Kauffman Stadium Information

Kauffman Stadium or often called “The K”, is a baseball park located in Kansas City, Missouri. Just to double clarify, it is not in Kansas State.

The stadium is home to the Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball (MLB). It is part of the Truman Sports Complex along with the adjacent Arrowhead Stadium, home of the Kansas City Chiefs of the NFL.

This ballpark is named after Ewing Kauffman, the founder and first owner of the Royals. It was opened in 1973 as Royals Stadium initially. However, it was named for Kauffman on July 2, 1993. The ballpark’s current seating capacity is 37,903.

Kauffman Stadium was built specifically for baseball during an era when building multi-purpose stadiums was commonplace in the ’60s and ’70s. It is often seen as one of the best examples of modernist stadium design. Other than that, it is currently the only ballpark in the American League to be named after a person. It is also one of ten stadiums in Major League Baseball that does not have a corporate-sponsored name.

The stadium is the sixth-oldest stadium in MLB. Kauffman Stadium hosted the 1973 and the 2012 MLB All-Star Games, along with Royals home games during 1980, 1985, 2014, and 2015 World Series. Between 2007 and 2009, the stadium underwent a $250 million renovation, which included updates and upgrades in fan amenities, a new Royals hall of fame area, and more.

In 1967, voters in Jackson County approved the bonds for Truman Sports Complex. The complex was proposed to feature a football stadium for the Kansas City Chiefs and a baseball stadium for the Kansas City Athletics. At that time, this was considered a very unusual proposal as conventional wisdom held that separate football and baseball stadiums were not commercially viable.

Before the 1968 season, however, Finley moved the A’s to Oakland, California, and their brand-new multi-purpose stadium after a year of the renewal of their lease with Kansas City Athletics. After the move, then-Senator, Stuart Symington of Missouri threatened to press for the revocation of baseball’s anti-trust exemption if they did not give Kansas City a new team.

Baseball responded by hastily granting expansion franchises to four cities. One of the four franchises went to a Kansas City team owned by local pharmaceutical magnate Ewing Kauffman. The new teams were due to start to play in 1971. However, Symington was unwilling to have Kansas City wait three years for the return of baseball. Thus, he forced MLB to move up the start date to 1969. This caused the other three expansion teams in the American League to faced some serious issues. For instance, the Seattle Pilots, were without a suitable stadium in 1969 and the accelerated schedule forced by Symington led to their bankruptcy after just one season; they became the Milwaukee Brewers during spring training in 1970. Seattle only managed to return to the majors with the Mariners in 1977.

Jackson County continued its plans to build a new ballpark despite what was going on. On April 10, 1973, the Royals inaugurated Royals Stadium (now Kauffman Stadium) with a win over the Texas Rangers. The stadium was like the rest of the complex as it was designed by Kivett and Myers. It was constructed by the joint venture of the Sharp, Kidde, and Webb construction firms.

On May 15, 1973, the stadium had Nolan Ryan, pitching for the California Angels, throw the first of his seven no-hitters. The Royals lost to the Angels at 3–0. Later that year, on July 24, Royals Stadium hosted its first of two MLB All-Star Games.

On October 9, 1976, the Royals competed in their first post-season game and they lost to the New York Yankees with a 4-1 score. The game was held at Royals Stadium in the ALCS. However, the Royals came back to win the next game on the very next day, 6–3, for their first post-season win in Royals Stadium.

The first World Series game held in Kansas City featured the hometown Royals against the Philadelphia Phillies on October 17, 1980. In his first at-bat, George Brett hit a home run just down the right-field line. The Royals would go on to record their first-ever World Series win in the same game with a score of 4–3 in 10 innings. Sadly, later in that same year, the Royals lose the World Series in six games.

In Game 3 of the ALCS held on October 11, 1985, George Brett hit two home runs off Toronto Blue Jays pitcher, Doyle Alexander. Brett made a back-handed stop at third base to throw out a runner at home and recorded the final out to give the Royals a much-needed 6–5 win. The Royals went on to win the American League pennant in seven games that same season. Winning Game 7 in Royals Stadium, the Royals clinched their first World Series title in franchise history on October 27, 1985. The Royals were also the first team in the history of the World Series to lose the first two games of the series at home and came back for a win.

In 2012, the stadium hosted its second All-Star Game. The stadium hosted the Royals’ first playoff game in nearly 29 years. The playoff happened when the city’s former team, the Athletics, came to town for the 2014 American League Wild Card Game. Despite falling behind 7-3 in the eighth inning, Kansas City rallied to win the game at 9-8. They advanced to the 2014 ALDS. Kansas City also hosted Games 1, 2, 6, and 7 against the San Francisco Giants in the World Series. Sadly, they lost the series by 4-3.

In 2015, the stadium hosted playoff games as the Royals once again made the playoffs. This time it was hosting as the highest-ranked American League team. Games 1, 2, and 5 of the ALDS against the Houston Astros were played at the stadium. The Royals won Games 2 and 5, as well as Games 1, 2, and 6 of the ALCS against the Toronto Blue Jays. The stadium hosted games 1 and 2 of the 2015 World Series against the New York Mets as part of the American League. The Royals beat New York Mets and won the 2015 MLB All-Star Game by 6-3.

For further information on Kauffman Stadium please read the following pages:

Kauffman Stadium Parking:
Read all available parking options at the Kauffman Stadium.

Ticket Policies:
Find out more about our ticket guarantee and other ticket policies.

Kauffman Stadium Seating Chart:
View the main seating configuration for the Kauffman Stadium events and find out more about accessible seating.