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Cullen Maxey Explains Royals' New Partner for Downtown Ballpark
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- Cullen Maxey Explains Royals' New Partner for Downtown Ballpark
(Kirby Lee-USA TODAY Sports)
The food and drinks at the next home of the Kansas City Royals now have a company behind them, and fans will see that company at work well before the new ballpark opens.
Royals Pick Delaware North for Food and Drinks
The Royals and Delaware North announced on Tuesday that Delaware North Sportservice will be the food and beverage provider for the new downtown ballpark, with Sportservice set to start at Kauffman Stadium in 2028 to build its staff and local ties before the move.
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According to the team's release, Sportservice has been serving baseball fans since 1930 and works with 10 MLB clubs, and seven of those clubs rank in the top 10 of the league's Voice of the Consumer survey for concessions, including the No. 1 and No. 3 spots.
Royals president of business operations Cullen Maxey pointed to that track record when he explained the choice .
Maxey said, "Their experience and success in other ballparks and the feedback we have seen from fans in those cities gives us confidence they are the right partner. Our new ballpark will be a reflection of Kansas City and our fans, and this partnership is a critical piece of bringing that vision to life."
The two sides also plan to work with area restaurants and businesses to build a food program that reflects the region.
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Why the Early Start at Kauffman Makes Sense
Sportservice president Tom Barney said starting at Kauffman in 2028 gives his company time to build ties with local partners and form an experienced local team before the move, which is the part of this deal I like most.
A brand new building with a brand new food staff would be a lot to figure out at once, so letting that staff settle in at the old ballpark first should help the Royals avoid a rough first year downtown.
The open-air ballpark will hold about 34,000 seats and sits at the center of a $3 billion, 85-acre district at the Crown Center site with Hallmark Cards, and the plans filed for that district this summer gave fans a detailed look at it.
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The Royals also named Legends Global as their owner's representative on Oct. 22, and groundbreaking is targeted for 2027.
Food might sound like a small piece of a $3 billion project, but it is one of the first things fans notice at a game, and a team asking this much of its city needs that part to go well.
A Busy Winter Beyond the Ballpark
None of this changes the work waiting on the baseball side, where Kansas City went 69-93 and finished last in the AL Central in 2026, and this year's World Series showed how much a deep roster can help in October.
Starting pitching sits near the top of the list of needs for president of baseball operations and general manager J.J. Picollo this winter.
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A possible lockout also hangs over the sport, since the labor deal between the league and the players runs out on Dec. 1.
Most fans will judge the new ballpark by its food lines as much as by its drawings, so I think the Royals got this one right by letting the new staff learn the job at Kauffman first.
