There were "no major snafus on Thursday" when MLS Sporting KC opened Livestrong Sporting Park, but the "cost of building a stadium in 16 months without the benefit of a dress rehearsal means there will be some hiccups along the way that still need to be remedied,” according to Terez Paylor of the K.C. STAR. The stadium received “universal praise for its design and creativity and overall fan-friendliness.” But Sporting KC VP/Development David Ficklin said, "We all have [a] long list of things we need to do better for the next game.” The club "has gone out of its way to receive feedback from fans -- the club embraces social media like Twitter and Facebook.” Sporting KC VP/Communications Rob Thomson said that “one of the things fans want to see improved is parking.” Some fans at Thursday's opener “apparently had a difficult time figuring out where to park and how to get there." Ficklin said, "We're already looking at increasing our signage so we can eliminate those problems.” In addition to parking issues, the stadium experienced “an Internet outage that lasted the bulk of the game and limited fans’ transactions of merchandise to cash purchases.” Thomson said that those issues "should be alleviated" by tomorrow, when Livestrong Sporting Park hosts a CONCACAF Gold Cup doubleheader. Thomson said, “We’re switching from wireless Internet to wired Internet.” Paylor noted there also is the “not-so-small matter of on-field security, which was highlighted when a person dressed in a cow costume ran on the field for a minute before he was tackled and apprehended.” Without getting into specifics, Ficklin said that the club “held internal meetings about the matter and has discussed ways to prevent future nuisances.” Ficklin also noted that Sporting KC is "pondering a switch to plastic cups -- some fans threw bottles onto the field during the game -- and taking active steps to alleviate specific areas in the concourse where congestion prevented fans from moving around freely” (K.C. STAR, 6/11).
