KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Opening Day commenced Thursday all around Major League Baseball and while many Royals fans were excited how the exciting young core will play, the possibility ofthe Royals leaving Kauffman Stadium was still a thought among many fans attending Opening Day.
“We were just talking about that,” Paul Smith, who’s attending the game alongside his friend Jason Wilkinson, said before the game. “I understand (Kauffman Stadium) might be beyond renovation, but I just don’t see where there’s a footprint downtown anywhere.”
The main concern both Smith and Wilkinson had when it came to the downtown ballpark was how the potential ballpark would handle gameday traffic and how much of an impact the tailgating experience would be affected.
“If the stadium was downtown, what would we have done today?” Smith asked. “Well we probably are spending money with local businesses in and around the ballpark rather than tailgate. I love tailgating. My beer is a whole lot cheaper than what I would be buying in a bar right now.”
Another fan, Rogers Brazier, who remembers attending Royals games even at the old Municipal Stadium, says the fan experience of coming to Kauffman might be something that could not be replicated at the new stadium.
“If its kind of like (the T-Mobile Center) right now, I’m sure they’ll be a different feel to it if it is downtown,” Brazier said. “It might be good feel, but it be little different, and I don’t know if it will be that much better to justify the expense.”
Royals owner John Sherman talked about potential sites for the new stadium, with a location in the East Village being where ‘the team has done the most homework on’
Another potential site,in North Kansas City, was a site that Smith and Wilkinson thought might be a good idea.
“I think (North Kansas City) is better,” Smith said. “There’s more room for parking.”
When the Royals leave Kauffman Stadium, all three Royals fans say that they will miss the memories and moments that happened at the stadium that happened when they were kids.
“I remember coming here when the place first opened in 1972 with my grandparents bringing me down here with (Orioles Hall of Fame pitcher) Jim Palmer on the mound,” Smith said. “We had a lot of great memories here.”
However, despite the Royals leaving Kauffman, all three Royals fans say they will support the Royals even at the new stadium.
“As long as they don’t leave Kansas City or go across the state line, I’m good,” Wilkinson said.
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