The new Sporting KC-backed National Training and Coaching Development Center is "scheduled for completion on Dec. 15," according to Sam McDowell of the K.C. STAR. The facility, backed by Sporting KC parent company Sporting Club, U.S. Soccer and Children's Mercy Hospital, will house Sporting KC full time, while U.S. Soccer "plans to move its coaching and education programs to the site." The facility comes with an estimated $80M price tag. However, the U.S. national soccer teams have "not yet committed to training at the NTCDC on a regular basis." The expectation is the final project will "lure them to Kansas City regularly and will also help nearby Children’s Mercy Park secure more national team games." The site will "have five professional soccer fields, all of which are wired with fiber connections to produce live video of training and seminars." The building "features a 12,500-square-foot gym that connects a new flagship Children’s Mercy Sports Medicine and Rehabilitation Center to the training complex." The facility will also "include classrooms, conference rooms, player lounges and a full cafeteria" (K.C. STAR, 3/8).
SUPPLY & DEMAND: Sporting KC President Jake Reid reiterated yesterday that while the club has "looked into potentially adding seats" to Children's Mercy Park, the "demand for season tickets has not yet necessitated rolling those options into action." Reid: "We would love to expand. I think we’ve got to get the waiting list up to a point where we feel like we could sustain the demand for it." McDowell in a separate piece notes Sporting KC has "approximately 4,500 people on its season ticket waiting list for Children’s Mercy Park, which has been home to 87 consecutive MLS sellouts." As of now, Reid said that the number would "need to grow to nearly 10,000 before a true expansion plan would be considered" (K.C. STAR, 3/8).
