Kansas City Sports Stadiums

Kansas City Sports Stadiums, Arenas and Ballparks History
 
 
(There's no place like home) 
 
 

Name: Exercise Field
Location: 14th & McGee, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1866 to: ?
Home Teams: Antelopes
History:

Name: Athletic Park (or called Athletic Field)
Location: Southwest Blvd and Summit Streets, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1884 to: 1885
Home Teams: Unions of the Union Association
History: Games were played in Cook's pasture. The park was a mile from downtown and was served only by the Rose Street car line.The diamond was amphitheatre-style park, capable of holding 4,000 persons.  Once, in October, more than 5,000 showed up.  First game played on June 7, 1884 between Kansas City and Chicago, with Chicago winning 6-5. At this site later stood the Rochester Brewery.

Name: Pastime Park
Location: Southwest Blvd and Broadway, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1885 to: 1885
Home Teams: Cowboys of the Western League
History: The league faced pressure from police who shut down games in early May for violation of Sunday blue laws and without those crowds, the league could not exist and folded on June 15, 1885.

Name:  League Park
Location: Independence Ave and Lydia, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1886 to: 1889
Home Teams: Cowboys teams in the three leagues
History: The field was called "The Hole", built on the site of Ransons pond, with a high hill surrounding area, and often muddy fields since no grass on the infield. The field was 25 feet below street level. After a rain, the park would become a pond. Fans arrived in carriages and looked down on the field of play.  The playing field temperatures were known to consistently reach 100 degrees.  The players poured water on their shoes between innings and wore cabbage under thier caps to keep cool.  The concession stands sold Hokey-pokeys, a small flat ice cream cake and lemonade for five cents.  An outfield sign at the park, displayed: "Please don't shoot the umpire.  He is doing the best he can", with violence towards umpires the order of the day.

Name: Parade Park (called Paradeway Park or the Parade Grounds)
Location: 15th to 17th & Paseo, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1899 to: 1940's
Home Teams: Blues, Monarchs
History: Many impromptu baseball games were played here in 1909. Later, the Kansas City Monarchs used the field as a second field.


Name: Association Park
Location: 20th & Prospect, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1886 to: 1922
Home Teams: Unions, Cowboys, Monarchs & Blues
History: Built in 1903.  Associaton Park was used by the Blues from 1903 to 1922. The Monarchs used it from 1920-22. Association Park was destroyed by fire on Sept. 22, 1912.  The Kansas City Baseball Championship Series between the KC Monarchs and KC Blues were played here, with the Blues winning in 1921 and the Monarchs winning in 1922.

Name: Association Park
Location: 20th & Prospect, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1920 to: 1922
Home Teams: Monarchs

Name: Tramway Park
Location: 31st & Indiana Ave, Kansas City, MO
Years from: ? 1920 ? 
Home Teams: Monarchs 

Name: Exposition Park
Location: 15th & Montgall (Truman Road), Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1888 to: 1902
Home Teams: Maroons, Blues, Cowboys, Packers
History: Built in 1893. This place was a popular playing field for baseball as well as area football teams.  This diamond is where KC first developed its reputation for growing grass and blue baseball uniforms. The location is the site of the old KC exposition grounds of the 1870's.  The first recorded game between two black semi-pro baseball teams happened here on August 27, 1890, where the Black Mohawks from St. Louis got beat by the Kansas City Maroons 12-2. The Kansas Jayhawks football team first played and beat the Missouri Tigers 22-8, here on Oct. 31, 1891 with a fan attendance of about 3,000. (Kansas University and Missouri University is the oldest football rivalry west of the Mississippi River) Exposition Park was the center of outdoor sporting activity in Kansas City at the time. Crowds of up to 10,000 would come to the city's sporting event of the year, "The Thanksgiving Game in Kansas City" between the Missouri Tigers and Kansas Jayhawks Football Teams.

Name: Sportsmans Park (later known as Recreation Park)
Location: 17th & Indiana, Kansas City, MO
Years from: May 2, 1902 to: 1903
Home Teams: Blue Stockings
History: Sportsman Park was built by Charles "Kid" Nichols and Jimmy Manning. It opened on May 2, 1902 when the Kansas City Blue Sox played the Denver Grizzlies.

Name: Elm Ridge Race Track and Club House
Location: A block East of the Paseo between 59th & 63rd Streets, Kansas City, MO
Years from: April 28, 1904 to: late 1906. 
Home Teams: Horse racing, athletic events, motor car and motorcycle racing
History: Seating for up to 1,500.  Women were not allowed to bet.  The horse track operated only for 2 years when the sport was outlawed by the State of Missouri. In the following years it was used for athletic events, motor car and motorcycle racing. In 1912 became the Blue Hills Golf Club. Today the site is the Metro Plaza Shopping Center.

Name: Shelly Park
Location: Independence Ave & Oak, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1910 to: 1915
Home Teams: Kansas City, Kansas Royal Giants, Kansas City Monarchs and All Nations Teams.
History: ice cream sandwiches were sold at the concession stand for five cents each.

Name: Riverside Park
Location: 2nd & Franklin, Kansas City, KS
Years from:  to:
Home Teams: Giants

Name: Ward Field
Location: 14th & Barnett, Kansas City, KS

Name: Gordon & Koppel Field or Stadium
Location: Near Electric Park at 48th & Tracy, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1914 to: 1915
Home Teams: Packers
History: Gordon and Koppel was a clothing store who paid for improvements to the park. Originally built in 1910 as a multipurpose football and baseball amateur athletic park. Also called Federal League Park. Home runs to left field (260 ft wall) landed in Brush Creek! Seating capacity of 12,000. The Packers season ended early in 1914 when a flash flood that hit Kansas City after a heavy downpour knocked down the walls of the ballpark. The Packers had to finish the season on the road.

Name: The Kansas City Speedway or also called "Million Dollar Speedway" 
Location: 95th & Troost, Kansas City, MO (later Bendix and Allied Signal were located here)
Years: 1922-1924
History: A 1-mile banked oval automobile racing track made of wood, but was closed after the track started breaking up after two years.  The floor of the track was made of 2x4's laid on edge; over a million feet of lumber was used.  The corners were banked so that greater speeds were possible than the brick track in Indianapolis.  Two steel and concrete grandstands faced one another, giving the track a 50,000 seating capacity.  Parking lots and infield could accommodate 20,000 cars. State of the art technology included an electric timing device that helped track the cars progress.  There were only about 20 board tracks in the nation, and several fans and drivers declared Kansas City's to be the best.  On Sept 17, 1922, professional race car drivers vied for a $30,000 prize in the inaugural race here.  There were only four races held here as the wooden track surface was inadequate for auto racing.  Kansas City's big range of weather freezing and thawing was too much for an outside board track by 1924. 

Name: Pla-Mor Arena (also called the Ice Palace)

Location: 3142 Main, Kansas City, MO
Years from: Jan. 28, 1928 to: ?
Home Teams: Pla-Mor's, Blues, Hi-Spots
History: The Pla-Mor Arena opened January 28, 1928 with the Kansas City Pla-Mors winning 2-1 over the Winnipeg Maroons for a crowd of 4,000. The arena wasn't completely finished, but the Pla-Mors had played their first 8 games of the season on the road. So, on that night, they played in an arena where the east wall was not finished, the heater failed, and scaffolds and ladders were obstacles. Thus, that's how professional hockey got started in Kansas City.  During warm-weather months the Pla-Mor Arena doubled as a swimming pool.  It also had bowling alleys, roller skating rink and a baseball diamond.   The KC Blues and Hi-Spots Basketball teams played there, with seating for 7,000. The last hockey game played here was on March 17, 1951. 

Name: Parade Park
Location: 17th & Paseo, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1930's to: 1940's
Home Teams: Monarchs

Name: Muehlebach Field

Location: 22nd & Brooklyn, Kansas City, MO
Years from: July 3, 1923 to: 1936
Home Teams: Blues, Monarchs
History: Built in 1923 by Kansas City Blues (AA) owner George Muehlebach, the single-decked Muehlebach Field at an unheard of cost of $400,000. The first game with 18,000 in attendance saw the Kansas City Blues beating the Milwaukee Home Brew, 10-7. Located near the Jazz district, the stadium often featured performers like Louis Armstrong and Billie Holiday. Muhlebach Field was the site of games 5, 6, and 7 of the inaugural Negro League World Series in 1924. Blues games were segregated, but anybody could sit anywhere at Monarchs games. It has an electric scoreboard and could seat 16,000 not counting the bleachers. Mr. Muehleback was owner of a local brewery and famous Muehlebach hotel. In 1930 portable lighting was installed for a Monarchs night game, while permanent lighting was first used on July 6, 1932. Charles Lindbergh made an appearance on Aug 17, 1927. Seating capacity: 17,476

Name: Olympic Stadium
Location: 15th Street, east of the downtown Kansas City, MO area
Years from:  1935
History: a fifth-mile track with seating for 3,000 people.  In addition to auto racing, the primary activity, it also had baseball games, pro wrestling, and Wild West Shows.  The first auto-racing event held here was the Missouri State Derby, which paid the winner $600. 

Name: Riverside Park
Location: 
Years from: 1939
History: it doubled as a horse-racing track and auto racing.  

Name: Riverside Speedway
Location:  on a stretch of flood plain north of the Missouri River.  
Years from: 1951
History: a dirt track for motorsports. 

Name: Lakeside Speedway
Location: Leavenworth Road and 95th Street
Years from: 1955 to 1987
History: a half-mile dirt oval banked track. Car racing ended here in 1987 to be replaced by the Woodlands horse and dog racing track.  Lakeside opened a new track in 1989 south of the Missouri River just west of I-435, and changed to dirt in 2000. 

Name: Ruppert Stadium
Location: 22nd & Brookyn, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1937 to: 1942
Home Teams: Blues, Monarchs
History: When the New York Yankees acquired the Blues in 1937 for their farm system, they renamed Muehlebach Field to Ruppert Stadium. Col. Jacob Ruppert was the owner of the Yankees at the time.

Name: Blues Stadium
Location: 22nd & Brooklyn, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1943 to: 1954
Home Teams: Blues, Monarchs
History: Yankees owner Jacob Ruppert died in 1939, and in 1943 the stadium name was changed to Blues Stadium. Blues Stadium was home to both the American Association Kansas City Blues, and the Negro League Kansas City Monarchs. Formerly a frog pond, swimming hole, and ash heap, the site opened as a baseball field in 1923. J. Leslie Wilkinson, the field's first owner, had a portable lighting system built to illuminate the field at night for Negro League games. Jackie Robinson played for the Monarchs in Blues Stadium briefly in 1945.

Name: Municipal Auditorium (Kansas City Convention Center)
Location: 13th & 14th and Wyandotte, Kansas City, MO
Years from: April 5, 1936 to: current
Home Teams: Kings, UMKC Basketball, NCAA College Basketball Tournaments, Explorers, Attack
History: Born: Dec. 1, 1935 at a cost of $6.5 million.
Seating capacity 10,500, for basketball 9,929.

Name: Municipal Stadium
Location: 22nd & Brooklyn, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1955 to: Oct. 4, 1972
Home Teams: Spurs, Athletics, Royals, Chiefs
History: Opened July 3, 1923.
Reopened April 12, 1955, as the first game of the KC Athletics.
Last game October 4, 1967.
Demolished: 1976
Seating Capacity: 17,476 (1923); 30,296 (1955); 35,561 (1971) for baseball and for football 47,000. Sam's Parking was the public parking lots around the stadium.
One of the greatest moments of the stadium: August 7, 1930, in one of the first professional NIGHT games ever played, the Homestead Grays Smokey Joe Williams and the Monarchs Chet Brewer pitch one for the ages, with Brewer striking out 19 and Williams fanning 27 and the Grays win the game 1-0 in twelve innings. Players from the Kansas City Monarchs would go to the Jazz District at 18th & Vine after the games to hear the likes of Charlie Parker and Count Basie. 
Cost: $400,000 (1923); $2.5 million (1955) When the Athletics announced their move from Philadelphia to Kansas City in November 1954, the stadium was completely rebuilt, financed with the proceeds of an August 1954 bond issue. By opening day of the 1955 season, a roofed second deck was added and the name was changed to Municipal Stadium. A small children's petting zoo located in foul territory down the left field line featured pheasants, monkeys, rabbits and the A's mascot, "Charlie O," a Missouri mule that often traveled with the team.  The mule was added to replace the old elephant mascot.
As you can see in the photo, there were green-and-gold-dyed sheep and goats grazing on the grass hill over the right field outfield wall.  There was picnic grounds and a petting zoo beyond the left field fence. Owner Charlie Finley painted the stadium bright colors: field seats citrus yellow, reserved seats and bleachers desert turquoise, beams yellow orange, and foul lines fluorescent pink. Finley had a "Pennant Porch" built in 1964 to ridicule the New York Yankees 296 ft short right field fence, but the American League later forced Finley to remove the Pennant Porch. Finley also wanted Major League baseball to adopt orange colored baseballs.
A mechanical rabbit, named "Harvey" rose out of the ground with new baseballs for the umpire and a compressed-air device blew dirt off the plate.  There was a "pitchers clock" on the scoreboard, to show pitchers who took longer than the 20 seconds to make the next pitch when there was no runners on base. Prior to the Athletics moving into Kansas City Municipal Stadium, the city purchased the old scoreboard (at a cost of $100,000) from Boston Braves Field and installed it at the stadium.  Charley Finley paid a then record $150,000 for the Beatles to perform in concert (for 30 minutes) at Municipal Stadium on Sept. 17, 1964.  In the summer of 1967, Jackson County voters approved a $43 million bond issue for a new sports complex, which would have stadiums for the Athletics and Chiefs. After the 1967 season, owner Charles O. Finley moved the A's to Oakland. The expansion Kansas City Royals moved in in 1969 and played their first four seasons in Municipal Stadium, before moving to Kauffman (then Royals) Stadium. The Chiefs' last-ever home game at Municipal Stadium was played on Christmas Day in 1971. The double-overtime playoff contest (a loss to the Miami Dolphins) remains the longest game in NFL history.The stadium was demolished in 1976 and the site is now a community garden.


Name: American Royal Building Complex and Hale Arena
Location:  1701 American Royal Court, Kansas City, MO
Years from: Nov. 19, 1922 to: current
Home Teams: Blues, Explorers, American Royal Horse events, Horse shows, Rodeos, American Royal Barbecue contests and much more.
History: Cost to build the original American Royal Arena in 1922 was $650,000. The New American Royal Arena was built in 1991 at a cost of $33.4 million. Hale Arena was built in 1992, with a capacity of 5,000. Hale Arena is used for basketball, tennis and rodeos.

Name:  Kansas City International Speedway
Location: 8201 Noland Road, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1967 to: Nov. 27, 2011
Home Teams: Motor sports racing
History: the last race at the raceway was Nov. 27, 2011. The city intends to turn the 93 acres into parkland.

Name:  Satchel Paige Stadium
Location: 49th & Swope Parkway, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1981 to: current
Home Teams: Amateur baseball

Name: Harry S Truman Sports Complex
Years from: 1972 to: current
Home Teams: Royals, Chiefs, Wiz, Wizards
History: home of Arrowhead Stadium, Royals Stadium (later called Kaufman Stadium)  Kansas City was the first city with two specific use sports stadiums built side by side, instead of both teams sharing the same stadium.
The original plans had a "Rolling Roof" (as above) that could be moved on tracks between Royals Stadium and Arrowhead Stadium, as needed.

Name:  Royals Stadium
Location: One Royal Way, Kansas City, MO
Years from: April 10, 1973 to: July 1, 1993
Home Teams: Royals
History: The first game played on April 10, 1973, with a crowd of 39,464 seeing the Royals beat the Texas Rangers 12-1. Seating capacity 40,625. Turf originally, then changed to grass. Cost to build $69 million, which included Arrowhead. All Star Game played at Royals Stadium on July 24, 1973. In one of the greatest moments of the stadium, 21 year old Bret Saberhagen pitches an 11-0 shutout in Game 7 of the World Series against St. Louis, and the Royals are CROWNED Baseballs's World Champions for the first time!

Location: One Royal Way, Kansas City, MO
Years from: July 2, 1993 to: current
Home Teams: Royals
History: On July 2, 1993, Royals Stadium renamed to Kaufman Stadium to honor the Kaufman owners. Kauffman Stadium is the only stadium in the American League to honor a person. Kauffman Stadium was the sole, baseball only facility built in MLB between 1962-1991. Seating capacity 40,793. In 1995, the artificial turf is replaced with grass. The new Crown Vision HD Videoboard is added in 2008. In 2009 renovation of the stadium is complete.

Name: The Woodlands
Location: Kansas City, KS
Years from: Sept. 14, 1989 to: Aug. 23, 2008
Home Teams: Horse and greyhound racing
History: Cost to build $70 million.

Name: GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium
Location: One Arrowhead Drive, Kansas City, MO
Years from: Aug. 12, 1972 to: current
Home Teams: Chiefs, Wiz, Wizards
History: First game on Sept. 17, 1972 with a crowd of 79,829 seeing the Chiefs loose to the Miami Dolphins 20-10. The scoreboard at Arrowhead was the first to transmit instant replay.  Seating capacity 78,097. Turf originally, changed to grass. Cost to build $43 million part of the $69 million which included Royals Stadium. Renovation for improvements done 2008-2010.  Starting with the 2021 season the stadium was renamed GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.  

Name:  Hy-Vee Arena (formerly: Kemper Arena)

Location: 1800 Genessee, Kansas City, MO
Years from: Nov. 2, 1974 to: current
Home Teams: Kings, Scouts, Comets, Attack, Red Wings, Blades, College Basketball, Big 8, Big 12 tournaments, Explorers, Brigade and Knights
History: Kemper Arena opens on Nov. 2, 1974 with the KC Scouts Hockey team losing to the Chicago Blackhaws 4-3. The KC Kings Basketball Team play their first game at Kemper on Nov. 10, 1974 and loose to the Boston Celtics 102-99. Elvis played in his last concert in Kansas City at Kemper Arena on June 18, 1977. Seating capacity for basketball 16,785 and for hockey 16,300. Cost to build $22 million. In 1997 an expansion project of the arena cost $23 million. The arena has hosted 1983, 1986, 1992, 1995, 1996 and 1997 NCAA Regional, the NAIA Tournament from 1975 - 1993, the Big VIII Basketball Tournament from 1979 to 1996, The Big XII Basketball Tournament from 1997 to 2002, the 1988 Men's Final Four and the 1998 Women's Final Four.  Name changed from Kemper to Mosaic Arena in 2016, and plans to remake it as a center for amateur sports. Then re-named the Hy-Vee Arena in 2018.  The arena is granted a spot on the National Register of Historic Places in 2016. 

Name:  Kansas City Plaza Tennis Center
Location: 4747 J.C. Nichols Parkway, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1925 to: current
Home Teams: Explorers, Big 8 and Big 12 tournaments, USTA Leagues, NCAA Tournaments
History: Explorers Home 1993-2006

Name: Barney Allis Plaza
Location: 12th & Wyandotte, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1984 to: current
Home Teams: Explorers, Kansas City Walk of Stars, Boxing
History: Explorers Home 2006- current.  Seating capacity for tennis: 2,600.  Court surface: hardcourt deco turf

Name: Negro Leagues Baseball Museum
Location: 1616 E. 18th Street, Kansas City, MO
Years from: 1990 to: current
Home Teams: Negro League Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum
History: The museum preserves the rich history of the Kansas City Monarchs and the Negro League Baseball League.

Name:  Kansas Speedway
Location: Speedway Blvd, Kansas City, KS
Years from: June 2, 2001 to: current
Home Teams: Motor sports racing
History: Cost to build $200 million. Track size 1.5 mile.  Seating Capacity: 80,000, with phase two: 150,000

Name: Field of Legends
Location: 1800 Village West Parkway, Kansas City, KS
Years from: June 6, 2003 to: current
Home Teams: T-Bones, Wizards, Sporting KC. 
History: Wizards home field: 2008-2009.  Seating capacity: 7,000.  In 2017 the stadium was renamed T-Bones Stadium, then JustBats Field at T-Bones Stadium.  The new women's team in the NWSL would play their games here in 2021.  In January 2021 the stadium was renamed Field of Legends to reflect the Kansas City T-Bones rebranding as the Kansas City Monarchs. 


Name: T-Mobile Center 

Location: 14th & Grand, Kansas City, MO
Years from: Oct. 13, 2007 to: current
Home Teams: Brigade, Command, NCAA Big 12 Basketball tournaments, concerts, special events. Potential home for a new NBA or NHL team.
History: Cost to build $278 million.  The LED scoreboard weighs more than 31,000 lbs, one of the largest in North America.
Seating capacity for basketball is 18,500 and for hockey 17,200.  With the merger of Sprint & T-Mobile in 2020 the arena was renamed T-Mobile Center. 
Occupant: National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame.

Name: Children's Mercy Park (formerly Sporting Park) 
Location: Village West Parkway, Kansas City, KS
Years from: June 9, 2011 to:  current
Home Teams: Sporting Kansas City
History: A new 11 acre Sporting Kansas City (formerly KC Wizards) stadium project was built specifically for soccer. It will include an 18 field complex for amateur soccer. The stadium will seat 18,500, which will be available for other sports and events including football, lacrosse and rugby as well as concerts. The playing surface will be natural grass with a SubAir under-soil heating and cooling system. A dramatic canopy will cover every seating section. The pitch is 75 yards wide by 120 yards long. It will be the FIRST MLS stadium fully lighted for HDTV and will have 300 HDTV's and two high-definition scoreboards and hi-def video boards that circle the field. It has over 150 WiFi access points and an on-site cellular network. Name changed from Sporting Park to Children's Mercy Park in fall of 2015. 


Name:  Cable Dahmer Arena
Location: 19100 East Valley View Parkway, Independence, MO
Years from: Nov.7, 2009 to: current
Home Teams: Mavericks, Comets, concerts
History: Cost to build $68 million.
Seating capacity for hockey 7,000.
First hockey game, the Missouri Mavericks beat the Wichita Thunder 3-2 on 11/13/09. Name changed from Independence Events Center to Silverstein Eye Center Arena in fall of 2015. In 2021 the name was changed to the Cable Dahmer Arena. 
 

Name: Pinnacle
Location: 1913 Pinnacle Way, Kansas City, KS
Years from: February 6, 2018 to current
History: Pinnacle is the state-of-the art training facility for Sporting Kansas City in addition to being host to national teams from around the world.  It has a world-class performance gym, sports performance lab and hydrotherapy suites.  It will be the home of Children's Mercy Sports Medicine Center. It will also be the home of the US Soccer National Development Center.  It has five full size soccer fields and a two-story coaching pavilion.  The cost to built was $75 million. 

Name: CPKC Stadium
Location: close to the Missouri River in Berkley Park, Kansas City, MO 
Years from: est. 2024 to current
History: This stadium will be the first built for a professional women's soccer team, the Kansas City Current.   The Stadium was named with a 10-year naming right with Canadian Pacific Kansas City Limited, which railroad is based in Kansas City.  
 

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