One thing is for certain—well, technically lots of things are for certain, but in the context of this piece one thing is for certain: the new downtown Kansas City Royals stadium will not be called Kauffman Stadium.
Will it bear similarities to Kauffman Stadium? Yes. We’re going to get crowns and fountains and it will be where the Royals play. But that’s where it will end, primarily due to the purchasing dollar of advertising revenue. Most professional sports teams license out their stadium names because
they receive anywhere from $2 million to $20 million a year in return. As a shiny new stadium in the heart of an up-an-coming city, the Royals could probably get $10 million a year in revenue while avoiding the criticism they would have gotten if they had slapped a corporate name on Kauffman.
This all then prompts a question: what will the name be? The Royals aren’t saying and that’s perfectly fine because we’re years away from it opening, but we can have some fun in the meantime. I’ve got 10 ideas for you all, some of which are not going to happen and some of which are certainly more fun than others. Let’s go.
American Greetings Field
The new Royals stadium will be built on the site of the old Hallmark headquarters. If principal owner John Sherman gave the naming rights to Hallmark’s primary competitor in the greeting card space, I do not think that would go over well for him. But hey, it’s possible!
Arrowhead Stadium 2
The Chiefs also need a new name, and Arrowhead is as much of a brand as the team at this point. But their stadium probably will still be under construction by the time the Royals play their first game. What if the Royals grab a possible name from their former Truman Sports Complex mates? Wouldn’t be confusing at all.
Mike’s Got This Stadium at Jungle Law Field
You cannot go a single commercial break without running into an ad from one of these two law firms. I doubt either by themselves could pony up the money for a baseball stadium naming right situation, but maybe they can combine. Imagine the fountains being called the #metoosplashzone or something. Ew. At least Mike would get additional advertising when an outfielder called for a ball.
Ty France Memorial Field
I assume and hope Ty France the human being will still be with us when the new stadium opens. But I certainly hope that Ty France’s career will be over by the time the new stadium launches. This stadium choice would memorialize the functional ownership of the Royals by France, whose career LINE slash in Kansas City is the best in Kauffman Stadium history.
Sherman Stadium
Speaking of owners: the last stadium was named Kauffman Stadium, after Ewing Kauffman. Sherman Stadium would obviously be named after John Sherman, who unlike France is the actual owner of the Royals. It’s got alliteration but is a little bit on the nose. Still, it’s a name after a person and not a company, which would be nice.
Quiktrip Stadium
Quiktrip may be headquartered in Oklahoma but they don’t got no big league teams there, and QT is already sponsoring the Royals’ jersey patch. Maybe we can have Big Q stadium or something. It’s too bad that Casey’s has way better food. There, I said it.
AMC Stadium
AMC is one of the most recognizable brands with a Kansas City area headquarters. It’s not the worst idea—AMC is entertainment, baseball is entertainment, etc. But I couldn’t help but think that “heartbreak feels good in a place like this” would be an inescapable nickname for this place.
Garmin Stadium
Where you’ll find the Royals. It’s time for baseball. Navigate to fun. There are so many fun little puns and copywriting flourishes you could do with Garmin Stadium. It’s solid.
Hallmark Stadium
Here is, probably, the most likely name for the new stadium. As previously mentioned, the old Hallmark headquarters are being demolished to make room for this shiny new stadium, and Hallmark threads the needle of being A) a distinctive name while B) not sounding too much like a corporation like freakin’ “Guaranteed Rate Field” or whatever.
Crown Stadium
And here, we have the winner. The stadium is going in Crown Center. Crown is a cool word. Crown Stadium is an even cooler stadium name. And considering Hallmark’s logo is literally a crown, you can work that into the logo for the stadium and be corporate-y while still being subtle about it.
