UG and American Royal Make New Agreement $375M Campus

Posted December 9, 2025

The Unified Government of Wyandotte County & Kansas City approved a reworked version of a $155 million STAR bond for the American Royal development near Kansas Speedway.

The UG held its planning & zoning meeting on Thursday, where its commissioners voted to approve an updated sales tax and revenue (STAR) bond that would help pay or reimburse certain project costs.

In April, commissioners approved three motions regarding American Royal’s $375 million project, including an agreement that increased the project’s STAR bond to $155 million, nearly double what American Royal first requested.

The latest approval tweaks the initial STAR bond agreement. The new agreement is taking a “barns-first” plan, which includes two rounds of STAR bond insurance. Under the new plan, the first round of bonds would see the American Royal restart work on the exhibition hall within 60 days of the first bond issue and targeting project completion within 18 months.

The American Royal would then relocate all its events, excluding four events, to the Wyandotte County campus in 2026. The second bond insurance would involve a private and public placement and would generate revenue used to complete the remaining campus.

The new American Royal campus could be completed by 2027 or early 2028.

The American Royal broke ground on its new campus in March 2023; however, project funds dried up, leading the food and agriculture organization to cease construction by February.
The Wyandotte County campus plans include a 125,000 square-foot show arena with 5,000 seats, a 90,000 square-foot multipurpose arena, a 75,000 square-foot outdoor arena, a 390,000 square-foot livestock exhibition hall, an 80,000 square-foot agricultural education center and 20,000 square feet of admin space.