Gameday at Kauffman Stadium

Known primarily for its tailgating scene, Kauffman Stadium actually has a lot to do inside the stadium to keep you entertained from tours to a hall of fame. While you shouldn’t feel like you have to experience it all by first pitch, plan to arrive at the stadium early to make sure you can enjoy the game from your seats as well.

Pregame – Outside the Stadium

The Truman Sports Complex exists as a concrete island surrounded by highways and trees. There are no restaurants, bars, or entertainment within walking distance (or even a short drive) from Kauffman Stadium. 

This means that your pregame experience at Kauffman will likely be predominantly inside of the ballpark, but there’s also a few things you could do before getting to the ballpark on gameday that you may want to consider.

Barbeque

Chances are, you’ve heard Kansas City has an exceptional barbecue scene. We’ve got all the meats, sides, and fixin’s you could want, not to mention the vinegary sauces, the smokey sauces, and the sweet sauces as well. We also have some upscale barbecue dining venues, and some not so classy (but still delicious) joints, too. We even sell (arguably) our best BBQ out of a gas station.

But it’s important to note: the barbecue available inside Kauffman Stadium does not compare to what lies beyond. For whatever reason, the KC Barbecue greats do not offer their fare at the stadium. And with just a few exceptions, the BBQ joints won’t be open late enough for you to grab some after an evening game either. Which means that your best bet for exploring the BBQ scene may be prior to your games. So our advice is to head over to the joint of your choice and either eat there, or grab it to go and have yourself a feast in the Kauffman parking lot. There aren’t any picnic tables or other good places to sit outside of the stadium, but there’s nothing wrong with using the trunk of your car as a table.

Don’t get us wrong: there are plenty of excellent things to eat at Kauffman, so we’re not recommending you eat before you arrive. We’re just saying that nothing at Kauffman can particularly compare to what we think is the best BBQ in the world, so if your only opportunities to experience that for yourself means you skip eating at the ballpark, then we think that’s a rational decision. Kauffman has a few very good dessert options at the ballpark, so a 7th inning ice cream cone or milkshake may be all the in-stadium eating you need.

Negro Leagues Baseball Museum

Kansas City is a baseball town, thanks in part to its rich history with the Monarchs, KC’s Negro Leagues baseball team. If you have an hour or so, we recommend stopping by Kansas City’s 18th and Vine neighborhood to tour the Negro League’s Baseball Museum. While you’re in the neighborhood, you can also try one of Kansas City’s popular barbecue joints, Arthur Bryant’s, before you head to Kauffman. The museum is a 5-10 minute drive from downtown, in the same direction as the ballpark, and then from the museum to the ballpark is another 10-15 minutes. So this is a very convenient way to hit up two great things to do and maximize your time in KC.

Arrival at Kauffman

Have we drilled home the point that there’s no entertainment options near the Truman Sports Complex outside of gas stations and a Taco Bell? For locals, this isn’t a big deal, because Kauffman is known for being an enthusiastic parking lot tailgating venue, particularly on the weekends. But while that may be great for them, it’s much harder to enjoy if you’ve flown in from out of town, since you can’t exactly check your Weber and folding chairs in your checked luggage. So, unless you want to pack a ball and mitt to linger in the lot playing catch before the game, plan to arrive at Kauffman and head straight in. 

Luckily, Kauffman Stadium has enough to entertain you inside the stadium, but more on that after we address the logistics of your arrival at Kauffman.

Parking

The parking lots open a few hours before first pitch, and the exact time depends on expected attendance. If you hope to enter the parking lot more than two hours prior to first pitch, we recommend calling the stadium (at 816-504-4040, then select option 5) to confirm when they plan to open the lots for the particular game(s) you plan to attend.

Do yourself a favor and purchase your parking pass ahead of time. You can buy them at the toll gates, but it’s cheaper and much faster to just show your MLB app to the attendant and move on through.

Speaking of parking passes, let’s discuss your options at Kauffman, because we have strong feelings about these.

If you purchase Crown or Diamond Club tickets you will park in Lot M, the premium lot. Located between Kauffman and Arrowhead, it puts you a stone’s throw from Gate C where you enter for these seats, which is a huge plus. 

The rest of us need to decide between reserved or general parking. Normally, saving $10 on parking is a no brainer for us, but keep in mind, 99% of people attending Royals’ games park here. Unlike other stadiums, essentially no one takes public transport and there’s no surrounding neighborhoods to park in. Parking at the sports complex is your only option if you drive.

Therefore, splurging on reserved parking does a few things for you. It shortens your walk to the stadium gates and gets you back to your car after the game faster, which puts you in line to exit the stadium faster. Our advice: pay the extra money for reserved parking.

And along those lines, we have found that for high attendance games, parking in lots G, H, or J gets us out of the sports complex faster than if we park in lots A or B. If you plug in “Kauffman Stadium” into your navigational app, it will almost always lead you to the entrance off Blue Ridge Cutoff into lots A and B.  So instead, zoom into the app and manually select Lot H as your destination (on Apple Maps it won’t say lot H, but look for the lot that is to the left/west of Kauffman).  If you select that, you should be directed to enter the complex from the west side, which will give you access to lots G, H, and J.

Ridesharing at Kauffman

If you use ridesharing services to arrive at Kauffman Stadium, they will drop you off in the middle of Lot A at Kauffman Stadium, located on the first base side near stadium gates D and E. After the game, head to the same area to pick up your rideshare. Marked off with flags, the rideshare lane runs the length of the parking lot—you cannot miss it.

We’ve found using rideshares for Royals games to be pretty easy. There’s not a ton of people doing it, and the Royals have made it easy for these cars to get into the stadium lot, even against post-game traffic. The pickup point is not a far walk from the closest ballpark gates—in fact, the rideshare pickup point is closer to the stadium than probably 60% of the parking spaces. We consider this to be a legit way to travel to and from the stadium if it best suits your needs.

An important note: this advice does NOT extend to Chiefs games. That may sound silly since we’re literally talking about the same stadium complex, right? Trust us—it isn’t. For Chiefs’ games the parking lots fill up completely, and that’s with 76,000 Arrowhead attendees, not 20,000-30,000 Kauffman attendees. So the designated ridesharing pickup spot for Chiefs games is outside of the parking perimeter. And it’s also unorganized in every way. And consider this: even if just 0.5% of the attendees at a Chiefs game are using it, there just aren’t enough rideshares in KC at any given time to support that demand. The wait times are outrageous, the surge pricing is horrifying, and it’s just a horrible, horrible experience.

But for Royals games, we’ve consistently found that it’s a simple process. If you’re going to a game where it’s expected to sell out, maybe that would be cause for hesitation, but that’s a rare occurrence these days, and even if Kauffman sells out, the rideshare pickup up location will not change—it will still be a nice short walk from the gates.

Entering the stadium

Stadium gates open to Kauffman Stadium 90 minutes prior to first pitch on the weekends (Friday – Sunday). During the week, gates open 60 minutes prior. If there’s a giveaway the gates open 90 minutes prior, even on weekdays. 

What to bring in with you

We highly recommend bringing an unopened water bottle per person (each person can bring in a bottle up to 1 liter in size). Kauffman has water filling stations set up on the main concourse making it unnecessary to need more than one bottle per person. You can also stock up a gallon sized ziplock with your favorite snacks (shelled peanuts, sunflower seeds, candy—literally anything goes) and bring that in as well.

There’s just no reason to pay stadium prices for things that you can buy at a convenience store for 70% less. But note: we suggest grabbing these items before you leave the downtown or Plaza areas. While the gas station across from the stadium is fine, it has very limited inventory, and the convenience stores off of the highway leading to Kauffman are not, in our opinion, the places you will want to stop for supplies.

Pregame in the stadium

The Royals have a few cool “experiences” you can add on to your gameday schedule to really enhance your visit. Everything from helping a member of the grounds crew officially install first base for the game, to spending an inning in the broadcast booth, to touring the stadium or attending batting practice before the game. But each of these experiences requires you to purchase a special ticket in addition to your game ticket.

In the stadium – Before/During the game

Kauffman Stadium does not restrict movement of (non-premium) ticketed fans within the stadium. This means you can purchase a 400 level ticket in the upper bowl and stop by the Craft and Draft on the 300 Loge Level or order tacos from Palacana on the main concourse whenever you please. 

This is fantastic news because let me let you in on a secret—there’s zero tacos for sale in the upper bowl. And for the record, we don’t actually recommend sitting up there anyways (besides the lack of tacos) but that’s a discussion for our seating chapter.

Keeping this in mind, here are some popular spots to check out around Kauffman either before or during the game.

Royals Hall of Fame

If there’s one bucket list item at Kauffman Stadium, it is the Royals’ Hall of Fame. Located near Gate A in left field and free to all game attendees, the RHOF is full of commemorative exhibits and memorabilia that any baseball fan will appreciate. View George Brett’s infamous “pine tar” bat and the Royals’ World Series trophies, as well as learn about the league’s history. Seriously… regardless of whether you’re a Royals fan or not, this should be at the top of your to-do list at Kauffman.

If you have kids with you, plan to spend a decent amount of time at the Outfield Experience. Sadly, other than the playground, the games and rides here are not free, but you can purchase tokens for $2 each or an all-inclusive wristband for $10 per person. Activities include a carousel, running the bases at the Little K, mini golf, and more. 

The Outfield Experience opens 90 minutes prior to first pitch on game days, even during the week when the normal gate opening time is 60 minutes, making it a great place to hang out before the game, or a great place to let your kids run wild to increase the odds that they can sit through the game in their seats.

But wait, there’s more! Here you will also find the best ice cream in the entire stadium at Belfonte’s. Unfortunately, this is not a well kept secret, so expect the lines to be long by midgame. Our recommendation—head here early. Consider a walk through of the Royals’ Hall of Fame followed by grabbing a Royals baseball helmet cup of ice cream before you return to your seats for the first pitch. Then hit the concourse for your hot dogs, barbecue, or tacos mid game when everyone’s had their fill and the lines are shorter.

Picture with Sluggerrr

Head to the Little K where Sluggerrr poses for pictures during the 4th inning. For the record, there will be enough adults without kids in tow in that line as well, so don’t let your age keep you from making this memory. If you don’t make it out to the Little K in time, keep your eye out for Sluggerrr and his lion tamer throughout the game. They make their way around the lower bowl stopping to pose with fans in their seats.

Located a stone’s throw from Gate E, Rivals Sports Bar sits above right field and offers both ticketed seating and general admission standing room only space as well. It has a full bar and menu, as well as a wall of flatscreens so you can check in on your other favorite teams while at the ballpark. Rivals opens 90 minutes prior to first pitch on game days. 

If you need to stretch your legs mid-game or want to change your view, we recommend stopping by. The environment is fun, it’s open air (with a roof), and you have a great view of any action in left field.

First game certificate

Do you like craft beer? Do you like pizza? If you said yes to either of these, then you should stop by Craft and Draft. It’s a fun, open-air atmosphere with a great selection of alcoholic beverages and some unique pizza options as well. There’s space to hang out, and to charge your phone. 

The view—eh, it’s not fantastic, but it’s not horrible either. You can see the entire field as well as Crown Vision (if you sit down). So do we think Craft and Draft should be a bucket list item for your Kauffman Stadium experience? Not really, but if you have the time or interest, stop by before the game or if you need a change of location mid-game. (For more information on purchasing actual seats in the Craft and Draft, check out our seating chapter.)

The Boulevard Brewing Company Beer Garden is located behind home plate on the upper level. If you’re sitting upstairs and need to stretch your legs, the Beer Garden features a full bar and bags, as well as a nice view of the Chiefs’ stadium, and you can relax here on picnic tables or adirondack chairs. But if you have seats in the lower bowl, we don’t think the Beer Garden is something that you need to trek upstairs to see. You’ll be better off just hanging out at the Miller Lite Fountain Deck or Rivals Sports Bar, both located in the outfield of the lower level.

Postgame

Run the Bases

Kids under 14 can run the bases after the game on Sundays at Kauffman Stadium, and if you have a little one with you, we highly recommend sticking around for the experience if you have time. Kids must be accompanied by an adult, so that means if you have someone under 14 with you, you can run the bases as well! They permit people to start lining up as early as the 8th inning, but if you don’t want to miss any of the game you are fine wait to head over until you hear the Kansas City song (hopefully the Beatles’ version which is played when the Royals win). Join the line that will wind up the massive concrete ramps on the first base side near Gate D.

Parking

The Truman Sports Complex parking lots close one hour after the game ends. So, don’t plan to tailgate after the game. If you need assistance returning to your parking spot, complimentary golf cart rides leave from every gate.

Ridesharing

Set up your rideshare before the game ends. Remember, the rideshare pick up line is in the middle of lot A (well marked with flags). So, once you exit out gates D or E on the first base side of Kauffman, it’s a short 5-10 minute walk to meet your rideshare.

Entertainment

We keep mentioning it, but Kauffman Stadium does not have an entertainment district built around it like some MLB stadiums. If you’ve attended a Sunday afternoon game, most likely you will be heading straight to the airport afterwards, so this will not affect you.

Monday through Saturday, our recommendations for post game fun depends on where you elect to stay in Kansas City. Most barbecue locations close before night games finish, so you will probably need to check out that scene for your pregame. (Be sure to check for yourself because restaurant times can change, but as of this article being published, Gates and Char Bar are both open until at least 10 pm even on Sundays, so you could grab a late BBQ snack if you wanted to).

If you stay in downtown Kansas City, you’ll have the most postgame entertainment options. Head to KC Live! in Power and Light for live music, bars and restaurants that stay open as late as 3am on the weekends. When the T-Mobile Center has events on weeknights, some restaurants and bars stay open later. The Country Club Plaza has several unique restaurants for post game drinks, especially on a Thursday through Saturday night.

Bottom Line

Kauffman Stadium has plenty to do inside its gates to entertain you before and during the game, so plan accordingly. A walk through the Royals Hall of Fame is an absolute must. Beyond that, there’s something for everyone, whether you want exclusive behind the scenes looks, access to craft beverages, or entertainment aimed at the youngest fans.