Kansas City plans for a stadium
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2. WIZARDRY: There is indeed movement afoot for the Wizards. Perhaps.
The Anschutz Entertainment Group has stated its willingness to put as much as $50 million toward construction of a baseball stadium and indoor arena, which would boost local efforts to 1) lure the NBA back to Kansas City and 2) appease Royals owner David Glass, who wants to move his baseball team out of its current home, Kaufmann Stadium, which sits next to Arrowhead.
Once the Royals move, or so goes this idea, MLS operator-investors would propose a renovation/scaling-down of Kaufmann to a soccer-specific size for the Wizards. A new facility could boost attendances and generate large shares of ancillary revenues that would benefit the Wizards and the league.
Wizards owner Hunt Sports splits some overhead and expenses with the NFL Chiefs and pays relatively low operating costs at Arrowhead. A source says Kansas City's losses are more than that of the Dallas Burn, although not much more.
Lamar Hunt has already rebuffed the efforts of a prominent developer to build a soccer-specific stadium in nearby Johnson County, Kansas, although such a project would jibe with those in Frisco and Bridgeview. If the Wizards move, it will be probably be across the parking lot, or to the county next door.
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