Boulevard backpacks its way into the K on Opening Day

Aboveground, tailgate-party charcoal smolders as heavy clouds threaten Opening Day at Kauffman Stadium. Under Lot M, Neil Witte walks down a long concrete ramp and passes a line of close to 100 people dressed in blue polo shirts. These workers are waiting in line to register as concessionaires. Two stories up, they’ll sell food and drink to a standing-room-only crowd.

A brown-haired man in a black Boulevard Brewing Co. fleece jacket, Witte turns right when the tunnel reaches a fork. (Left would take him to Arrowhead Stadium, according to a pair of arrows painted on the white concrete-block wall.) Boulevard’s field quality manager passes pallets of buns and sodas on his way to the three rooms beneath the stadium for vendors. He’s here to train six people on how to fill and use the new Boulevard beer backpacks debuting today. The gear is part of a recently announced partnership between the hometown brewery and the Royals that also includes two Boulevard-branded grills and a pub behind home plate.

“I’m excited to have the backpacks back at the K,” Witte says. “People will be able to get draft beer in the stands, and I think that’s pretty cool.”

This isn’t Boulevard’s first try at creating a mobile tap.