OVERLAND PARK, Kan. — A new survey shows there is some support among people in the city and in Leawood for a new Royals stadium.
Survey USA polled nearly 400 residents who live in those two cities. Residents in two cities were surveyed because they’d be impacted the most if a stadium were to be built just east of the AMC 20 Theatres. At 117th Street, for instance, the area west of Nall is Overland Park, while the area east of it is in Leawood.
The results from the survey done earlier in November show 40% of the respondents would like to see the Royals stay at the Truman Sports Complex, but 26% would like to see them at the old Sprint campus, now known as Aspiria.
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Aspiria actually came in second place, while other locations under consideration are downtown Kansas City, Missouri and North Kansas City. Royals Chairman and CEO John Sherman has always said his team will be leaving Kauffman Stadium and the Truman Sports Complex after the 2030 season.
Another question asked was whether they’d support the Royals stadium at 119th Street and Nall Avenue. There was actually more support for it than there was opposition. 53% supported it and 40% opposed it if you add up the numbers above.
The Kansas Policy Institute, which opposed Sales Tax and Revenue or STAR Bond legislation state lawmakers passed in the summer of 2024, paid Survey USA for the information that was asked of residents from November 5 through the 10th.
“We don’t know where in Overland Park or Leawood the participants live,” Kansas Policy Institute CEO Dave Trabert said on Friday.
“It could be far south, it could be far west, so we don’t know that, but we do know that, and I think you’ve even reported on it; homeowner’s associations near there are really opposed to it.”
What Trabert said is true. Sarah Gulledge of the Hawthorne Valley Homeowners’ Association (HOA) was the third president FOX4 spoke to in a three-day timeframe about this issue.
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Gulledge got together with some members of her neighborhood on Thursday night. The Hawthorne area is less than a 20-minute walk from 119th Street and Nall Ave., and southeast of that intersection.
“Yes,” Gulledge said when asked if her HOA had an emergency meeting.
“Well, it was just the board. Yeah, just the board members got together because we are trying to figure out what we need to do, how we can speak up, what we need to say to make our opposition known.”
The Royals wouldn’t comment Friday, but the city council will vote on issues dealing with the stadium project if the Royals choose the northwest corner of 119th Street and Nall Ave.
“Hopefully, they have a lot of influence,” Trabert said when asked if we’re about to find out how much strength HOAs have at Overland Park City Hall.
“I mean, it seems to reflect what a lot of other people feel, not just the HOAs. The question is whether local elected officials will listen.”
In October, Republican State Senate President Ty Masterson told FOX4 he expected a proposal from the Royals at their Legislative Coordinating Council meeting either in late November or early December of this year. That would allow the Royals to take advantage of STAR Bonds to help pay off a potential stadium.
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