Are The Royals That Dumb?

[rockchalk]

From the Kansas City Star:

The Kansas City Royals agreed Sunday to a 30-cent tax on tickets in an effort to prevent the collapse of talks aimed at overhauling the Truman Sports Complex.

The Royals had opposed a ticket surcharge, but the team changed its stance after Jackson County legislators this weekend threatened to call off plans for an April 4 election on funding for an overhaul of Kauffman and Arrowhead stadiums and a rolling roof to be shared by the two.

?Philosophically, the Royals have always opposed a ticket-usage tax,? team owner David Glass said Sunday afternoon. ?It appears we needed to do it because it was the right thing to do. ? I think it will help get this deal consummated.?

In public meetings last fall, county residents repeatedly told legislators that new leases for the Royals and the Chiefs should include ticket surcharges so that nonresidents who use the stadiums would help fund the renovations.

The teams for years opposed surcharges, but Legislator Fred Arbanas, a Chiefs Hall of Fame tight end, pushed hard for them. Since Wednesday he had spent hours on the telephone and in face-to-face conversations to make his arguments to the teams.

?I think things are working out pretty fair for Jackson County,? Arbanas said Sunday night. ?Let?s hope things stay together and we can get it tied up by morning.?

Legislature Chairman Henry Rizzo said Sunday that surcharges were the best way to raise money from outside Jackson County to help with the renovations.

?We wanted a surcharge on both teams because Jackson County residents are going to bear the brunt of this,? Rizzo said. ?It was a great idea by Fred Arbanas that grew wings and flew.?

It was unclear late Sunday how the Royals? new position would affect the Chiefs? stance on a surcharge. The Chiefs and the National Football League last week agreed to a $1-per-ticket surcharge on tickets. However, that agreement was worked out when it was thought the Royals? might accept a surcharge of 50 cents per ticket.

Chiefs Vice Chairman Jack Steadman said Sunday night that he would call the NFL commissioner?s office this morning to discuss the latest proposal.

?In view of what the Royals are doing with the user fee, we need to check with the National Football League office to determine whether or not we can stay with our commitment for $1 or whether they will require us to reduce it,? he said.

The NFL and Major League Baseball must approve the leases that the teams and Jackson County sign.

County officials are pushing to have the election in April because the county has run out of money to fund an estimated $80 million in stadium improvements due this year under the current leases, which were signed in 1990.

If the work is not done, then the county would default and the teams could leave the sports complex as soon as 2007.

Rather than do minimal work, county officials want to overhaul the stadiums and get the teams to sign new leases that would lock them into the complex until 2031.

The deadline to get items on the April 4 ballot is Tuesday. Legislators will discuss the proposed leases at 1:30 p.m. today and 10 a.m. Tuesday at the downtown courthouse.

As of Friday night, the plan had been to ask county voters to approve a 3/8 -cent sales-tax increase to raise at least $425 million to pay for most of the stadium work. The state would put in $50 million in tax credits, the Chiefs $75 million and the Royals $25 million toward $575 million in improvements at the two stadiums. The teams would cover cost overruns.

Legislators also planned to ask voters to approve a use tax on certain goods bought out of state to pay for most of the $200 million rolling roof. Additional funding is needed for the roof and still must be resolved.

But the plan began to unravel after the Royals announced Friday night that they would not join the Chiefs in supporting a ticket surcharge. That touched off a flurry of activity that culminated in the Royals? decision Sunday afternoon.

Mike Smith, chairman of the Truman Sports Complex Authority, said he made clear to county representatives over the weekend that he doubted he could support leases that did not include ticket surcharges.

Arbanas said he called Mark Gorris, the Royals? senior vice president for business operations, several times Saturday and Sunday. Steadman spoke with Glass on Saturday, both men acknowledged.

Rizzo told Gorris on Sunday that the lack of a ticket surcharge from the Royals could jeopardize the whole election. Gorris then successfully lobbied Glass to change the team?s position.

All participants in the talks complimented one another and singled out Arbanas for praise, saying he was as tough a negotiator on the telephone as he was a player on the football field.

Rizzo said he hoped that the Chiefs and NFL would understand that the Royals are not as profitable as the Chiefs and stick to the $1 surcharge. Smith and Arbanas said they would prefer the Royals commit to a 50-cent surcharge but said they ?could live with 30 cents.?

Glass said that the Royals sold about 1.4 million tickets last season and hope to raise attendance to at least 2 million if the overhaul is done. The Chiefs? games sell out, drawing a little less than 800,000 fans per year.

Among the details to be worked out is when the surcharge would take effect. Also up in the air Sunday was a 10 percent parking surcharge for both Royals and Chiefs games and the Chiefs commitment to waive that surcharge in many cases for Jackson County residents.

Chiefs owner Lamar Hunt said he would fly to Kansas City this morning to review the latest proposed lease for his team. Hunt said he was optimistic that the county and the two teams will reach a deal ? including a rolling roof ? by the Tuesday deadline.

Glass said he was eager to have the leases signed and get voter approval April 4.

?We just need to get on with it so that we can all relax and enjoy watching the Royals and Chiefs play in renovated facilities rather than agonizing over how to do it,? he said.

Steadman concurred with one addition:

?And hopefully winning championships. That would be the icing on the cake,? he said.

First off, the roof looks like a big potato chip...but that's another story. I honestly don't see why the Royals were against this in the first place, other than the fact that they knew that without a surcharge, there was no way this would pass, which meant that they would either get a new stadium or be out of town within the next three years. I'm not so sure that the stadium issue will pass anyway, since it failed last year, but actually taxing everyone else that attends games will go a long way to helping Jackson County residents feel better about it. Face it, if either team leaves, it would be a HUGE blow to the area, and everyone knows this. Paraphrasing something from a politician I read a couple of weeks ago, Without the two teams, KC is just like Des Moines, Wichita, Omaha...nice Midwestern cities, but Minor League.

[gashouser27]

The Royals are pretty much a minor league team playing in the American League!

[SEMOSTLfan]

where can i see a picture of this propsed roof project? it sounds kind of strange to me.

[NJTank]

Why do they want to ruin such a beautiful Stadium.

[Audiodrama]

where can i see a picture of this propsed roof project? it sounds kind of strange to me.

I'd be interested in seeing a rendering of this as well...

[mrxmt]

Here's a link to an image of the roof:

Arrowhead Roof

[appleclock]

Here's a link to an image of the roof:

Arrowhead Roof

Like watching a football game inside a greenhouse.

[BJ Sands]

Why do they want to ruin such a beautiful Stadium.

It's more for the Chiefs. They were promised either Super Bowl 49 or 51(?) if Arrowhead gets a roof.

Face it, if either team leaves, it would be a HUGE blow to the area, and everyone knows this. Paraphrasing something from a politician I read a couple of weeks ago, Without the two teams, KC is just like Des Moines, Wichita, Omaha...nice Midwestern cities, but Minor League. 

I disagree with that politician. KC is a much more diverse and beautiful city than the ones mentioned. And I don't think there is much of a market for the Royals. They'd be hard-pressed to find a stadium nicer and a fan base that would support them. I know they don't draw now, but if fans are given a reason to come, they will.

I'm from Chicago and have had the privilege to see games at Wrigley and Soldier. Both Arrowhead and Kauffman, two places which I have also seen games, are also pretty damn nice. They do need substantial facelifts, however.

As for the Chiefs, after Lamar Hunt dies, I've heard that the people in line to take over aren't exactly enamored with KC. And as long as LA is vacant, any team will have a credible threat. I'm pretty sure the NFL would like a stable team such as the Chiefs in LA and wouldn't stand in the way. This needs to be approved. Not to save the Royals, but the Chiefs.

[rockchalk]

Here's a link to an image of the roof:

Arrowhead Roof

Actually, that's not the most recent proposal. That one is based on the original concept, but the newer one (while I'm not sure it would be possible to move with the shape proposed) looks more like a potato chip. Here's some animation from HOK by way of the KC Star Rolling Roof

[Ez Street]

This is a really dumb idea. They should want to build a new Football Stadium and a Downtown Ballpark. This is a waste of money much like the facelift to Kemper Arena was.

Kemper was tweaked and all it did was keep the Big 12 happy for a few years. This stadium deal will be the same thing.

But in the long run, I want the teams here, so whatever...

[DaytonBlue]

the wikipedia picture is what they would do if kc got a super bowl. otherwise, the potato chip design would be used, which does not keep out cold like the greenhouse look. I read this somewhere, I think footballstadiumdigest.com