John Sherman, the owner of the Kansas City Royals looked stunned. He looked over a ballroom full of half-inflated balloons and a bank account $60 million dollars lighter that he helped spend on a YES campaign in Jackson County that lost badly last week and looked… well… kinda sad.
“We’re deeply disappointed as we are steadfast in our belief that Jackson County is better with the Chiefs and the Royals,” Royals owner John Sherman said, per the Associated Press. “As someone whose roots run deep in this town, who has been a dedicated fan and season-ticket holder for both of these teams, and now leading a remarkable ownership group.”
Even in defeat, the talking points remained. But there was no doubt, Sherman thought he came into the bout with a stacked lineup and got no-hit. 58% of voters kicked Sherman right in his soup-straining mustache.
His campaign to have Jackson County voters refresh their 3/8 cent sales tax meant to bolster Arrowhead and move Kauffman Stadium downtown was rife with errors. Not since Yuni Bettancort fumbled balls in the middle infield had the Royals put such a poor campaign together. The campaign pitted Clay vs Jackson county, dragging on for months past multiple deadlines to decide a location. Then, the location shifted again from the “East Village” to the vacant Kansas City Star building and the Crossroads region of downtown. Plans changed again five days before the election as concessions were made to keep Oak Street open amongst the plans.
The campaign was reportedly run by a PR firm out of DC and was dripping with beltway hubris. ‘Patrick Mahomes says vote YES’ wasn’t going to get it done against a social media environment of smarter voters and business owners concerned about their businesses.
Mix in the Royals Hall of Famer Frank White, Jackson County Executive, who demanded more from the lease agreements with the two clubs and also, frankly, likely enjoyed watching the two teams squirm under his boot. My guess is that White had himself a nice cigar Tuesday night as he watched the results roll in.
So what does this all mean for the Royals and the Chiefs? Well, it’s not all doom and gloom as long as grown ups reenter the conversation, act like adults, and clean this up for voters. White needs to be the beneficent ruler at this point and invite the teams back to the table. Chiefs owner Clark Hunt and Sherman need to eat a little crow and come back willing to make a more transparent effort to get what they need. Not necessarily what they want. Cue the Rolling Stones song.
Releasing Yuni Betancourt was the right move for the Royals back in 2012. They realized that he was more of a liability than a strength. The same needs to be done with the hubris and talking-points the Royals and Chiefs used in this last campaign. Voters want partnership. They want realism. They want honesty. They don’t want more Yuni Betancourt.
There’s plenty of opportunity to come out of this with the Royals and Chiefs getting what they need and the Jackson County taxpayers feeling good about keeping their teams as well. But John Sherman needs to act more like a Kansas Citian than a DC insider. He needs to play more like shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. than Yuni Betancourt.
(Follow Chris Kamler on X, where he is known as @TheFakeNed)