Sporting KC played its first game at Livestrong Sporting Park in front of a sold-out crowd of 19,925, and though the MLS team “couldn’t deliver a victory against the Chicago Fire -- the game ended in a 0-0 draw -- Thursday night was the moment the club’s owners had been waiting for, one that would make their dream of a state-of-the-art stadium a reality,” according to Terez Paylor of the K.C. STAR. Sporting KC co-Owner Cliff Illig said, “This is about potential on the field, potential for this venue, potential for these fans to witness something they’ve never seen before in this town. This is the starting point” (K.C. STAR, 6/10). MLS Commissioner Don Garber, who took a two-hour tour of the stadium on Wednesday and attended Thursday’s game, said, “It has set a new height for what soccer stadiums can be in the future.” Garber was “specifically impressed with the club’s innovative membership program” and also its “cutting-edge technological partnerships with Cisco and Google.” Garber said of the home locker room, “It’s one like Manchester would have.” Garber: “I know we’ll have an all-star game here. It’s not a matter of if, but when” (KANSASCITY.com, 6/9).
WORKING OUT THE KINKS: In K.C., Tod Palmer wrote under the header, “Stadium Opening Avoids Major Glitches On First Night.” There were, however, “reports of Internet outages and some people struggled to park.” Sporting VP/Communications Rob Thomson said, “There are still things we need to tweak a little bit. Building a stadium of this magnitude in 16 months is unheard of, so a few glitches were expected” (KANSASCITY.com, 6/9). Also, retail point of sale computer terminals crashed in the team stores about two hours before the match started. Fans had to pay with cash or wait until the computers were fixed and came back online. They were back up at some point after the game started. Sportservice's POS system also crashed in the Members Club lounge before the game and was back in operation shortly after the match began (Don Muret, SportsBusiness Journal).
SPARKLING DEBUT: In K.C., Sam Mellinger writes, “Soccer is real now in Kansas City.” Sporting KC has “addressed so many of the common complaints you hear about how bigger professional teams and leagues operate.” Mellinger: “Parking is free. Tickets are cheap. Seats are wide and close to the field. The experience can be anything from sophisticated to wild, your choice either by the ticket you buy or the part of the stadium you hang out in.” He adds, “If all you knew was Thursday night, you would think Kansas City is the biggest soccer town in America” (K.C. STAR, 6/10). In Kansas, Tom Keegan writes Livestrong Sporting Park for the athletes “is as much a swanky resort spa as a soccer stadium.” For “the fans, wealthy power brokers and Average Joes, everybody has a place tailored to them” (LAWRENCE JOURNAL-WORLD, 6/10). ESPN2 aired the first match at the stadium, and the net’s Adrian Healey called the venue “simply stunning.” Healey: “What a journey it’s been for Kansas City. They’ve gone from a football stadium to a baseball stadium, they’ve had different logos, nicknames and uniforms. Tonight, finally, KC soccer fans have a home.” Healey added, “Some of the seats, talk about being right on top of the action: They’re only 13-15 inches from the field.” ESPN’s John Harkes said the “stadium is fantastic.” Harkes: “Robb Heineman and their ownership group really worked hard to bring this to the people, to give the people what they want. Well, they’re bringing it, they’re delivering it.” He added, “It’s everything you want. It’s state-of-the-art, even from a player’s point of view” (“Fire-Sporting Kansas City,” ESPN2, 6/9).
TOUGH HILL TO CLIMB: In K.C., Kent Babb writes it “might have felt like a slice of Europe inside, but beyond the sparkling concourses and manicured details of Sporting KC’s new $200 million soccer-specific stadium," some fans admitted that, "no matter what Sporting does -- no matter the stadium and no matter the potential for championships -- soccer is fighting a losing battle on its home turf.” It is “unlikely to ever be more than the fifth most popular sport in Kansas City” (K.C. STAR, 6/10).
