Royals push back stadium site decision from this month to someday maybe

Kansas City Royals owner John Sherman, two months ago:

In late September, we plan to announce which site will best fulfill our pledge to Kansas City to create 1) powerful community impact, 2) generate sustainable economic activity in the county, city, and state, and 3) greater opportunity for the citizens of our region.

The Royals, in a press release, yesterday:

Although we will not have a site selected by the end of this month, we are more confident than ever that a world-class ballpark and surrounding district for entertainment, retail and housing will build on our region’s momentum, serve our citizens well, and further establish Kansas City as a top tier destination for tourists.

Sherman kicking the can down the road — how far, the press release didn’t say, as there’s no new target date — on choosing either a downtown Kansas City site or one in North Kansas City in Clay County should come as no surprise, as setting arbitrary deadlines and then blowing them is a standard item in the stadium playbook. There is absolutely no downside for an owner to announce a deadline, creating a sense of momentum for a project, and equally no downside to resetting the deadline if it isn’t to their liking to announce anything too soon.

And this, to be clear, was a weird deadline to start with: Sherman’s best leverage to extract the most lucrative deal possible from either Jackson County or Clay County is to play the two sites off against each other, and you can’t get a bidding war going once you’ve preemptively picked a winner. There hasn’t been much public movement on either site since renderings were released last month, aside from a poll showing that 70% of Clay County voters would oppose a ballot measure to raise sales taxes to help pay for a stadium, which isn’t the kind of movement Sherman wants, so it’s a good time to stall while trying to figure out a way to make asking for maybe a billion dollars in public money seem more palatable.

Both Sherman’s original statement and the new one came in the form of open letters, leaving no chance for any journalists to ask followup questions; at least the new press release managed to avoid any weird Dick Howser anecdotes, so small favors there. Given that Sherman isn’t really under any time pressure here other than wanting to get his demands in before MLB expands and takes cities like Nashville off the table as move threats — the statement said Sherman needs “clarity” before a possible stadium vote in April 2024, but there’s no reason that can’t be pushed back as well — we could be here awhile. Yesterday’s letter said “we’ve been encouraged by the engagement of leaders in Jackson County and Clay County,” which is the sort of thing you always say, and also that arriving at lease terms will be “critical,” implying that that’s been a sticking point. It’s reading tea leaves, sure, but tea leaves are all we have to go on in the absence of actual facts, so settle in for a potentially long haul.