Jackson County Voters Say "No" to Plan That Would Have Funded New Kansas City Royals Ballpark

The Kansas City Royals were dealt a major blow on Tuesday night, as voters in Jackson County, Mo. voted "no" on a measure that would have given the Royals a new ballpark and allowed the Kansas City Chiefs to renovate Arrowhead Stadium.

Per the Kansas City Beacon:

Jackson County’s Question 1 failed by a vote of roughly 42% to 58%, denying the Chiefs and Royals an estimated $2 billion in sales tax money that would have funded the teams’ stadiums for the next 40 years. 

That revenue would have been used for improvements to Arrowhead Stadium and a new downtown ballpark for the Royals. Now the future of those projects is uncertain without Jackson County funding. The team was also expected to hit up city and state taxpayers for more money even if the sales tax extension passed.

The Royals and Chiefs spent $3 million campaigning for the sales tax measure to pass. 

Now, as has become relatively commonplace, we're going to get the invariable back-and-forth between the Royals and their fans. The team at this point has the following choices:

1) Scrap the plans altogether. The Royals have been playing at Kauffman Stadium since 1973 and they could simply stay there and make renovations as needed. This would be cheaper and would ensure the team's ability to stay in Kansas City.

2) Come up with a cheaper, more appealing option. If the Royals want to win over voters - as well as the local politicians - they'll need to find a cheaper way to build the stadium and surrounding downtown district.

3) The Royals could come up with more private funding. Teams are always looking for the least-personal investment possible in these things, but if they truly value their fans and the relationship with Kansas City, they could rely less on taxpayer dollars.

4) The Royals could leave. This seems unlikely, but it's play No. 1 from the playbook. If you don't get what you want at the ballot box, threaten to leave town and see if you can bully voters into paying to keep you in your current city. Undoubtedly, Portland, Nashville, Charlotte and Montreal will be mentioned as cities that would gladly house the Royals.

Interestingly enough, the Royals spent over $100 million in free agency this offseason. Perhaps that was done to appease voters as they headed to the ballot box over this very same measure.

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