The K | |
 | |
 Kauffman Stadium in2017 | |
| Former names | Royals Stadium (1973–1993) |
|---|---|
| Address | 1 Royal Way |
| Location | Kansas City, Missouri |
| Coordinates | 39°3′5″N94°28′50″W / 39.05139°N 94.48056°W /39.05139; -94.48056 |
| Public transit |  KCATA: Route 47[1] |
| Operator | Jackson Sports Complex Authority |
| Capacity | 37,903 (2012-present) 37,840 (2010-2011) 40,785 (2005-2009) 40,793 (2003-2004) 40,625 (1973-2002) |
| Record attendance | 42,633 (ALCS Game 2, October 9,1980, vs.New York Yankees)[2][3] |
| Field size | Left Field – 330 ft (101 m) Left-Center – 385 ft (117 m) (1973-1994) 375 ft (114 m) (1995-2003) 385 ft (117 m) (2004-2008) 387 ft (118 m) (2009-present) Center Field – 410 ft (125 m) (1973-1994) 400 ft (122 m) (1995-2003) 410 ft (125 m) (2004-present) Right-Center – 385 ft (117 m) (1973-1994) 375 ft (114 m) (1995-2003) 385 ft (117 m) (2004-2008) 387 ft (118 m) (2009-present) Right Field – 330 ft (101 m) Backstop – 60 ft (18 m) (1973-present)  |
| Surface | Kentucky bluegrass / Perennial ryegrass (1995–present) AstroTurf (1973–1994) |
| Construction | |
| Broke ground | July 11, 1968; 57 years ago (1968-07-11)[2] |
| Opened | April 10, 1973; 52 years ago (1973-04-10) |
| Renovated | 2007–2009 |
| Construction cost | $70 million ($496 million in 2024[4]) $250 million (2007–10 renovations) ($360 million in 2024[4]) |
| Architect | Kivett and Myers [HNTB]Populous (renovations 1997, 2009) |
| Structural engineer | Bob D. Campbell & Co. Structural Engineers[5] |
| General contractor | Sharp-Kidde-Webb JV[6] |
| Tenants | |
| Kansas City Royals (MLB) (1973–present) | |
| Website | |
| mlb.com/royals/ballpark | |
Kauffman Stadium (/ˈkɔːfmən/) (nicknamed"The K") is aballpark located inKansas City, Missouri, and the home ofMajor League Baseball'sKansas City Royals. It is next door toArrowhead Stadium, home ofNational Football League'sKansas City Chiefs. Both make up theTruman Sports Complex. The stadium is named forEwing Kauffman, the founder and first owner of the Royals. It opened in1973 asRoyals Stadium and was named for Kauffman 20 years later on July 2,1993. Since its last major renovation in2009, its listedseating capacity is 37,903.
Kauffman Stadium was built specifically for baseball during an era when buildingmultisport "cookie-cutter" stadiums was commonplace. It is often held up along withDodger Stadium (1962) in Los Angeles as one of the best examples of modernist stadium design. It is currently the only stadium in theAmerican League to be named after a person and is also one of eight stadiums in Major League Baseball that does not have a corporate-sponsored name. The stadium is thefifth-oldest stadium in the majors and has hosted the1973 and the2012 MLB All-Star Games, along with Royals home games during the1980,1985,2014, and2015 World Series. Between 2007 and 2009, Kauffman Stadium underwent a $250 million renovation, which included updates and upgrades in fan amenities, a new Royals hall of fame area, and other updates throughout the facility.
In 2022, the Royals announced intentions to build and open a new stadium before the team's lease agreement withJackson County expires at the end of the 2030 MLB season.[7][8] In 2024, the team announced their intention for the stadium to be located indowntown Kansas City'sCrossroads district.[9] The plan would involve displacing several small businesses that would be in the footprint of the stadium. In April 2024, Jackson County voters overwhelmingly rejected a ballot initiative to help fund the new stadium by a 16% margin.[10] A financial analysis of the new stadium plans estimates that the cost to taxpayers would be between $4.4 billion and $6.4 billion.[11] As of June 2024, the team was considering relocating toKansas City, Kansas.[12]
In 1967, voters in Jackson County approved the bonds for the Truman Sports Complex, which replaced the multipurposeMunicipal Stadium and featured a football stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs and a baseball stadium for theKansas City Athletics. The owner of the Athletics,Charles O. Finley, had just signed a new lease to remain in Kansas City. The proposal of the Truman Sports Complex was unusual, as conventional wisdom at the time held that separate football and baseball stadiums were not commercially viable. Before the1968 season, however, Finley moved the A's toOakland, California, and their brand-newmultipurpose stadium.[13]
After the move, SenatorStuart Symington ofMissouri threatened to press for the revocation of baseball's antitrust exemption if they did not give Kansas City a new team. Major League Baseball responded by hastily granting expansion franchises to four cities, including a Kansas City team owned by local pharmaceutical magnateEwing Kauffman. The new teams were due to start to play in1971. However, Symington forced MLB to move up the start date to1969, as he was unwilling to have Kansas City wait three years to have baseball again. The other expansion team in the American League, theSeattle Pilots, were without a suitable stadium in1969 and the accelerated schedule forced by Symington led to their bankruptcy after just one season. In1970, they relocated toMilwaukee, Wisconsin, as theMilwaukee Brewers. With lawsuits pending, Seattle returned to the majors with theMariners in1977.
Jackson County continued its plans to build a newballpark. Like the rest of the complex, it was designed byKivett and Myers, and constructed by the joint venture of the Sharp, Kidde, andWebb construction firms.[14] Royals Stadium broke ground on July 11, 1968, and was opened in on April 10,1973, with a 12–1 win over theTexas Rangers that had 39,464 fans in attendance.[13][15][16] Five weeks later,Nolan Ryan of theCalifornia Angels threw the first of his sevenno-hitters, blanking the Royals 3–0, three walks away from aperfect game.[13][17][18][19] Two months later on July 24, the stadium hosted thefirst of itstwoAll-Star Games.[13]
Following the1976 regular season, the Royals competed in the first postseason game of their history on October 9, but lost 4–1 at home to theNew York Yankees in theALCS. The Royals won the next game 6–3 on October 10 for their first postseason win in Royals Stadium.[13]
ThefirstWorld Series game held in Kansas City was on October 17,1980, against thePhiladelphia Phillies. In the first inning,George Brett hit a home run down the right field line, and the Royals recorded their first-ever World Series win, 4–3 in 10 innings,[20] but lost the Series in six games.[13][21]
On October 11,1985, in Game 3 of theALCS, Brett hit two home runs offToronto Blue Jays pitcherDoyle Alexander, made a back-handed stop at third base to throw out a runner at home, and recorded the final out to give theRoyals a much-needed 6–5 win. The Royals went on to win the American League pennant in seven games.[13]
Two weeks later, on October 27, the Royals clinched their firstWorld Series title in franchise history, winning Game 7 in Royals Stadium. Led by the pitching ofBret Saberhagen,Darryl Motley's two-run home run, and George Brett's four hits, the Royals beat theSt. Louis Cardinals 11–0; Motley caught the title-clinching out. The Royals were the first team in the history of the World Series to lose the first two games of the series at home and come back to win.[13]
In2012, the stadium hosted its secondAll-Star Game, which the National League won 8–0.[22]
The stadium hosted the Royals' first playoff game in nearly 29 years when the city's former team, theAthletics, came to town in2014 for theWild Card Game. Despite trailing 7–3 in the eighth inning, Kansas City rallied to win 9-8 and advanced to theALDS.[23] They won their ALDS, theALCS, and hosted Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 of theWorld Series, but fell to theSan Francisco Giants.
In2015, Kansas City returned to the playoffs, this time as the top seed in the American League. Games 1, 2, and 5 of theALDS against theHouston Astros were played at the stadium, with the Royals winning Games 2 and 5, as well as Games 1, 2, and 6 of theALCS against theToronto Blue Jays, with the Royals winning all three games. The stadium hosted games 1 and 2 of theWorld Series against theNew York Mets as a result of the American League winning theAll-Star Game 6–3. The Royals wonGame 1 (5–4 in 14 innings) andgame 2 (7–1), as well and closed out the Mets in five games to win the 2015 World Series.
In 2020, Kansas City-based design firm Populous unveiled a concept for a potential new downtown baseball stadium, showing an intimate facility with unique amenities.[24]
In November 2022, team ownerJohn Sherman announced the franchise's controversial intention to leave Kauffman Stadium before the lease ends after the 2030 MLB season[8] and build a new stadium either in theEast Village area ofdowntown, or inNorth Kansas City, an enclaved northern suburb located across theMissouri River inClay County.[7]
In April 2024, Jackson County rejected a ballot initiative to extend the Royals' pre-existing 3/8-cent sales tax for Kauffman Stadium to build a new stadium in theCrossroads district in downtown Kansas City near the intersection of 16th and McGee streets (south ofT-Mobile Center) with over 58% of voters against. The ballot also included funding renovations to Arrowhead Stadium.
The plan was controversial, considering the proposed stadium location would displace over a dozen small businesses, the limited amount of parking downtown, and claims that Kauffman got a “bad batch of concrete” when built.[9] The Royals had pledged to invest at least $1 billion towards purchasing and developing land around the stadium, but was only willing to put $300 million towards a new ballpark.[25]
Shortly after the vote, John Sherman’s wife Marny criticized the results, stating, “The lack of leadership has lost the city two treasured assets. I mean if you don’t support the Chiefs after three Super Bowl wins, why would they stay? We will be lucky if both teams wind up in Kansas.”No more Jackson County for sure': Wife of Royals owner reacts to election results The stadium would have a seating capacity of about 34,000.[26]
On June 8, 2024, Sam Mellinger, the Royals' vice president of communications, said that the team is evaluating "all options that may be available with respect to a new stadium," and pointed to theKansas Legislature's upcoming vote to make changes to the state's Sales Tax and Revenue (STAR) bonds program to attract major sports teams to the state.[27]
In August 2024,The Kansas City Star reported that the Royals were considering a new site for a downtown ballpark in Washington Square Park, an area located betweenUnion Station andCrown Center.[28]
In November 2024, the Royals reportedly were also examining "two or three" potential stadium sites inJohnson County, Kansas.[29]
In May 2025, an affiliate of the Royals purchased the mortgage on theAspiria campus inOverland Park, Kansas.[30] However, team officials denied that the campus was under consideration as a site for the development of a stadium.[31]
Kauffman Stadium was the only baseball-only park built in the majors (not counting temporary facilities) from 1966 to 1991. It was one of the few baseball-only facilities built in the majors during the heyday of thecookie-cutter stadium era, and is one of two such facilities (withDodger Stadium) that are still active and were never converted for use as multipurpose stadiums.1Although a baseball-only facility, its design took several stylistic cues from the multipurpose stadiums of the day, plus theGoogie style that was more prevalent in the decades prior. The main stadium itself is primarily concrete, with a smooth, uncovered concrete facade. The stands wrap around the infield and end at the foul poles, with smaller bleacher sections (or "outfield plazas", as the Royals call them) in the outfield. In their book,The Ultimate Baseball Road Trip,Josh Pahigian and Kevin O'Connell wrote that it is essentially one-third of a cookie-cutter stadium, containing only the seats in a cookie-cutter stadium that provide the best views for baseball.[32] The upper deck is quite steep, though not as high as other parks built during this time. Many minor-league stadiums built in the 1980s and early 1990s, as well asRate Field inChicago, employ a similar design.The park's best-known feature is the fountain and waterfall display (known as the Water Spectacular) behind the right-field fence. At 322 feet (98 m), it is the largest privately funded fountain in the world.[32] The fountains are on display before and after the game and between innings, while the waterfalls are constantly flowing.
When the stadium was originally built, Kansas City was the westernmost major league city other than those along the Pacific Coast (1,600 miles (2,600 km) away), which was a major reason why the Royals initially decided to use a faster-drainingAstroTurf surface.[33] Before theColorado Rockies expansion franchise began play inDenver, Colorado, in the1993 Major League Baseball season, the Royals' "home" territory included theRocky Mountains in addition to a large swath of theGreat Plains, and Kauffman didn't want fans who drove many hundreds of miles to go home without seeing games completed. The Truman Sports Complex's legendary groundskeeper,George Toma, best known as the head groundskeeper for the first 57Super Bowls, thus had the job of maintaining two carpets for most of his career. He also maintained the surface atArrowhead Stadium, which had AstroTurf from1972 through1993. However, Toma has said that artificial turf requires a good deal of maintenance as well; his crews were able to keep Royals Stadium's original carpet for two decades, somewhat longer than the typical lifetime for outdoor artificial turf.[34] This is also due to the fact that Kauffman Stadium has never hosted a football game, and has no movable seating, thus avoiding the wear and tear typical of cookie-cutter stadiums.
The stadium's AstroTurf was replaced by grass for the1995 season. As part of the project, four-inch (10 cm) perforated tiles were installed at 12.5-foot (3.8 m) centers across the entire field to improve drainage.
In 2014, the Royals started placing a "W" on the Hall of Fame wall for every home win, similar to theChicago Cubs hoisting awhite flag with a blue "W" atWrigley Field for every Cub home win.
Prior to the1991 season, aSony Jumbotron full-color video board was installed beyond the left field wall. At 30 feet (9.1 m) tall and 40 feet (12 m) wide, it was the largest of its kind in the United States when it debuted, and remained in use through the 2007 season.
To generate more home runs, Kauffman Stadium's outfield fences from bullpen to bullpen were moved in 10 feet from their original dimensions, and the outfield wall height was reduced from 12 to 9 feet (3.7 to 2.7 m) prior to the 1995 season. They were returned to their original dimensions prior to the 2005 season.[35]
On opening Day1999, minor renovations were debuted, including the addition of the "Crown Club" premium seating area behind home plate between the dugouts, and dugout level suites. Kauffman Stadium's seats originally featured a descending color scheme of red, gold, and orange, similar to Arrowhead Stadium; the original field level seats in Kauffman Stadium were replaced by dark blue seats, and by2000, the goldloge level seats and red upper-level seats were all replaced by dark blue seats, the field level seats also getting cupholders.
On April 4, 2006, Jackson County voters approved a 0.375%sales tax increase to fund plans to renovate the Truman Sports Complex. As part of this measure, every Jackson County residential address was to receive vouchers good for 50% off two tickets at Royals games on certain nights. The construction began with a ceremonial groundbreaking inside Kauffman Stadium on October 3, 2007, with its completion in time forOpening Day in2009, and full renovation of the complex (including nearbyArrowhead Stadium) by 2010, depending upon cost overruns. The team committed to a lease that would keep them in Kansas City until 2030, an extension of their then-current lease expiration of 2015.
The improvements to Kauffman Stadium included:
Extensive renovations in the outfield including the relocation of the bullpens caused the left and right center field dimensions to be increased by 2 feet (0.61 m).
The newHD scoreboard was one of the first features to be installed.[36] It replaced the matrix board in the shape of the Royals logo that had been in use in the park since its opening, along with the video board in left field. It was adorned with a crown, giving it an appearance similar to the old matrix board. The new scoreboard was ready for Opening Day2008. It is 85 feet (26 m) wide and 105 feet (32 m) tall, and was, at the time it entered service, thelargest high-definition LED display in the world.[37] The Kauffman Stadium screen was eventually surpassed by the new scoreboard atSeattle'sT-Mobile Park in 2013.[38] The display was assembled in 55 separate segments, including an active bottom taper to resemble the shield in the Royals logo. The video scoreboard alone cost $8.3 million, and the control room that operates it is staffed with 17 people on game days.[39] Strobe lights atop the crown flash after every Royals home run.
A second proposal on the April 2006 ballot would have installed a rolling roof at the Truman Sports Complex. The roof could have been moved to cover either Kauffman Stadium or Arrowhead Stadium when needed. The proposal was defeated by less than 4,000 votes.[40]
 |
| Date | Artist | Opening act(s) | Tour / Concert name | Attendance | Revenue | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| August 17, 1975 | Fleetwood Mac | — | Fleetwood Mac Tour | — | — | This concert was part of theSummer Jam Festival. |
| July 15, 1978 | Van Halen | — | 1978 World Tour | — | $423,904 | This concert was part of theSummer Jam Festival. |
| September 1, 1979 | REO Speedwagon | — | Nine Lives Tour | 34,089[41] | — | This concert was part of theSummer Jam Festival.[42] |
| September 21, 2018 | Billy Joel | — | Billy Joel in Concert | 40,589 / 40,589 | $4,500,565 | First Concert not associated with a baseball game at the stadium in 39 years.[43] |
| July 19, 2022 | Def Leppard &Mötley Crüe | Poison,Joan Jett & the Blackhearts &Classless Act | The Stadium Tour | - | - | |
| September 23, 2023 | Guns N' Roses | Alice in Chains | We're F'N' Back! Tour | - | - |
Beginning with the2007 season, the Royals had a red seat placed in the stadium amongst the all-blue seats behind home plate to honorBuck O'Neil. Every game, there will be a person who embodies the spirit of Buck O'Neil selected from community nominees to sit in that seat, formerly occupied by O'Neil. The seat is located behind home plate in what was Section 101, Row C, Seat 1, until 2008. Due to the stadium renovations and accompanying section renumbering in 2009, the seat number is now Section 127, Row C, Seat 9, and the seat bottom is now padded. O'Neil played for theKansas City Monarchs of the Negro leagues from 1937 to 1955.
Four statues lay out in the outfield concourse behind the fountains. Three of the statues are located in right field (George Brett,Dick Howser andFrank White). The fourth is located in left field, and is the former Royals ownerEwing Kauffman and his wifeMuriel.
^Note 1 :Candlestick Park (1960),Angel Stadium (1966), andJarry Park Stadium (1969) were all originally built as baseball-only facilities. Candlestick Park has been demolished, and Jarry Park Stadium was renovated intoStade IGA, a tennis-specific stadium with only a small portion of the original stadium present. Both Candlestick Park and Angel Stadium were converted to multi-purpose facilities. Anaheim Stadium, now known as Angel Stadium of Anaheim, was re-converted into a baseball-only facility in 1996, though that venue continues to host high school playoff football games.
| Events and tenants | ||
|---|---|---|
| Preceded by | Home of theKansas City Royals 1973 – present | Succeeded by Current |
| Preceded by | Host of theMLB All-Star Game 1973 2012 | Succeeded by |
