St. Joseph Post
The Kansas City Royals announced Thursday that for the first time in 18 months, fans will once again be welcomed back into Kauffman Stadium.
The Royals host the Texas Rangers on April 1 to open the 2021 regular season. The initial plan calls for pod-style seating to accommodate 10,000 fans per game, with goals to expand the capacity monthly, as the season progresses and if it's safe to do so.
This gives Royals Chairman/CEO John Sherman the first opportunity to welcome Royals fans into ‘The K’ since he took ownership of the ball club in November 2019.
“I can’t wait to welcome our fans back to Kauffman Stadium for Opening Day”, said Sherman in a release. “I am grateful for all of the support our fans and partners extended to us during these remarkable times. Our ownership group is excited about this 2021 Royals team. We look forward to a great summer watching the Royals compete on behalf of this great community.”
“Though we were able to return to the field last year, there was a huge component missing and it was felt by all of us with no fans in Kauffman Stadium,” said general manager Dayton Moore. “We play this game for our fans and the anticipation of seeing even a percentage of them in the ballpark when 2021 begins makes us wish we could open the season tomorrow.”
New protocols and guidelines will be in place at Kaufmann, including a seating capacity of about 30 percent to start the season. Seating will be comprised of socially distanced seating pods. Season ticket members will have priority access beginning the week of March 8th to select their seats for the 13 scheduled home games in April.
The general public will have the option to purchase single-game tickets on March 24th. Future home game, on-sale dates will be announced later.
Second baseman and outfielder Whit Merrifield expressed his excitement about playing in front of fans to start the new season.
“Just playing in front of a few fans right now in spring training has made these games so much more exciting and interesting for all of us,” said Merrifield said. “The thought of at least 10,000 fans in Kauffman Stadium on April 1 makes my juices flow already and knowing our fans, they’ll make it sound like the ballpark is packed. We can’t wait to come home and play in front of our fans.”