New Kansas City Soccer Stadium

[Tilla]

Check out some of the pictures.

KC Soccer Stadium 1

KC Soccer Stadium 2

It is coming on nicely. I hope Jamaica plays there for the Gold Cup!

[Paul Marin]

Check out some of the pictures.

KC Soccer Stadium 1

KC Soccer Stadium 2

It is coming on nicely. I hope Jamaica plays there for the Gold Cup!

Yu excited eh? I can tell.

[Tilla]

What would make me more excited is to hear Reggae Boyz play there for the GC. That would be so sweet!

[Hortical]

Yuh have an artist rendering of wha it a go look like after dem dun?

[Tilla]

• Kansas City, Kansas, USA
• Completion: 2011
• Capacity: 18,500
• Suites: 36

I had some much better looking versions than that when it was slated to be constructed on the Missouri side. But since Wyandotte County in Kansas City, Kansas ambushed the deal and gave OneGoal, the owning company of the Wizards a much better offer, I have not seen much in terms of artist renderings. That picture above and below are of the new look.

[Hortical]

Only 18,500 capacity? Looks like dem put demselves out of the running fi hosting a WC qualifier....

[Tilla]

Most of the stadiums being built for MLS are between 18 to 22K. I suppose they think it is best to keep it that small until they decide if there is a need to expand.

Here is what you can see from Google Earth:-

The North West Corner.

Looking toward the North Stand (these are actually bleachers not the seats shown)

Looking towards the South Stand with the big screen

I agree, they should be ready to host some WC Qualifiers and some Friendly internationals.

[Peter R]

The upside is you're always close to the action no matter where you sit... makes it more exciting for the fans than watching from the nosebleed sections like in the large NFL stadia.

[Assasin]

man a little too small. I think if world cup ever come to America it will be few MLS grounds and more football stadium. An example is Red Bulls is at most 30 thousand while Giants stadium can double the capacity. I can't see why not use Giant stadium for such venture.

[Tilla]

Yes Peter R, I think you are onto something there. Moreover, for those of us who have gone to see MLS games in a stadium holding 80K like Arrowhead when you have only 15K fans present, there is no atmosphere and it takes away from the game.

I am sure with fans being much closer together in this stadium, we will start seeing a different kind of MLS league. I am sure it will breather more excitement than seeing the multitude of empty seats which outnumber the fans present.

[Tilla]

Red Bulls is 25K while the largest MLS venue is Home Depot Center with 27K.

The Wizards stadium they were planning to build in Jackson County on the Missouri side was 22K capacity. I am not sure why they changed it when it moved on the Kansas side.

Anyway, if they want to play matches here where they need large capacity, then there is Arrowhead which holds 80K.

I have concerns about the small sizes too, but I guess they are interested in building the soccer base first before thinking on capacity.

When the USSF submitted its bid to host the 2022 World Cup, Kansas City was selected as one of the venues, but they were not thinking of KC Soccer Stadium, they were thinking Arrowhead.

[Hortical]

18K is way too small.......well if dem only average 15K, then maybe yuh should not have a team in the first place.

[Assasin]

thanks for that info. The Red Bulls is glad to have their own staduim as they don't have to pay to use Giant's Stadium, the also sell their own concession. They also rent it out in order to get revenue. Having their own stadium help their bottomline but not good for the big games.

[Tilla]

If it were up to me, I would not build it that small either. The last time I went to an MLS match was when Jermaine Hue played for the Wizards (maybe 4 years ago). If I remember right, they was something like 18K in Arrowhead at the time. That number by MLS standards is pretty good.

The decision as to if Kansas City have a team is not mine but the MLS and the business people at OneGoal who have invested in the team. If they did not think this market could support the team, I doubt they they would be investing in the team and stadium as they are right now.

When you think of it, Kansas City have the Chiefs and the Royals plus a number of area college teams which draw on the fan base. The Chiefs for example with an 80K capacity stadium for maybe the past fifteen seasons have sold out for every game. The last match on Sunday, the day after Christmas was one which was threatened with blackout because they had not met that minimum number of tickets sold. By match time, the ban was lifted as ticket minimum were realized despite the conditions being very cold and the day after Christmas.

I think the game will grow when the team starts playing in their own soccer specific stadium. You know that the past three seasons, they played in a minor league baseball stadium which has a capacity of just 7K? I think this was due to the fact that after the Hunts sold the Wizards to the group OneGoal, LLC, they would have had to rent Arrowhead to play their games. I guess they did not want to do that so they played in this much smaller stadium.

Here are capacities of MLS team stadiums:-
Dicks Sporting Goods Park (Colorado Rapids) holds 18K,
Pitza Hut Park (Dallas FC) holds 20.5K,
Toyota Park (Chicago Fire) holds 20K,
PPL Park (Philadelphia Union) holds 18.5K,
Rio Tinto Stadium (Real Salt Lake) holds 20K,
Columbus Crew Stadium holds 22.5K
Red Bull Arena 25K
Dynamo Stadium (Houston Dynamo) holds 21K
BMO Field (Toronto FC) holds 21.8K
Home Depot Center (Galaxy and Chivas) holds 27K
Kansas City Soccer Stadium (Sporting Kansas City SC) 18.5K

So looking at all those team facilities, you will see that this new stadium is not small by MLS standards.

Moreover, San Jose Earthquake's proposed stadium is supposed to be between 15k to 18K capacity and White Caps' proposed stadium should be around the same too.

[Assasin]

white caps maybe bigger as they sold most of their season tickets.