KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) – The Royals and Populous released new renderings Thursday of the team’s planned ballpark, and one superfan has given the design high marks.
A view from home plate shows sightlines designers say will connect fans to landmarks including Union Station and the Liberty Memorial. A view from right field shows the full scale of the ballpark, which will seat 34,000 with room for 3,000 more standing.
The Royals compared some elements to Dodger Stadium, including a top-deck home entry that gives field and skyline views on the way to the seats. The ballpark is also terraced into the hillside, built into and out of the natural limestone bluffs.
The Kansas City Royals shared ballpark renderings on Oct. 15, 2026, along with Populous.(Kansas City Royals/Populous)
Royals superfan Betty Birzer welcomed a KCTV5 request to give her review. Birzer has been working her way through a bucket list of attending a Royals away game at every other MLB stadium. She compared the renderings to the current Kauffman Stadium and other ballparks she has seen. She gave the new design a 9 out of 10.
Birzer has been to 10 other stadiums so far and takes notes in a leather-bound book at each one. Of the stadiums she has visited, Pittsburgh’s PNC Park ranked highest for her at 98 out of 100.
“PNC Park. Beautiful stadium,” Birzer said.
Before seeing the renderings, Birzer listed likes from her notes on other stadiums and marked design wins for the Royals’ new ballpark, including city views. Her biggest endorsement went to the fountains planned outside the stadium.
“See? There’s fountains all around. These are outside the stadium, which I like,” Birzer said.
She also liked design elements that reflect Kauffman Stadium, including a 360-degree concourse.
“Because I’ve been to stadiums where you don’t walk around the whole park. I don’t like that,” Birzer said.
She said she wants to make sure the concourse is wide. She also raised a concern about the placement of the Crown Vision screen.
“The thing I don’t like though is, the crown vision is not in the middle like it is now, but I see why they do that because you mess up the city view,” Birzer said.
She said she would like to see it placed closer to the infield.
Populous, the architecture and design firm on the project, has designed other ballparks, including three of Birzer’s favorites: PNC Park (Pirates), Target Field (Twins) and Kauffman Stadium (Royals). Birzer said she has confidence in the firm.
She said she still has questions, including how steep the grade will be in the stands. She said she hopes the team keeps the Hall of Fame. She also said she continues to have concerns about parking and tailgating.
Birzer previously wrote a letter to team owner John Sherman asking him to keep the stadium at its current location.
“After seeing these today, I’m actually surprised that I’m so excited. But I really looked at them in detail,” Birzer said.
Birzer said she has ideas for additional features she did not see in the renderings, including more small screens for fans who cannot clearly see the Crown Vision screen and built-in misters above the seats in the stands to help on hot days. Kauffman Stadium currently has large misters in the concourse. She suggested the team have a volunteer fan design representative and said she’d be happy to take the role if the team wanted one.
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