There’s a lot of money tied up in the Royals’ proposed move to Crown Center, and the cleanest way to make sense of it is to separate the ballpark from everything built around it.
The stadium itself is the first big piece, and it’s the one drawing the public financing debate. Under the Baseball Stadium Funding Agreement, the first phase carries a $1.9 billion price tag. That figure includes a new $1.2 billion stadium, $500 million for on- and off-site infrastructure, and $200 million for a new Royals team office.
If the plan moves forward, demolition of existing buildings would start in early 2027 to clear space for the stadium and team headquarters, which are shown in renderings rising above the third-base/left-field side along Grand Boulevard. The target is to break ground in May 2027 and open the ballpark for games in March 2030, which would come a year before the Jackson County lease at Kauffman Stadium ends.
Public money is only being considered for that first phase. The funding structure leans on incremental tax redirects from city and state revenues through a tax-increment financing district that has not yet been fully drawn out, along with a new 1% sales tax at the stadium that would help repay bonds.
The Royals are slated to put in $760 million on phase one. That leaves $1.14 billion from public sources, creating what the agreement describes as a 60/40 public-private split.
The city’s share is expected to total $600 million, with $90 million set aside for infrastructure and $510 million in bonds. The state side would come through the Show-Me Sports Investment Act, which is projected to bring in $15.3 million annually by redirecting expected tax-revenue growth.
The agreement also includes $459 million in Show-Me Sports Bonds, bringing the total in publicly backed bonds to $969 million. On top of that, the plan calls for $23 million over three years from the Missouri Department of Transportation’s Economic Development Cost-Share Program and another $20 million from the MoDOT Cost-Share Program for highway system improvements in the area.
One piece that counts toward the Royals’ side of the ledger is $50 million in Missouri Development Finance Board Tax Credits. Under the agreement, that money is treated as part of the team’s private contribution rather than a public subsidy.
If construction goes over budget, the Royals would be responsible for those overruns. But if projected TIF revenue falls short, the city would be on the hook for bond repayments because it would serve as property owner and leaseholder.
The bigger financial upside for the Royals comes later, in the surrounding entertainment district. Those phases, labeled 2 through 10, are described in the agreement as “ancillary development.”
The Royals and Hallmark, which owns Crown Center, would pay for that entire district around the ballpark. At full buildout, that area is expected to generate more revenue than the stadium itself, and the Royals would not have to share that money with Major League Baseball.
There is one catch built into that part of the plan: if the entertainment district doesn’t perform financially, the Royals can ask the city for help.
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