Potential Royals stadium move to downtown KC could hurt Independence’s economy
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Independence officials say their city’s economy would be hurt and tax revenues will slide if the Royals move from Kauffman Stadium to a new ballpark in downtown Kansas City or North Kansas City.
A consultant’s analysis presented to the city council Monday night shows that Independence would experience $7.5 million in lost business activity annually, were the team to move to either of its preferred sites.
That would mean nearly $285,000 less revenue to the city from sales and lodging taxes, according to HVS Convention, Sports & Entertainment Facilities Consulting, which the city council hired to do the analysis.
The report also estimated the loss of 80 non-stadium jobs.
While Kauffman Stadium is inside Kansas City’s borders, the Independence city limits are well within view from the cheap seats in the stadium’s upper deck.
HVS estimated that 11% of spectators attending the team’s 80 home games each year spend money in Independence. Half stop at a bar or restaurant in Independence. One fourth stay overnight in a motel or hotel.
“When the Royals move, the spending of 200,000 people will be lost to Independence each year,” the HVS report said.
City Manager Zach Walker shared the results of the study Tuesday in an email to other government officials at the county courthouse and city halls in eastern Jackson County.
“Given the significant adverse impact to Independence that is being forecasted, the City Council has directed me to research “Community Benefit Agreements” that have been agreed to in other communities,” he wrote.
Community benefits agreements are contracts in which companies, in exchange for tax breaks, agree to fund things like affordable housing, target hiring to residents of certain ZIP Codes and establish wage floors for stadium workers.
Walker said in the email that he shared the study with the other officials in case they wanted to work together.
Independence officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Royals are in negotiations with Jackson County regarding the team’s lease of Kauffman, which runs out on Jan. 31, 2031. The team wants to leave early and move into a new stadium by 2028.
The Royals have also proposed putting an issue on the April ballot that would extend the current 3/8th-cent sales tax that pays the debt on stadium improvements done more than a decade ago. Part of that sales tax revenue would help pay for a new downtown stadium.
The team has also expressed interest in possibly moving to Clay County.
