decides with other cities to build their airports and baseball / football stadiums out in the suburbs.
Now they want them back in or nearer downtown.
We have no leadership in KC. Why do other cities follow lead with other cities ? Just because it works for one city doesn't mean it'll work for their city.

I thought people in KC wanted a new football stadium out by the Kansas Speedway. They already have paking for the 120,000 people the race track holds.

Personally I there us nothing wrong with the current sports complex. However the one in DTKC would be cool.

Baseball makes alot of sense downtown... there are dozens of games played each year which will add to the bustle of an urban area. Football on the other hand makes no sense downtown... it should be in as desolate an area as feasible, because you're only talking a little more than half a dozen games a year. The rest of the tiime, save an occasional concert... you leave this enormous space devoid of activity.

jhuston wrote:Baseball makes alot of sense downtown... there are dozens of games played each year which will add to the bustle of an urban area. Football on the other hand makes no sense downtown... it should be in as desolate an area as feasible, because you're only talking a little more than half a dozen games a year. The rest of the tiime, save an occasional concert... you leave this enormous space devoid of activity.

Lets say they do build an stadium for baseball. What do they do with the baseball stadium thats already next to the football stadium in Kansas City ?

paintfumes wrote:Lets say they do build an stadium for baseball. What do they do with the baseball stadium thats already next to the football stadium in Kansas City ?

Tear it down and develop it! Maybe build a community oriented towards the Chiefs. For example: Cardinals new stadium and adjacent development on old stadium, also Wrigley Field is developing retail, restaraunts, entertainment, etc right next to the stadium.

Basically, develop the land.

Well I was just speaking in a generic sense... I don't know what KC does with Kauffman (demolish it like every other city I guess). Omaha will continue to use the Rosenblatt, as long as the CWS remains here.

Personally, I do really like the K (photo I took during an interleague game with the Cardinals)... but I also recognize the appeal of downtown baseball parks (and think KC would see a boost in attendance as a result).

Kaufman is ugly as heck. I went down there a few years ago and all it is a parking lot. That view view of the interstate is lovely as well.

The surroundings certainly aren't anything to look at (any more so than Rosenblatt's)... but it's still a beautiful ballpark with it's dancing fountains and all.

One time on sports center they showed the grounds crew catching fish in the fountain.

i actually wouldnt mind seeing the k rebuilt downtown, maybe a bit smaller. new brick stadiums are no longer cool...

Brad wrote:One time on sports center they showed the grounds crew catching fish in the fountain.

somehow this doesnt blow my mind.

KC Star (kansascity.com) is reporting:
http://www.kansascity.com/mld/kansascity/14263452.htm

Stadium vote
Final unofficial results
Question 1: Stadium renovations
Yes 78,773 (53%)
No 68,519 (47%)
Question 2: Rolling roof
Yes 71,394 (49%)
No 75,315 (51%)

So to me, it looks like the baseball stadium is staying out west, and both stadiums are getting improvements, but they said NO to the rolling roof idea...

Wow I thought for sure they would say yay to the roof. I’m shocked.

jhuston wrote:

I was shocked by what Matt P. on Big Sports 590AM said today. That Kaffuman Satdium is a Joke because there is no seats in the outfield. First its a beautiful stadium and seats in the outfield would ruin that. Second of all, How many times a year do they fill up that stadium, none, three or four when St Louis comes to town? I think its great the way it is.

They should work on the product on the field before they add more seats. They have lost their first two games and lost by like 15 or something today?

Losing to fellow past bottom feeder Detroit no less. Not good.

adam186 wrote:

paintfumes wrote:Lets say they do build an stadium for baseball. What do they do with the baseball stadium thats already next to the football stadium in Kansas City ?

Tear it down and develop it! Maybe build a community oriented towards the Chiefs. For example: Cardinals new stadium and adjacent development on old stadium, also Wrigley Field is developing retail, restaraunts, entertainment, etc right next to the stadium.

Basically, develop the land.

You probably have been down to the stadiums ? Notice there hasn't been any development around the stadiums since it has been built.

I really question if a new stadium is going to solve the problems KC has. They are just a terrible terrible team, with ownership that doesn't want to win. Just because you get a new stadium doesn't mean that will fix the situation. I'm sure it will spike attendance for the first couple years, but then what? It just seems like they need to hold on to kaufmann for a few more years (considering it IS a beautiful unique ballpark) and see if they still have a team.

paintfumes - It's been ten years since I've been to the stadiums. I'm suprised there has been NO development at all in the area.

Are Royals headed to downtown KC? City starts talks, studies four sites

http://www.kansascity.com/news/politics ... 58541.html

STEVE VOCKRODT wrote:The city of Kansas City is funding a study of at least four potential sites for a downtown baseball stadium for the Kansas City Royals, according to documents obtained by The Star.

A series of emails shows that Kansas City Manager Troy Schulte was involved in funding studies of four sites within the downtown loop that might be suitable for a baseball stadium.

The Royals are not involved in this study at all. I am hoping they stay at the Sports Complex. Downtown stadiums are nice but the TSS is original and different. Love tailgating before a baseball game. If you want to hit bars and restaurants before or after game, there are plenty at the K.

Greg

Didn't they just dump a crapload of money into Kauffman?

Greg S wrote:The Royals are not involved in this study at all. I am hoping they stay at the Sports Complex. Downtown stadiums are nice but the TSS is original and different. Love tailgating before a baseball game. If you want to hit bars and restaurants before or after game, there are plenty at the K.

Greg

I completely agree. The K is consistently rated in the top half of the league or higher when it comes to the best places to watch a game. Why mess with a good thing? Not to mention that they renovated it just 8 years ago.

MadMartin8 wrote:Didn't they just dump a crapload of money into Kauffman?

Yeah, a good amount. However the Texas Rangers who have a "New" stadium are already building a newer stadium right next door to the existing "New" stadium... Apparently fans in Texas want Air Conditioning...

I think Kauffman is just fine. They do such a good job with it, you'd never know it's a 44-year old ballpark.

The new owners of the KC Roylas have put a downtown ballpark back in the news...

New Royals Owner Open to Downtown KC Ballpark
https://ballparkdigest.com/2020/01/03/n ... -ballpark/

Updates: With the downtowner's annual meeting today and urban baseball experts in town for a talk tonight these conceptual renderings were just dropped on twitter/youtube.

30,000 seats. 1,000 apartments.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_cont ... e=emb_logo

https://kansascitylovestheroyals.com

Holy |expletive|.

It’s nice but I’d rather they stayed at Kaufman.

Wow!