KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Fans at Kauffman Stadium will soon be closer to the action after the Kansas City Royals announced on Tuesday that the ballpark is reconstructing its outfield wall — changing its field dimensions and making games more “fair.”
Advertisement
According to the franchise, the stadium’s outfield wall is being moved inward by approximately 8 to 10 feet, starting near each foul pole, with its gaps going inward from 387 to 379 feet. It will then taper back toward center field, where it will stay at 410 feet.
Welcome to the City: More Kansas City Royals news on FOX4
A rendering of the old dimensions of Kauffman Stadium before its outfield wall was reconstructed and brought in, adding more seats to the outfield.
A rendering of the new dimensions of Kauffman Stadium after its outfield wall was brought in and more seats were added to the outfield.
A rendering of the new dimensions of Kauffman Stadium after its outfield wall was brought in and more seats were added to the outfield.
This decision was made by Baseball Operations for “competitive reasons” and is expected to create “more home runs (and robbed home runs), more extra-base hits, and more exciting action on the field,” in addition to bringing fans closer to the action.
The Royals added that this will make Kauffman Stadium align more with other MLB parks across the nation.
Advertisement
Crews are already working to restructure the dimensions of the field, with the project expected to be finished by the Royals’ home opener against the Minnesota Twins on Monday, March 30.
“We’ve discussed this possibility for years, and after much work by our Research & Development department, believe this will be a positive change for our baseball team,” said Royals Executive Vice President and General Manager J.J. Picollo. “We wanted more consistency throughout the season, while making sure the specifics put us in the best position to succeed.”
Additionally, the Royals said the height of the wall will change, going from 10 feet in most places to 8.5 feet, and bringing approximately 150 more seats to left field and 80 new drinkrail seats to right field.
According to the team’s research, it is believed that the changes will take the run value of fly balls from the low end of MLB ballparks to the middle, mostly through extra-base hits.
Advertisement
The Royals said over the last three seasons these changes would have helped the team account for more extra-base hits by its opponents.
FOX4 Sports: Read more Chiefs, Royals, Sporting, Current news
“Making this a fairer ballpark will help with roster construction, but more importantly, will allow our players to keep the same approach regardless of where we play,” Royals Vice President – Research & Development/Assistant GM Dr. Daniel Mack said.
“Our approach was carefully considered to account for as many factors as possible. We believe this will ultimately reduce the constraints within Kauffman Stadium.”
Advertisement
Copyright 2026 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.