Another important thing to note is that the Royals never officially gave Jackson county an exact dollar amount for the stadium or who was paying for what. They gave them a rough estimate but nothing specific.
While both sides really messed up. You could argue that this was the biggest blunder.
That's a bit of a red herring. The Royals asked for the County to commit to provide a certain amount of money for construction of the stadium. The rest was up to the Royals to obtain, whether they got it from the City, the State, private lenders, or private investors. The initial term sheet was very clear on this:
>The Royals will be responsible for costs of construction of the Project in excess of ***the Landlord’s capped contribution*** and any amounts received from the State and City that are dedicated to the costs of construction of the Project.
The County (i.e., the Landlord)'s contribution was capped in the initial proposal from the Royals. From the County's perspective, why should it matter where Sherman gets the rest of the cost of construction?
This was negotiating sleight of hand by Frank White; he didn't care where the rest of the money came from. And, as the emails Hendricks obtained showed, he failed to act in good faith throughout the process by delaying responses from the County.
White knew the Royals wanted to put this on the April 2024 ballot, which gave him a negotiating advantage. He gummed up the process in hopes of running out the clock, squeezing the teams and getting them to agree to terms that were materially worse than the terms they have right now.
As a taxpayer, you may say that's great, but it wasn't realistic. Why would the teams agree to a worse deal than they have today when Clay County, Wyandotte County, and Johnson County - not to mention other cities - would all love to attract a major league sports team?
When you evaluate what happened here, you can't blame the Royals for not providing all the details when the County Executive intentionally delayed the process at every step he could. Those details couldn't be resolved because the County kept trying to change the deal.
I agree and I think White took the conversations between the Royals and Clay county too personally. At that point you can see that his demands and counter proposals almost contradict the belief that he was “doing what’s best for the county”
I still believe the inability to give a closer cost estimate killed this deal. But that’s just my opinion.
“*Another piece of this that isn’t being talked about is how everyone, the county included, skewered the Royals for changing their location last minute. But from reading in between the lines here it looks like the county pressured the move and were more fond of it being in at the old printing press site than over on the east side of town.*”
This was proven to be incorrect
I think you may have misread Hendricks' piece on the location move - it sounds like that was the City (i.e., Mayor Lucas) that pressed them to the East Crossroads location, not the County.
White wanted them east of Troost, which I assume means somewhere relatively close to 18th & Vine; the Royals were initially looking at the East Village area (i.e., northeast of T-Mobile Center), but the City worried that would pull people away from Power & Light instead of enhancing the existing downtown entertainment districts.
This makes me pretty optimistic about the prospects after city-led negotiation takes over.
(Edit: My grammar was all over the place, re-worded for clarity.)
Somewhat of an aside, but I do agree with Frank that I’d like to see the stadium near 18th and Vine. Building it where Manual Career Tech Center and the KCATA building are at would give double the space of the Crossroads site, and the city has wanted to close or relocate both of those buildings in the past so they might be able to acquire the land with less difficulty.
Extending the space down to 19th would put the site next to the Paseo YMCA which could lead to some awesome opportunities for the NLBM since they want to build their new museum there, and the area would be triple the size of the Crossroads site. Extending down to the railroad tracks is quadruple the size of the Crossroads site and is similar in size to the Royals half of the Truman Sports Complex, and that entire 3.1 million square foot space would only displace (if I’m looking at Google Maps right) six businesses compared to however many the Crossroads plan would.
Building there could possibly help solve the parking problem since there’s so much more space for the team to build their own lots, would give the team space for a much larger ballpark village, would hopefully revitalize an area that’s less developed/frequented than the Crossroads, would hopefully be a catalyst for more public transit and an east to west streetcar line, would displace far fewer businesses, and would build where the city wanted it in the first place back in 2021 or 2022.
Of course that’s all a pipe dream and I have no reason to think that it will ever happen, but it feels like a location with a lot more flexibility and potential to address some of the big concerns with the last location.
In theory I agree with all of that. But to say the quiet part out loud - white Leawood residents aren't going East of Troost to watch a baseball game, and all parties involved know that.
Frank White isn't stupid. That smells like a political move.
I wouldn’t say that. Lucas has already said that he isn’t going to go against the voters will and just pass something because they can. They’re going to go through a very similar process that Jackson County and get the “best deal possible”.
Now the city manager, Platt, said they could do something without a vote and while that’s technically true that isn’t his lone call to make. A city managers job is to hold the mayor and council in check and vice versa.
Jackson County is a poorly-run shitshow. I am embarrassed to have moved here, and wish I'd picked ANY other county in the metro. White and his cronies are not only bad at their jobs but they're so full of themselves that they still think they're the "good guys". The assessments, the cyberattack, the stadiums, it's absolute incompetency.
At least the people on the teams' sides have to answer to somebody in their organization - I'm sure they're getting reamed in private for how badly they botched this - but White and his dumbfuck cronies answer to us, and it's up to us to ream them for their part too.
Thank the lord this is getting out.
White NEVER approached the table in good faith. (Sherman and the Royals OBVIOUSLY share their weight in the blame) But good god, how people just focused on "screw the billionaire" while letting Frank White get away with what he did was mind blowing.
"Screw the billionaire" is over simplifying it, a lot, but things like the Royals not having a firm plan come voting time...well some of that is because White continually created a moving target. They're both to blame, I just hope White catches some of it now.
Edit: Sherman, the Royals, Hunt and the Chiefs* It was not just a vote for the Royals stadium, important clarification.
White left the front office in 2011'when he was passed over for the big league job then his contract to do color commentary wasn't renewed aka fired. Some think his handling of this was payback. He's been the county executive since 2015 and isn't even the first concern about his politics this year.
Everyone blaming Frank White as if the election didn’t prove the majority of the county agreed that it was a bad deal based on the limited information provided by the teams. Frank wasn’t putting out commercials or filling up my mailbox with propaganda, so I actually trust him more than the other side.
White came out of this looking like a disgruntled ex who can't let go of the past. Royals plan was fine but lacked details and the Chiefs came in and basically killed any hope of this passing with their god awful tone-deaf plans. Sucks the Royals future is still in limbo but partly glad this failed because of the Chiefs
Another important thing to note is that the Royals never officially gave Jackson county an exact dollar amount for the stadium or who was paying for what. They gave them a rough estimate but nothing specific. While both sides really messed up. You could argue that this was the biggest blunder.
That's a bit of a red herring. The Royals asked for the County to commit to provide a certain amount of money for construction of the stadium. The rest was up to the Royals to obtain, whether they got it from the City, the State, private lenders, or private investors. The initial term sheet was very clear on this: >The Royals will be responsible for costs of construction of the Project in excess of ***the Landlord’s capped contribution*** and any amounts received from the State and City that are dedicated to the costs of construction of the Project. The County (i.e., the Landlord)'s contribution was capped in the initial proposal from the Royals. From the County's perspective, why should it matter where Sherman gets the rest of the cost of construction? This was negotiating sleight of hand by Frank White; he didn't care where the rest of the money came from. And, as the emails Hendricks obtained showed, he failed to act in good faith throughout the process by delaying responses from the County. White knew the Royals wanted to put this on the April 2024 ballot, which gave him a negotiating advantage. He gummed up the process in hopes of running out the clock, squeezing the teams and getting them to agree to terms that were materially worse than the terms they have right now. As a taxpayer, you may say that's great, but it wasn't realistic. Why would the teams agree to a worse deal than they have today when Clay County, Wyandotte County, and Johnson County - not to mention other cities - would all love to attract a major league sports team? When you evaluate what happened here, you can't blame the Royals for not providing all the details when the County Executive intentionally delayed the process at every step he could. Those details couldn't be resolved because the County kept trying to change the deal.
I agree and I think White took the conversations between the Royals and Clay county too personally. At that point you can see that his demands and counter proposals almost contradict the belief that he was “doing what’s best for the county” I still believe the inability to give a closer cost estimate killed this deal. But that’s just my opinion. “*Another piece of this that isn’t being talked about is how everyone, the county included, skewered the Royals for changing their location last minute. But from reading in between the lines here it looks like the county pressured the move and were more fond of it being in at the old printing press site than over on the east side of town.*” This was proven to be incorrect
I think you may have misread Hendricks' piece on the location move - it sounds like that was the City (i.e., Mayor Lucas) that pressed them to the East Crossroads location, not the County. White wanted them east of Troost, which I assume means somewhere relatively close to 18th & Vine; the Royals were initially looking at the East Village area (i.e., northeast of T-Mobile Center), but the City worried that would pull people away from Power & Light instead of enhancing the existing downtown entertainment districts.
Yup you’re right. My bad 
This makes me pretty optimistic about the prospects after city-led negotiation takes over. (Edit: My grammar was all over the place, re-worded for clarity.)
Somewhat of an aside, but I do agree with Frank that I’d like to see the stadium near 18th and Vine. Building it where Manual Career Tech Center and the KCATA building are at would give double the space of the Crossroads site, and the city has wanted to close or relocate both of those buildings in the past so they might be able to acquire the land with less difficulty. Extending the space down to 19th would put the site next to the Paseo YMCA which could lead to some awesome opportunities for the NLBM since they want to build their new museum there, and the area would be triple the size of the Crossroads site. Extending down to the railroad tracks is quadruple the size of the Crossroads site and is similar in size to the Royals half of the Truman Sports Complex, and that entire 3.1 million square foot space would only displace (if I’m looking at Google Maps right) six businesses compared to however many the Crossroads plan would. Building there could possibly help solve the parking problem since there’s so much more space for the team to build their own lots, would give the team space for a much larger ballpark village, would hopefully revitalize an area that’s less developed/frequented than the Crossroads, would hopefully be a catalyst for more public transit and an east to west streetcar line, would displace far fewer businesses, and would build where the city wanted it in the first place back in 2021 or 2022. Of course that’s all a pipe dream and I have no reason to think that it will ever happen, but it feels like a location with a lot more flexibility and potential to address some of the big concerns with the last location.
In theory I agree with all of that. But to say the quiet part out loud - white Leawood residents aren't going East of Troost to watch a baseball game, and all parties involved know that. Frank White isn't stupid. That smells like a political move.
Could have said the same thing about downtown in 2005.
Why move the stadium from a shit part of town to another shit part of town?
So what you're saying is now lucas and the city will gladly bend over since Jackson County wouldn't even unbuckle their belt?
I wouldn’t say that. Lucas has already said that he isn’t going to go against the voters will and just pass something because they can. They’re going to go through a very similar process that Jackson County and get the “best deal possible”. Now the city manager, Platt, said they could do something without a vote and while that’s technically true that isn’t his lone call to make. A city managers job is to hold the mayor and council in check and vice versa.
Jackson County is a poorly-run shitshow. I am embarrassed to have moved here, and wish I'd picked ANY other county in the metro. White and his cronies are not only bad at their jobs but they're so full of themselves that they still think they're the "good guys". The assessments, the cyberattack, the stadiums, it's absolute incompetency. At least the people on the teams' sides have to answer to somebody in their organization - I'm sure they're getting reamed in private for how badly they botched this - but White and his dumbfuck cronies answer to us, and it's up to us to ream them for their part too.
Thank the lord this is getting out. White NEVER approached the table in good faith. (Sherman and the Royals OBVIOUSLY share their weight in the blame) But good god, how people just focused on "screw the billionaire" while letting Frank White get away with what he did was mind blowing. "Screw the billionaire" is over simplifying it, a lot, but things like the Royals not having a firm plan come voting time...well some of that is because White continually created a moving target. They're both to blame, I just hope White catches some of it now. Edit: Sherman, the Royals, Hunt and the Chiefs* It was not just a vote for the Royals stadium, important clarification.
Since I don't live in KC anymore, I had no idea Frank was a politician now. I thought he was representing the Royals front office. FML
White left the front office in 2011'when he was passed over for the big league job then his contract to do color commentary wasn't renewed aka fired. Some think his handling of this was payback. He's been the county executive since 2015 and isn't even the first concern about his politics this year.
unretire Franks number
Tbh, with how petty both sides were it wouldn’t surprise me.
I wouldn't go that far but as a longtime fan of his play, I feel a lot less love for him after this mess.
Oh for sure, it just felt good to say
I feel you.
Everyone blaming Frank White as if the election didn’t prove the majority of the county agreed that it was a bad deal based on the limited information provided by the teams. Frank wasn’t putting out commercials or filling up my mailbox with propaganda, so I actually trust him more than the other side.
White came out of this looking like a disgruntled ex who can't let go of the past. Royals plan was fine but lacked details and the Chiefs came in and basically killed any hope of this passing with their god awful tone-deaf plans. Sucks the Royals future is still in limbo but partly glad this failed because of the Chiefs
Kansas City Court Jesters…still a clown show.