Royals to Lean on Elevate for New Ballpark Fan Experience and Sales Consultation
By Bret McCormick
The Royals have hired Elevate to assist the team with multiple fan experience aspects of the MLB club’s proposed $1.9B ballpark.
Elevate will be the team’s exclusive sales agent for the ballpark’s premium seating and corporate sponsorships, while providing strategy, research, creative, and executive search expertise, too.
“We’re blowing and going on the new stadium,” which opens in 2030, said Brooks Sherman, Royals President of Real Estate & Development. “That’s why now is the time they’re fully jumping on board with this.”
Elevate had been assisting the Royals with sponsorships in their current ballpark since 2022 following the Sherman family’s purchase of the team in 2019, and consulted the team on its QuikTrip jersey patch deal.
“We’re really throwing everything at it, not looking at any scope documents,” said Chris Allphin, Elevate Chief Business Officer and President, Elevate Creative. “We just want to be their partners and help them open up a fantastic ballpark.”
The 34,000-seat ballpark will sit in the heart of K.C., just south of downtown, on a roughly 100-acre stretch of land. Some of that is owned by the Hallmark Company, which is partnering with the Royals on the mixed-use development that will surround the stadium. The total project cost, including the stadium, is $3B.
With the Elevate announcement, the Royals essentially have the core members of their project team in place. Delaware North was picked to handle food and beverage, while Legends Global was recently announced as the Royals’ owners’ rep on the project. A Mortenson McCown Gordon joint venture is building the ballpark, which was designed by Populous. The project team is already working on estimates and scheduling with the contractor joint venture, Sherman said.
Before construction commences, Elevate is advising on premium seating design, sponsorship assets and signage, ticket pricing, financing strategy, food and beverage plans, and the mixed-use development.
On the sponsorship side, Elevate will lead ballpark naming rights sales, founding sponsorships, as well as sales strategy and asset valuation, sponsor outreach, negotiations, and activation planning.
David Burke was recently hired as Elevate EVP, Property Sales, a role in which he’ll dually serve as CRO for the Royals’ ballpark sales drive.
The Royals’ land transaction included multiple high-rise buildings, one of which will host the ballpark sales preview center, designed and staffed by Elevate, on its 28th floor overlooking the future ballpark site.
“This is a generational thing for us,” Sherman said, “and we’re excited to get it rolling.”
