Last week, Jackson County voters resoundingly rejected a proposal to extend a 3/8 cent sales tax for another 40 years to fund a new downtown ballpark for the Royals and renovations for Arrowhead Stadium for the Chiefs. The failed vote immediately brought concerns that the Royals could soon relocate, possibly to another city in the area, or even outside the metro area.
But those concerns are pretty premature. The Royals currently have a lease to stay at the Truman Sports Complex until at least 2030. Relocation is also rarer in baseball than in other sports. Just one franchise has moved in the last 50 years - the Expos moved to Washington DC in 2005 after nearly a decade of trying to get a new stadium in Quebec.