Clay County official calls Royals stadium talks a “closed chapter”
NOW. WELL, DEBATE CONTINUES TONIGHT AT THE MISSOURI STATE CAPITOL OVER A STADIUM PACKAGE RIGHT NOW FOR THE CHIEFS AND ROYALS. GOOD EVENING. I’M BRYA BERRY. GOVERNOR MIKE KEHOE UNVEILED THE SHOW-ME SPORTS INVESTMENT ACT TODAY. NOW, THAT PLAN CALLS FOR STATE ISSUED BONDS TO PAY FOR NEW STADIUMS WITH THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF STATE FUNDING CAPPED AT 50% OF EACH PROJECT. THE ROYALS AND CHIEFS COULD ALSO GET TAX CREDITS UP TO $50 MILLION. THAT MONEY COULD PAY FOR NEW STADIUMS FOR THE NEW TEAMS, AS LONG AS THEY’RE ON THE MISSOURI SIDE. OR IT COULD PAY FOR RENOVATING WHERE THEY ARE RIGHT NOW. WHAT WE STILL DON’T KNOW IS HOW MUCH OF THE TOTAL COST WILL BE PICKED UP BY EITHER JACKSON COUNTY OR THE CITY OF KANSAS CITY, MISSOURI. NOW, THE STATE PLAN CLEARED THE HOUSE THIS AFTERNOON, BUT IT STILL NEEDS SENATE APPROVAL. WE’LL BREAK DOWN MORE OF WHAT THAT BILL INCLUDES AND HEAR FROM MISSOURI LAWMAKERS AT THE STATE CAPITOL. BUT FIRST, KMBC NINE’S JACKSON KURTZ IS LIVE TONIGHT AFTER HEARING FROM LEADERS ON BOTH SIDES OF THE STATE LINE. JACKSON. YEAH, WELL, OBVIOUSLY BOTH TEAMS ARE BOTH STATES WANT THE TEAMS. THEY WE TALKED TO. METRO LEADERS ARE WORKING TO KEEP THE TEAMS CLOSE AND HOPEFULLY THAT WILL BENEFIT THE AREA. NOT REALLY SURPRISED. YOU KNOW I THINK EVERYBODY AT THE STATE LEVEL RECOGNIZES THAT IF IN ORDER TO KEEP BOTH TEAMS HERE IN MISSOURI, THEY’RE GOING TO NEED TO HAVE A MULTI APPROACH. THAT’S CLAY COUNTY COMMISSIONER JASON WHITTINGTON’S REACTION TO GOVERNOR MIKE KEHOE’S SHOW-ME SPORTS INVESTMENT ACT TO KEEP BOTH THE ROYALS AND CHIEFS IN MISSOURI. WE WOULD GET OVER A MILLION VISITORS JUST EVERY YEAR JUST TO THE BASEBALL GAMES, BUT YOU WOULD SEE ANCILLARY DEVELOPMENTS, YOU KNOW, RESIDENTIAL, COMMERCIAL ENTERTAINMENT. WITHINGTON SAYS THERE’S BEEN NO FORMAL COMMUNICATION BETWEEN THE COUNTY AND THE KC ROYALS FOR OVER A YEAR. I THINK EVERYBODY IS AT THE POINT WHERE THEY WOULD LIKE TO HAVE SOME ANSWERS. THE CORNER OF 18TH AND ERIE IN NORTH KANSAS CITY IS THE SPOT CONSIDERED TO BE WHERE A NEW STADIUM WOULD BE BUILT. NORTH KANSAS CITY MAYOR JESSE SMITH SAYS HE JUST MET WITH THE ROYALS LAST WEEK, BUT DISCUSSIONS HAVE BEEN FEW. THIS IS A GREAT STEP IN JACKSON COUNTY. WASHINGTON SQUARE PARK, NEAR CROWN CENTER, IS A FRONTRUNNER FOR A NEW STADIUM IN KC, MO. CASEY MAYOR QUINTON LUCAS SEES THE GOVERNOR’S ACTION AS A RESPONSIBLE INVESTMENT. I THINK WE GO FROM HAVING THIS NEVER ENDING DISCUSSION TO BASICALLY HAVING A DEAL THAT CAN BE DONE AND SIGNED WITHIN DAYS OR WEEKS, RATHER THAN US DOING THIS FOR ANOTHER MONTHS OR YEARS. WE REACHED OUT TO JACKSON COUNTY EXECUTIVE FRANK WHITE, BUT DID NOT HEAR BACK. JACKSON COUNTY VOTERS REJECTED A SALES TAX EXTENSION LAST YEAR THAT WOULD HAVE HELPED FUND A DOWNTOWN ROYALS STADIUM AND MAINTAIN AND REPAIR ARROWHEAD STADIUM. AND ON THE KANSAS SIDE, THE AREA IN KC NEAR THE LEGENDS AND KANSAS SPEEDWAY IS THE TOP SPOT WHERE THEY WANT TO BUILD A STADIUM THERE. WE REACHED OUT TO OFFICIALS IN KANSAS TO COMMENT ON THE STAR BONDS, WHICH WOULD HELP PAY FOR THE STADIUMS TO BE BUILT THERE. WE HAVE NOT YET HEARD BACK FROM ANYONE THERE IN JACKSON COUNTY. JACKSON KURTZ KMBC NINE NEWS. ALL RIGHT, JACKSON, THANK YOU. AND AS YOU’VE SEEN, THE BILL IN MISSOURI COULD HAVE HUNDREDS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS TO HELP BUILD NEW STADIUMS. KMBC NINE S MATT FLENER BREAKING DOWN THIS BILL AND GETTING REACTION FROM LEADERS TONIGHT. GOVERNOR MIKE KEHOE UNVEILING THE PLAN HERE AT THE MISSOURI STATE CAPITOL THIS MORNING. IT WAS DEBATED IN THE HOUSE AND THEN IT MOVED OVER TO THE SENATE. A LOT OF PEOPLE VERY FRUSTRATED WITH THE RUSHED NATURE OF THIS PROCESS. THE KANSAS CITY KINGS, THE SENATE DEBATED THIS AFTERNOON AFTER THE HOUSE PASSED IT. AND HERE’S WHAT THIS PLAN DOES. IT WOULD PAY TENS OF MILLIONS OF DOLLARS FOR STADIUM DEVELOPMENT UP TO A PERIOD OF 30 YEARS IN MISSOURI. THAT MONEY WOULD COME FROM TAX PAYMENTS TEAMS MAKE TO THE STATE OF MISSOURI EVERY SINGLE YEAR. MISSOURI WOULD THEN PAY BOND PAYMENTS ON THE STADIUM DEVELOPMENT. NOW, ON TOP OF THAT, THE TEAMS COULD GET UP TO $50 MILLION IN TAX CREDITS FOR THREE YEARS. WE TALKED TO THE PLAN’S HOUSE SPONSOR AND AN OPPONENT. HOW MUCH IS THE STATE OF MISSOURI GOING TO BE ON THE HOOK FOR TO PAY TO KEEP THESE TEAMS HERE IN THE STATE? NOT ON THE HOOK. THEY’RE NOT ON THE HOOK. IF FOR SOME REASON THESE TEAMS WOULD LEAVE, THERE’S A CLAWBACK PROVISION IN THIS PROGRAM THAT THE FRANCHISES WOULD OWE EVERY PENNY TO THE STATE OF MISSOURI, THAT THE STATE PAID IN A BOND OBLIGATION. SO THE STATE’S NOT GOING TO BE ON THE HOOK. GARNETT NOW, AGAIN, THE COST OF DOING BUSINESS IN THE WORLD TODAY. SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO DO SOME INCENTIVES. THIS IS GOING TO ADD UP TO SEVERAL BILLION DOLLARS. IT LOOKS LIKE IN A PROCESS THAT DID NOT GO THROUGH, A HOUSE COMMITTEE, DID NOT GO THROUGH A SENATE COMMITTEE WAS DROPPED ON THE FLOOR TODAY WITHOUT WITHOUT ANY PRIOR REVIEW FROM THE LEGISLATURE, DROPPED ON US. AND WE ONLY HAD A FEW HOURS TO REVIEW IT. SO AFTER ALL OF THIS, THERE’S NO TOTAL DOLLAR AMOUNT YET CALCULATED HERE IN JEFFERSON CITY. AND BY THE WAY, VOTERS MAY ALSO HAVE TO APPROVE WHERE A STADIUM FOR THE CHIEFS AND THE ROYALS MAY ULTIMATELY GO ON THE MISSOURI SIDE OF THE STATE LINE. MATT FLENER KMBC NINE NEWS. RIGHT NOW, THE ROYALS AND CHIEFS
Clay County official calls Royals stadium talks a “closed chapter”
Updated: 8:17 PM CST Jan 7, 2026
Clay County Commissioner Jason Withington said negotiations with the Kansas City Royals are over, citing repeated delays by the team and shifting ballot timelines.In a social media post Tuesday, Withington said county leaders worked in good faith last summer after being told the Royals wanted a stadium-related measure on the November 2025 ballot.“Like Kansas, I’m done negotiating with the Kansas City Royals,” he said. “Last year, we were told the team wanted to be on the November 2025 ballot. We worked in good faith all summer to make that happen. As the August deadline approached, we were then told they wanted to move to the April 2026 ballot at the earliest.”He said the Royals’ future in Clay County is now a “closed chapter” for him and that the county should focus on priorities within its control.Withington said the team provided a term sheet in July 2025 for a potential stadium in North Kansas City.His comments come as Kansas leaders have also publicly said they are done negotiating with the Royals.The Royals provided no public reaction to the post.
CLAY COUNTY, Mo. —
Clay County Commissioner Jason Withington said negotiations with the Kansas City Royals are over, citing repeated delays by the team and shifting ballot timelines.
In a social media post Tuesday, Withington said county leaders worked in good faith last summer after being told the Royals wanted a stadium-related measure on the November 2025 ballot.
“Like Kansas, I’m done negotiating with the Kansas City Royals,” he said. “Last year, we were told the team wanted to be on the November 2025 ballot. We worked in good faith all summer to make that happen. As the August deadline approached, we were then told they wanted to move to the April 2026 ballot at the earliest.”
He said the Royals’ future in Clay County is now a “closed chapter” for him and that the county should focus on priorities within its control.
Withington said the team provided a term sheet in July 2025 for a potential stadium in North Kansas City.
His comments come as Kansas leaders have also publicly said they are done negotiating with the Royals.
The Royals provided no public reaction to the post.