Downtown Kansas City Royals Stadium Hype Ruins World Cup Cash?!?

Proving once again that our elected officials and local media can't walk & chew gum at the same time.

Compliments to the KC Biz Journal for offer a glimpse behind the scenes amid stadium funding chaos.

Here's a quick quote from their story . . .

Jackson County officials considered a proposal in December to refinance bond debt for upgrades to Kauffman Stadium and GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. As part of the plan, new bonds would be sold in a few years but at a pre-increase interest rate. The county immediately would receive $13 million, which contractually could be used only on the Truman Sports Complex.

Legislators wanted to earmark the money for temporary changes to Arrowhead, if Kansas City was selected as a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

The bond proposal fizzled after objections from the Kansas City Royals. The team privately raised concerns about a loss of “future flexibility” resulting from the refinancing, according to documents the Kansas City Business Journal obtained through an open records request.

Read more via www.TonysKansasCity.com link to their paywall for more deets . . .

Exclusive: Royals reject bond refinancing that would have freed up $13M for World Cup or stadiums - Kansas City Business Journal

When Jackson County officials approached the #Royals about refinancing bonds backing improvements at Truman Sports Complex - freeing up money for the World Cup effort or the stadiums - the team said no, citing concerns about how it might limit "flexibility."