He who hesitates is lost.
Did the owner of Major League Baseball’s Kansas City Royals franchise, John Sherman, overplay his hand in the stadium game? Sherman looked to be in an ideal position pitting Missouri against Kansas in a battle to win his heart by granting him public money and more than likely public land for his dream stadium. But a funny thing happened on the road to getting money and land from either state. Right now, Sherman has lost the Kansas offer. That expired on December 31st, 2025. Kansas House Speaker Dan Hawkins said that the December 31st deadline for the Royals to pursue state-backed STAR bonds has passed. “They had their lobbyists reach out and ask if there was any wiggle room, and I reemphasized December 31st was the date and you didn’t make it, so we’re moving on,” Hawkins said. “The Royals and the Chiefs both had plenty of time. They had 18 months to come up with a good plan. The Chiefs did that. The Royals did not.” National Football League Kansas City Chiefs owner Clark Hunt took the Kansas money offer and is planning to build a stadium-village in the state although not all the eyes are dotted and the tees have been crossed.
Of course, no never means never in the stadium game. Kansas could crawl back into the game. Sherman also lost another option, North Kansas City. Clay County Commissioner Jason Withington said negotiations with Sherman are over. “Like Kansas, I’m done negotiating with the Kansas City Royals,” he said. “Last year, we were told the team wanted to be on the November 2025 ballot. We worked in good faith all summer to make that happen. As the August deadline approached, we were then told they wanted to move to the April 2026 ballot at the earliest.” It is back to talking to Kansas City and Missouri politicians for Sherman.
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Royals owner John Sherman
