The Kansas City Royals this month sent a term sheet to Clay County officials outlining a potential deal on a North Kansas City stadium, a county commissioner said Thursday evening.
Clay County Western Commissioner At-Large Jason Withington posted about the term sheet on social media Thursday as speculation about the possibility of the Royals moving to Clay County ratchets up.
“Just before the July 4th holiday, Clay County, Missouri Government received a term sheet from the team outlining their vision for a potential deal at the #NKC site,” Withington wrote. “This is a big step, but there’s still plenty of work ahead as we move forward in negotiations.”
Withington’s post did not provide details about what the term sheet included or what the Royals’ vision was. In a follow-up interview with The Star, Withington said the terms were at least eight pages long and centered on a potential North Kansas City stadium for the Royals.
News of the term sheet comes as officials in Kansas and Missouri have fought over the future of the Royals and the Kansas City Chiefs, with both states passing incentives plans to secure one or both of the teams.
It also came just hours after Missouri Gov. Mike Kehoe signed into law legislation that allows Clay County to create a sports complex authority, viewed as a key tool that could attract a Royals stadium to North Kansas City.
Kehoe is scheduled to travel to North Kansas City later on Friday to promote the legislation. One Missouri official said Kehoe’s visit, coupled with the news of the term sheet, have ramped up the possibility of the Royals moving to Clay County.
“I think all signs point to that,” said Sen. Maggie Nurrenbern, a Kansas City Democrat. “I hope that we hear something officially from the Royals very soon on this. I think the term sheet, obviously, is really important.”
A Royals spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment on the term sheet. Despite the renewed energy surrounding the Royals and Clay County, the Chiefs and Royals have not publicly committed to locations in either Kansas and Missouri.
If the Royals decide to stay in Missouri, it could fuel a fight over the team between Kansas City and Clay County. But supporters of the Royals moving to North Kansas City say the goal is simply to prevent the team from leaving for Kansas, not spark competition within the state.
Kansas City officials have regularly touted a downtown site at Washington Square Park as the best location for the Royals while some state leaders have pointed to a spot in North Kansas City in Clay County.
If the team decides on North Kansas City, the decision would require some financial commitments from Clay County, which would likely come in the form of a local tax vote.
But revelations about a recent real estate deal tied to an Overland Park site in Kansas have also intensified speculation about the Royals’ intentions — and their preferred stadium location.
When asked about the term sheet on Thursday, two top Missouri lawmakers representing Clay County, Nurrenbern and Sen. Kurtis Gregory, said they had not seen a copy of it.
But Gregory, a Marshall Republican, added that it’s not the first term sheet that the team has negotiated with Clay County.
In June, Withington and Western Clay County Commissioner Scott Wagner, told residents that the county would not put a question about the Royals on the ballot unless the team could answer how a stadium would benefit the county and North Kansas City specifically.
Withington told The Star on Friday the county and the team are still “miles apart.”
“If we were asked to put this on the ballot today, the answer would be no,” he said.