KANSAS CITY, Mo. — For the first 20 years of its existence, Kauffman Stadium was known simply as Royals Stadium.
The stadium, which has been the home of the Kansas City Royals for a half-century since it opened in April 1973, was renamed in 1993 in honor of the team’s founder, Ewing Kauffman.
Fans have taken to calling the stadium “The K,” but those days — like Kauffman Stadium’s time as an MLB venue — appear to be numbered.
Renderings of a possible new stadium in North Kansas City are stripped of Kauffman’s name.
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Instead, the renderings simply say “Royals Park,” but club officials said nothing was set in stone, though the preference would be to sell naming rights for a new stadium.
“There’s a way to honor Mr. Kauffman,” Royals President of Business Operations Brooks Sherman said. “We haven’t honestly gotten that far in there, but you can bet that there’s certainly a way to honor him and we will do everything we can to do that. But there’s economics that can go into things there too, and you’ve seen that throughout the league.”
Royals Executive Vice President-Chief Commercial Officer and Community Impact Sarah Tourville added, “Honestly, I hope that we’re selling the stadium to a local business that wants to put their naming rights on it.”
The Royals and their partners, including renowned Kansas City-based sports architecture firm Populous, presented renderings Tuesday for the two proposed sites for a new stadium in East Village downtown and in North Kansas City.
The club plans to announce its preferred site by the end of September and hopes to have a new stadium ready for Opening Day in 2028.
Kauffman Stadium's sister stadium, which is the home of the Chiefs, was called Arrowhead Stadium until 2021 when it was officially renamed GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
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