Kansas City Royals: The Kauffman Keep and why it (probably) won’t work

When you think of Kansas City sports fan groups what comes to mind? The energy of Arrowhead on a brisk fall Sunday or the loud, obnoxious and sometimes provocative chants of the Cauldron. Kauffman and in turn the Kansas City Royals have no fan group (Gordo Thursdays kind counted).

Well this year the Kansas City Royals have introduced The Keep, an attempt to get a younger crowd to spend their summers at the K.

This family friendly orientated “group” costs 500 dollars to “join”. What does that get you? Well it gets you into 15 games this summer, that the team is billing as “primetime games, weekends, and give away dates.”. That’s roughly 33 dollars a ticket, this package also includes an “exclusive” keepsake box full of gear. The Keep is a good idea that has a few flaws.

My main flaw is the buy in price. Part of the draw for Arrowhead, or attending a game in the Cauldron is the chance to attend one game and get the full fan experience. These other fan experiences have relatively cheap buy in prices that are more affordable for the younger crowd.

The K is also pushing a family friendly mindset for the group, but to me part of the draw for a fan group such as this is the chance to be wild and rowdy to an extent. These two factors lead me to believe this group will struggle to get off the ground and may not last much longer then a season.

I would love to be proved wrong and honestly hope I am, but I personally struggle seeing the long-term draw for The Keep. The Kansas City Royals Royals do need a fan support group though buy baseball and the amount of games played as a whole provide the biggest obstacle to fan groups. It is hard to get a big group of energetic sports fans at that many games.

Hopefully in the future though something like the Cauldron is created by a group of fans and not pushed by the organization. Royals, I love the attempt but the idea could go back to the drawing board.