Kauffman Stadium (/ˈkɔːfmən/), often called "The K",is a baseball stadium located in Missouri. It is the ballpark to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB).Itis part of the Truman Sports Complex to get herwith the adjacent Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs of the National FootballLeague (NFL). The stadium is named for Ewing Kauffman, the founder and first owner of the Royals. It opened in 1973 as Royals Stadium and was named for Kauffman twenty years later on July 2, 1993.Since its last major renovation in 2009,the listed seating capacity is 37,903.
Kauffman Stadium was built specifically for baseball during anera when building multisport “cookie-cutter" stadiums was commonplace. It is often held up along with Dodger Stadium (1962) in Los Angeles as one of the best examples of modernist stadium design. It is currently the only stadium in the American League to be named after a person and is also one of eight stadiums in Major League Baseball that does nothave a corporate-sponsored name. The stadium is the sixth-oldeststadium in the majors and has hosted the 1973 andthe 2012 MLB All-Star Games, along with Royals home games during the 1980, 1985, 2014, and 2015 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 with Jackson County expires at the end of the 2030 MLB season. In 2024, the team announced theirintention for the stadium to be located in downtown Kansas City's Crossroads district. A financial analysis of thenew stadium plans estimates that the cost to taxpayers would be between $4.4billion to $6.4 billion
In 1967, voters in Jackson County approved the bonds for the Complex, which replaced the multipurpose Municipal Stadium and featured a football stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs anda baseball stadium for the Athletics. The owner of the Athletics, Charles O. Finley, had just signed a new leaseto remain in Kansas City. The proposal of the Truman Sports Complex was unusual,as conventional wisdom at the time held that separate football and baseballstadiums were not commercially viable. Before the 1968 season,however, Finley moved the A's to California, and their brand-new multi-purpose stadium.
After the move, Senator Stuart Symington of Missouri threatenedto press for the revocation of baseball's anti-trust exemption if they did notgive Kansas City a new team. Major League Baseball responded by hastily granting expansion franchises to four cities, including a Kansas City teamowned by local pharmaceutical magnate Ewing Kauffman. The new teams were due tostart to play in 1971.However,Symington forced MLB to move up the start date to 1969 as hewas unwilling to have Kansas City wait three years to have baseball again. Theother expansion team in the American League, the Seattle Pilots, were without a suitablestadium in 1969 andthe accelerated schedule forced by Symington led to their bankruptcy after justone season. In 1970,they relocated to Wisconsin, as the Brewers. With lawsuitspending, Seattle returned to the majors with the Mariners in 1977.
Jackson County continued its plans to build a new ballpark. Like the rest of the complex, it wasdesigned by Myers, and constructed by the joint venture of the Sharp,Kidde, and Webb constructionfirms. Royals Stadium broke groundon July 11, 1968, and was opened in on April 10, 1973,witha 12–1 win over the Texas Rangers thatsaw 39,464 fans in attendance. Five weeks later, Nolan Ryan of the California Angels threw the first of his seven no-hitters, blanking the Royals 3–0, threewalks away from a perfect game. Two monthslater on July 24, the stadium hosted the first ofits two All-Star Games
Following the 1976 regularseason, the Royals competed in the first postseason game of their history onOctober 9, but lost 4–1 at home to the New York Yankees in the ALCS.The Royals won the next game 6–3 on October 10 for their first postseason winin Royals Stadium.
The first World Series game held in Kansas City wason October 17, 1980,againstthe Philadelphia Phillies. In the first inning, George Brett hit a home run down theright field line, and the Royals recorded their first-ever World Series win,4–3in ten innings, but lost the Series in six games.
On October11, 1985,inGame 3 of the ALCS,Brett hit two home runs off Toronto BlueJays pitcher Doyle Alexander, made a back-handed stop at third base to throw out a runner at home, and recorded the final out to givethe Royals a much-needed 6–5 win. The Royals went on to win the American League pennant inseven games.
Two weeks later, on October 27, the Royals clinched theirfirst World Series titlein franchise history, winning Game 7 in Royals Stadium. Led by the pitchingof Bret Saberhagen, Darryl Motley's two-run home run, and GeorgeBrett’s four hits, the Royals beat the St. 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 firsttwo games of the series at home and come back to win.
In 2012,thestadium hosted its second All-StarGame, which the National League won 8–0.
The stadium hosted the Royals' first playoff game in nearly 29 years when the city's former team, the Athletics, came to town in 2014 forthe Wild CardGame. Despite trailing 7–3 in the eighth inning, Kansas City ralliedto win 9-8 and advanced to the ALDS. They won their ALDS,the ALCS,and hosted Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 of the World Series, but fell to the San Francisco Giants.
In 2015,Kansas City returned to the playoffs, this time as the top seed in the AmericanLeague. Games 1, 2, and 5 of the ALDS against the Houston Astros wereplayed at the stadium, with the Royals winning Games 2 and 5, as well as Games1, 2, and 6 of the ALCS againstthe Toronto BlueJays, with the Royals winning all three games. The stadium hostedgames 1 and 2 of the World Series against the New York Mets asa result of the American League winning the All-StarGame 6–3. The Royals won Game 1 (5-4in14 innings) and game 2 (7-1),aswell and closed out the Mets in five games to win the 2015 World Series.
Kauffman Stadium was the only baseball-only park built in the majors (not counting temporary facilities) from 1966 to 1991. It was one of thefew baseball-only facilities built in the majors during the heyday of the cookie-cutter stadium era,and is one of two such facilities (with Dodger Stadium) that are still active and werenever converted for use as multi-purpose stadiums.
Although a baseball-only facility, its design took severalstylistic cues from the multi-purpose stadiums of the day, plus the Googie style that was more prevalent inthe decades prior. The main stadium itself is primarily concrete, with a smooth,uncovered concrete facade. The stands wrap around the infield and end at thefoul poles, with smaller bleacher sections (or "outfield plazas, “as theRoyals call them) in the outfield. In their book, The Ultimate BaseballRoad Trip, Josh Pahigian and Kevin O'Connell wrote that it is essentially one-third of a cookie-cutterstadium, containing only the seats in a cookie-cutter stadium that provide thebest views for baseball. The upper deck is quitesteep, though not as high as other parks built during this time. Many minor-league stadiums built in the 1980s and early 1990s, as well as Guaranteed Rate Field in Chicago, employ a similar design. The park’sbest-known feature is the fountain and waterfall display (known as the WaterSpectacular) behind the right-field fence. At 322 feet (98 m), it is thelargest privately funded fountain in the world. The fountains are ondisplay before and after the game and between innings, while the waterfalls areconstantly flowing.
When the stadium was originally built, Kansas City was thewesternmost major league city other than those along the Pacific Coast, which was a major reason why the Royals initially decided to use a faster-draining AstroTurf surface. Before the Colorado Rockies expansion franchisebegan play in Colorado, in the 1993 Major League Baseball season, the Royals' "home" territoryincluded the Rocky Mountains inaddition to a large swath of the Great Plains, and Kauffman didn't want fanswho drove many hundreds of miles to go home without seeing games completed. TheTruman Sports Complex's legendary groundskeeper, George Toma, best known as the headgroundskeeper for every Super Bowl, thus hadthe job of maintaining two carpets for most of his career. He also maintainedthe surface at Stadium, which had AstroTurf from 1972 through 1993.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. This is also due to thefact that Kauffman Stadium has never hosted game, and has no movableseating, thus avoiding the wear and tear typical of cookie-cutter stadiums.
The stadium's AstroTurf was replaced by grass for the 1995 season.As part of the project, four-inch (10 cm) perforated tiles were installedat 12.5-foot (3.8 m) centers across the entire field in order to improvedrainage.
In 2014, the Royals started placing a "W" on the Hallof Fame wall for every home win, similar to the Chicago Cubs hoisting a white flag with a blue "W" at Wrigley Field for every Cub home win.
Prior to the 1991 season,a Sony Jumbotron full-color video board wasinstalled 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 itdebuted, and remained in use through the 2007 season.
In order to generate more home runs, Kauffman Stadium's outfieldfences from bullpen to bullpen were moved in ten feet from their originaldimensions, and the outfield wall height was reduced from 12 feet (3.7 m)to 9 feet (2.7 m) prior to the 1995 season. They were returned to theiroriginal dimensions prior to the 2005 season.
On opening Day 1999,minor renovations were debuted, including the addition of the "Crown Club"premium seating area behind home plate between the dugouts, and dugout levelsuites. Kauffman Stadium's seats originally featured a descending color schemeof red, gold, and orange, similar to Arrowhead Stadium; the original fieldlevel seats in Kauffman Stadium were replaced by dark blue seats, and by 2000,thegold loge level seatsand red upper level seats were all replaced by dark blue seats, the field levelseats also getting cupholders.
On April 4,2006, Jackson County votersapproved a 0.375% sales tax increaseto fund plans to renovate the Truman Sports Complex. As part of this measure,every Jackson County residential address was to receive vouchers good for50%off two tickets at Royals games on certain nights. The construction began withceremonial groundbreaking inside Kauffman Stadium on October 3, 2007, withcompletion of Kauffman Stadium in time for Opening Day in 2009,andfull renovation of the complex (including nearby Arrowhead Stadium) by 2010, depending uponcost overruns. The team committed to a lease that will keep them in Kansas Cityuntil 2030, an extension of their current lease expiration of 2015.
Extensive renovations in the outfield including the relocationof the bullpens caused the left and right center field dimensions to beincreased by 2 feet (0.61 m).
The new HD scoreboardwas one of the first features to be installed. It replaced the matrixboard in the shape of the Royals logo that had been in use in the park sinceits opening, along with the video board in left field. It was adorned with acrown, giving it an appearance similar to the old matrix board. The newscoreboard was ready for Opening Day 2008.Itis 85 feet (26 m) wide and 105 feet (32 m) tall, and was, at the timeit entered service, the largest high-definitionLED display in the world. The Kauffman Stadium screenwas eventually surpassed by the new scoreboard at Seattle's T-Mobile Park in 2013. The display was assembledin 55 separate segments, including an active bottom taper to resemble theshield 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. Strobe lights atop thecrown flash after every Royals home run.
A second proposal on the April 2006 ballot would have installeda rolling roof at the Truman Sports Complex. The roof could have been moved tocover either Kauffman Stadium or Arrowhead Stadium when needed. The proposalwas defeated by less than 4,000votes.
Concerts
August 17, 1975 Fleetwood Mac
July15, 1978 Van Halen
September 1, 1979 REO Speedwagon
September 21, 2018 Billy Joel
July 19, 2022 Def Leppard & Mötley Crüe
September 23, 2023 Guns N' Roses
Beginning with the 2007 season, the Royals had a red seat placed in the stadium amongst the all-blue seats behind home plate to honor Buck O'Neil. Every game, there will be aperson who embodies the spirit of Buck O'Neil selected from community nomineesto 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 the Kansas City Monarchs ofthe Negro leagues from 1937 to 1955.
Four statues layout in the outfield concourse behind the fountains. Three of the statues are located in right field (George Brett, Dick Howser and Frank White).The fourth is located in left field, and is the former Royals owner Ewing Kauffman and his wife Muriel.