Visit Date: June 19, 2026

Kauffman Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Royals, is perplexing.  It has some of the most visually interesting design elements in baseball, yet at the same time, perhaps the worst backdrop of all 30 teams.  Despite being surrounded by thousands of parking spots, it has horrible transportation issues.  There was so much of this ballpark that I loved, yet plenty holds it back from being in the upper echelon of stadiums.

The biggest problem plaguing The K is its location.  As part of the Truman Sports Complex along with Arrowhead Stadium, it’s about a 15-minute drive from downtown KC.  This doesn’t seem too bad in the grand scheme of things, but if you want to see a game here, you don’t have a lot of options to get there.  It’s on the complete opposite side of the city from the airport, there are no rail options, and only a few hotels are located in the immediate vicinity.  Additionally, there is no bus that will take you directly from downtown to the stadium.  Instead, you will have to do at least one transfer if you plan to stay in the city.  Overall, if you plan to attend a game here, you will likely need to be car-dependent.  This was something that we had to take into serious consideration whenever we researched all the ballparks, and it’s why we ultimately decided to complete Kauffman Stadium as part of a road trip.  Getting into a parking spot was easy, but getting out of the lot took forever due to few exits.  Truthfully, I found that Kansas City as a whole would be pretty difficult to visit without a vehicle.

The days of “The K” are numbered.  While I think that it still compares well with modern venues after multiple renovations, it’s hard to overlook the fact that it opened in 1973.  In an era where multi-purpose, shared facilities for both baseball and football were the norm, Kansas City prioritized giving the Royals and Chiefs their own unique homes.  In fact, between 1966 and 1991, Kauffman Stadium was the sole baseball-only major league park constructed.  There are some architectural quirks that make it rather obvious that this ballpark is pretty old, namely the slanted upper deck and the spiraled ramps near home plate, but overall, there’s a ton of charm to it.  In my opinion the remodeling efforts over the years (which I’ll get into later) have been rather seamless.  I honestly feel that the Royals could continue to play here for years to come without issue, so I often find myself pondering why they are searching for a replacement so fervently.

The answer, as I’m sure you could guess, has a lot to do with money.  I don’t know a lot about the bones of Kauffman Stadium, but I’m sure the infrastructure receives plenty of TLC every year to keep it standing after all these seasons.  Some even claim that it was built with a bad batch of concrete.  There also aren’t quite as many modern amenities as you would like to see since those can be difficult to retrofit.  The Royals, as you could expect, want more luxury seating since that brings in more dollars.  The location issues probably play the biggest factor.  Ideally, I would renovate large stretches of the Truman Sports Complex to add restaurants, stores, apartments, and parking garages while constructing new roads with greater ease of access to the nearby highways.  But that seems to only be the plan for AFTER the Chiefs and Royals both pack up and move somewhere else in the city, with city planners already mulling over options for this site once the two teams are gone.

I, for one, think Kauffman Stadium is absolutely worth preserving, so my ideal situation is that some of this new construction could occur on the Arrowhead site once the Chiefs move to Kansas in 2031.  However, the Royals have a different plan.  Knowing the importance of ballpark districts to modern major league stadiums, the team unveiled plans to build a downtown stadium and entertainment space on the current site of the Crown Center in conjunction with Hallmark Cards.  The renderings are nice and I think the location would be a substantial improvement over its current spot, but from the outside looking in, I’m not sure I want to see it happen.  I know that the Royals are just trying to chase the money that would come with a new entertainment district, but I wish it wasn’t coming at the expense of a stadium that I find so beautiful.  If Kauffman Stadium is going to be replaced, it warrants an exquisite successor, and I worry that the Royals can’t deliver on that.

I would absolutely be content if The K were my home ballpark simply for its beauty and character.  I think it complements the sport of baseball so well, creating a grand environment that makes the heroics of the game come alive.  Take the scoreboard in straight-away center field for instance.  Its pentagonal shape with the crown overtop is a sight to behold, both for its sheer height and its originality.  The stadium lights on either side of it do a perfect job of framing the screen so that your eyes are always drawn to it.  The symmetrical design of Kauffman Stadium, a rarity in today’s game, is a big highlight for me.  There’s just something so pleasing to the eye about it.  The rolling appearance of the upper deck seats, canopy, and light fixtures is the icing on the cake, providing a sense of sophistication that most stadiums lack.

The absolute best thing about Kauffman Stadium is the fountains and waterfalls in the outfield.  I would go as far to say that this is one of the top five ballpark elements in Major League Baseball.  While the waterfalls cascade over most of the outfield, the fountains are primarily only in right field (with a small section in left-center).  This is the one thing that stood out to me that wasn’t symmetrical, and I think it would benefit the ambiance substantially if both sides mirror each other.  However, having fountains is better than none at all.  They are on throughout pre-game, between innings, and anytime the Royals hit a home run.  I’ve loved them since I was a kid, and seeing them up close and in-person was incredible.  Before ballpark renovations from 2009-2010, there were no seats in the outfield, which made the fountains stand out even more than they do now.  All things considered, I think the team did a fabulous job of integrating seats to this area while still maintaining focus on what makes this area of the park so special.

We came into the stadium at Gate E in the right field corner, and I would recommend this spot for anyone looking for the most picturesque entrance at Kauffman Stadium due to its proximity to the scoreboard and fountains.  I was pleasantly surprised that the lower concourse had open sightlines to the field of play (except around home plate due to a club area), something you don’t expect to see in an older stadium.  There were some pinch points as we made our way around this level, but nothing too major.  The team store on the third base line was pretty chaotic though, with a huge checkout line snaking through all the clothes racks.

Even taking the fountains out of the equation, the outfield concourse is probably the nicest area in Kauffman Stadium.  Working from left to right, you’ll first encounter the Royals Hall of Fame and visitor’s bullpen.  There are also some awesome seats out in left-center field (sections 101-103) that I would love to get should we ever return, highlighted by the waterfalls directly behind them.  Above there is the Miller Lite Fountain Bar and rail seating.  Right-center has a large patio space that makes for a fantastic photo op, and you can once again walk down some stairs to get a picture in front of the fountains as well.  The right field corner has the Blue Moon Taproom and Rivals Sports Bar.  If all that wasn’t enough, directly behind the scoreboard is the Outfield Experience, a huge play area for families.  Of all the stadiums we’ve visited, I think this is the best offering for kids.  There’s the Price Chopper Little K (a miniature baseball diamond for children to run the bases and play around), batting & pitching cages, a carousel, mini golf, a playground, and even more!  On top of this, they have Sluggerrr’s Training Table, a concession stand offering smaller portions to appease a child-sized appetite.

The upper deck, which is where we sat, was nicer than most stadiums.  It was obvious that they’ve given this level some substantial renovations, with an additional overhang built out in the concourse to keep you dry from any rain.  This level was surprisingly spacious as well.  There was even a huge barrel of water for you to fill up any bottles with, a nice touch that acts as a helpful money-saver.  We didn’t end up getting anything to eat at Kauffman Stadium, partly because there wasn’t a whole lot that jumped out at us besides barbecue (which we knew we’d be getting a couple days later), so I can’t comment on the food quality at all.  One thing that stuck out to me on this level was that there was a specific section of the concourse that allowed smoking.  Perhaps more stadiums have something like this and I just happen to overlook it every time, but this is the first time I can seem to recall seeing one.  It was tucked away on the outside perimeter of the concourse, so the smoke was not really an issue at all, but it’s something to be aware of if that would bother you.

There are definitely some fun and unique seating options at Kauffman Stadium.  As I said before, I think the outfield is the place to be given all the amenities out there, although it limits your view of the scoreboard and fountains.  This is why I ended up buying seats in the upper deck behind home plate, since I knew I wanted to prioritize seeing those things.  The dugout suites looked very interesting as well, providing on-field views as if you were a player on the team.  I’m guessing these cost an arm and a leg, however.  There was terraced, high-top club seating on the lower level behind home plate too.  One area that I stumbled upon was the dugout concourse, which I visited on the third base line.  It wasn’t very busy at the time and was hidden away a bit, but it seemed like a fun place to hang out.  Given how small it was, I would’ve liked to see some more interesting food options to truly highlight it.

While I think the design of Kauffman Stadium is amazing, it suffers from one of the worst backdrops in all of baseball.  Perhaps the fountains and crowned scoreboard exist to draw your attention away from it?  Anyways, your entire view is a bunch of cars flying by on Interstate 70, plus a couple hotels.  I guess the trees are nice?  There are so many prettier spots to plop a stadium in Kansas City, including the future location of the Crown Center near downtown.  Besides the fact that the Truman Sports Complex is already hard enough to get to and from, they didn’t do themselves any favors with the surrounding area.  It’s certainly not going to rival PNC Park in terms of views.  Luckily, on this night, they did have fireworks after the game, so that helped matters.

Just in terms of design and layout alone, I’d love to see Kauffman Stadium live on forever in the same way that Wrigley & Fenway have.  There’s something so classic and timeless about it.  True to the Royals name, you feel like you’ve entered some grand palace with a sprawling courtyard abounding with beautiful water features.  Except this ballpark is built directly next to a major highway, giving you nothing interesting to gaze out at.  And sadly for Kansas City fans, the Royals rarely put a very intriguing product out on the field themselves.

I’m hopeful that, when a new ballpark opens in KC, it will retain a lot of these design elements that make The K feel so special.  There is so much to love about this stadium, but it really gets dragged down by location.  Whether you’re a tourist or a local, you’ll be highly inconvenienced trying to catch a game here.  Hopefully, with a downtown setting that provides ease of access, increased shopping & dining, stronger hotel offerings, and a better backdrop, fans will get the best of both worlds.  The Royals did all that they could to make their current ballpark stand the test of time, but unfortunately, they can’t just pick it up and move it somewhere else.  For now, Kauffman Stadium’s future hangs in the balance, a reminder that renovations can only prolong the inevitable for so long.  Try and enjoy it while you can, because this one is definitely worth checking out.

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Thank you for reading the 11th entry in our MLB Stadium Tour series on Small World Travel Blog.  Please consider subscribing for more content like this!  Do you think Kauffman Stadium is worth saving for its beauty and amenities alone, or should it be replaced with a better location that’s more convenient to fans?  Is there any way to improve its current footprint?  Let us know in the comments, along with which stadium you’d like us to review next!