Missouri Governor Mike Parson expressed frustration with the Kansas City Royals’ indecision about their future, saying the team must decide on a course of action by January if it is to receive help from the state.
In a radio interview last week, the Republican governor specifically urged the team to pull themselves together.
Sources told The Star that the team made the comments while scouting Washington Square Park and other downtown stadium sites.
“There are some decisions that need to be made. I don’t know how to sugarcoat this, but the royals need to make a decision,” Parson said last Friday on KCMO Talk Radio.
“They either have to say, we’re going to go ahead, we’re going to build a stadium, what it’s going to look like and what we need for it, or what their demands are.”
Parson, who will step down in January, said he “can’t help with anything” until the team figures out where it’s headed.
“I don’t even know right now,” Parson said. “I don’t know if anyone up there knows.”
The governor added that if the royals do not have a plan by January 1, 2025, “it will be too late.”
“You can’t make a plan in November or December and expect the government to help you,” he said, but did not elaborate.
The public warning to the Royals suggests that time is running out for the team to secure Missouri’s support.
Although the General Assembly reconvenes in January, any proposed legislation will almost certainly need to be drafted well in advance to secure the support of key lawmakers and overcome – or at least mitigate – opposition.
The session lasts until May. Complex and controversial legislation can take months to pass. The later in the session a plan is presented, the more difficult it will be to pass.
The future of the Royals and Chiefs has been uncertain since Jackson County voters in April rejected a sales tax on stadiums before the teams’ leases at the Truman Sports Complex expire in 2031.
The Kansas Lawmakers passed a bill in the spring authorizing a supercharged bond program to lure one or both teams across the border.
The Royals declined to comment on possible locations (in Kansas City, Missouri, or elsewhere), but have stressed since the April vote that they would explore all options.
