John Sherman Explains Royals' Pick to Design New Downtown Ballpark

Fans of the Kansas City Royals got their best look yet at the team's future home on Thursday, when chairman and CEO John Sherman stood inside the headquarters of Populous as the club and the design firm shared six new renderings of the downtown ballpark at Crown Center, which sits just a few blocks from that office.

In his remarks at the event, Sherman said, "We could have searched the world over for the leading sports architecture firm in the world, but it's right here in Kansas City. We selected Populous because we wanted the best design, the best fan experience, and the best pedestrian experience in Major League Baseball."

The plan calls for an open-air park with about 34,000 seats, and a fabric canopy will shade roughly 65 percent of the seats during late afternoons.

The design pays tribute to the crown, the fountains and the Little K from Kauffman Stadium and adds even more fountains, while Sherman promised in the reveal coverage that CrownVision will come back bigger and better.

Populous has a long history with the Royals that includes work on Kauffman Stadium and the design of Surprise Stadium, the team's spring training home in Arizona.

The firm also designed some of the best-known parks in the game, including Camden Yards, Oracle Park and PNC Park, and it has worked with 29 of the 30 big league clubs in some way.

I like this choice because over 90 percent of the design team will be based in Kansas City, and that hometown pride should show up in the details.

Earl Santee, a Populous senior principal, grew up going to Kansas City Athletics games at Municipal Stadium, so one of the people shaping this design knows what baseball means to this town.

Brooks Sherman, the team's president of real estate and development, said fans will sit closer to the field while the player development spaces will be improved and expanded.

A pretty park will not fix the roster, and fans are still sore after a season that fell well short of what people expected, as the Royals finished 69-93 and last in the American League Central.

Sherman has named the bullpen as a top priority this winter along with steadying the starting rotation, and the lineup could use help in the outfield too.

The new park will also take time, since demolition is planned to start in 2027 and the goal is Opening Day downtown in 2030, with the Kauffman lease running until the 2030 season.

Sherman has put the cost of the stadium, team offices and infrastructure at $1.9 billion, and he wants the park to host an All-Star Game within its first few seasons.

I think the best way to fill that new building is to win in the old one first, and I agree with the argument that drafting and building from within is the best path for a team like this one.

If the Royals get that right before 2030, they will walk into Crown Center with a roster that fits the new park.