With 2015 about to end, here's a look at my 2015 wants and wishes and how they turned out ahead of the calendar switch to 2016.
1. Silverware - Silverware is always fun and this year Kansas City soccer teams brought home two trophies. Sporting KC started the season off strong and for a period of time looked to be one of the favorites to win MLS Cup. Injuries though played a role in their downfall, but in the end were able to finish the season with their third trophy in four years, the US Open Cup. It was the club's third US Open Cup trophy to go with the 2004 and 2012 trophies, and as expected, came in a penalty kick shootout. Also this year FC Kansas City brought home their second straight NWSL title repeating as champions with a 1-0 win over Seattle thanks to an Amy Rodriguez goal.
2. Sporting KC improve their home form - I'd say this was a successful wish for 2015, Sporting KC. After going 6-5-6 in 2014, and losing 10 over the last two years, Kansas City lost just twice at home in 2015. Sporting finished with a 10-2-5 record, an 11 point positive swing in Kansas City's favor from their 2014 form. Add in their four US Open Cup wins at home and KC went 14-2-5 in 2015, tying a club record for home wins.
3. A little more balanced scoring - Overall scoring was much better for Kansas City in 2015. The club didn't have to rely solely on Dom Dwyer and ended up scoring 64 goals in all competitions, the second most in club history. Leading the way was Dwyer, Krisztian Nemeth, and Benny Feilhaber who all scored 10 goals or more in league play, becoming the first trio to accomplish that feat in one season for Kansas City. While Dwyer's scoring was down, he still led the team with 12 league goals, added another five in the US Open Cup, and one in the playoffs to finish the season with 16. Nemeth to go along with his 10 league goals scored five in the Open Cup for 15, while Feilhaber added two in the Open cup to finish with 12 on the season.
4. Finally defeat the Seattle Sounders at home - Sporting finally got their first home win against the Sounders thanks to a late Benny Feilhaber penalty kick back on June 6th. KC actually was unbeaten against the Sounders this year, going 1-0-2, drawing 0-0 in Seattle on May 23rd and earning a 1-1 draw at home on September 27th with a mostly reserve lineup three days before the US Open Cup final.
5. Ike Opara (or whoever partners Matt Besler) is fully recovered and starts 25-30 games - I guess I can't technically call this one a failure as Kevin Ellis started 26 games paired with Matt Besler in central defense for Sporting during the regular season, but the spirit of this wish didn't come true, especially after the way Ike Opara started the season. Opara had been Sporting's best player over the first month of the season, but another injury in early May put him out for the rest of the season leaving KC to lean heavily on homegrown player Kevin Ellis again. Ellis performed better than I think anyone expected, but was still prone to mistakes that a player with more size or experience at center back wouldn't make.
6. Luis Marin is available for all 34 league games, allowing Jon Kempin to start all but a game or two with Oklahoma City - Well this is another one that didn't come to be at all. We'll ignore the fact that Jon Kempin didn't go on loan at all to the Energy and instead focus on the fact that Luis Marin played just eight games for Kansas City before being benched in favor of Tim Melia. Marin just never seemed to adjust to the style of play of MLS very well. He did pick up three shutouts in his eight games, but two of those were at home against teams that seemed to have little to no interest in attacking on the road (Portland and Salt Lake) and the third came against New York City. The last straw for Marin came in the club's 4-4 draw with Houston where Marin was at least partially responsible for a few of the Dynamo goals. Marin though has rebounded well in Chile where he helped lead Palestino to the Apertura finals there.
And while Melia turned out to be a diamond in the rough as a starter for Kansas City, Kempin only appeared in three games for KC after being recalled from his loan to San Antonio. Peter Vermes says Kempin will challenge Melia for the starting job in 2016 preseason. If Kempin doesn't beat Melia out I hope he can spend quite a bit of time with the Swope Park Rangers getting plenty of minutes.
7. US Men's national team says perfect in Kansas City - Unfortunately the perfect run in Kansas City ended at five as the US national team drew with Panama 1-1 at Sporting Park in the final group play game of the 2015 Gold Cup. Falling behind on a first half goal by Blas Perez the US equalized early in the second half on a goal by Michael Bradley. The entire group stage of the Gold Cup didn't go that well for the US, and the problems were only compounded in the knock out round, but I'll get to that next.
8. US win the Gold Cup - I almost want to laugh at this wish now, after seeing how the 2015 Gold Cup played out. After getting out of Group A as the top seed going 2-0-1 but looking less than impressive in their wins against Honduras and Haiti, and draw against Panama, the US took Cuba behind the woodshed, winning 6-0 in the quarterfinals. This set up a semifinal match against Jamaica. The Jamaicans came out on the front foot and really pushed the game against the United States and were rewarded for it with goals from Darren Mattocks and Giles Barnes putting them up 2-0 at half time. Michael Bradley scored very early in the second half to give the US hope, but they were unable to break down the Jamaican defense and missed the finals for the first time since 2003. Things got even worse for the US as they lost the third place game on penalty kicks to Panama after drawing 1-1 with Fabian Johnson, Bradley, and DeMarcus Beasley all missing.
9. Missouri Comets return to championship game - Unfortunately the Comets didn't make it back to the finals. After going undefeated in the regular season and defeating Milwaukee 8-2 in the Central Division final, the Comets met up with the Baltimore Blast, losing 6-4 in Baltimore then coming home and having the wheels completely come off their season with red cards and suspensions being issued to Brian Harris and John Sosa and then the headbutt incident involving Andre Braithwaite and Pat Healey after the game. Not the way you want to end your season with so much of a sour taste in the team's and fans' mouths.
10. FC Kansas City improve attendance - FC Kansas City played in their third stadium in three years as they moved from Durwood on UMKC's campus down the road to the newly completed Swope Soccer Village and played at the Championship field there. The move bumped the available capacity to 3,557 for the Blues in their third season. The move, coming off a championship, and a boost from the Women's World Cup helped FCKC up their average attendance by over 1,000, going from 2,018 to 3,091 in 2015.
11. US women's team wins World Cup - The United States made it through their group as the winners picking up wins over Australia and Nigeria with a draw against Sweden in between to finish with 7 points. They met the upstart Colombians in the round of 16 and needed two second half goals after Colombia's starting goalkeeper was sent off to see them through. The quarterfinals saw a rematch of the 1999 final against China with Carli Lloyd scoring the lone goal to send the US through to the semifinals. There they met two time winners, Germany. The US though played their best game of the tournament up to that point though and scored twice in the second half from a Lloyd penalty and a Kelley O'Hara goal to make the finals. There they met Japan, who had beaten them in the finals of the last World Cup in Germany. The knockout rounds though had become the Carli Lloyd show and she continued in the finals. Lloyd had had two goals in the first five minutes as the US jumped on Japan early. Lauren Holiday scored in the 14th to make it 3-0 and in the 16th Lloyd finished her hattrick with an outlandish shot from midfield that went over goalkeeper Ayumi Kaihori and into the net to make it 4-0 to the US before Japan even knew what happened. Japan got a goal back on each side of halftime before Tobin Heath finished the scoring in the 54th to give the US the 5-2 win.
Showing posts with label Sporting Park. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Sporting Park. Show all posts
Thursday, December 31, 2015
Friday, December 18, 2015
Q&A on the Beach with Robb Heineman
Sporting Club's CEO recently celebrated his birthday in Mexico and with his down time on the beach he conducted another of his Q&As with his followers on Twitter. As always Heineman touched on a number of topics from the Swope Park Rangers, to offseason additions, to Sporting Park and as always he threw in some of the trolling we've all come to expect. Here are some of the high points.
One of the big questions that is pretty much asked in every one of Heineman's Q&A sessions is asking about the potential expansion of Sporting Park. In the past Heineman has posted about needing to sell out through 2017, or needing so many years of capacity before expansion would take place. He even talked about where the expansion would take place, expanding the East Stand. It always seemed a little bit far fetched when thinking about the size of the site that Sporting Park currently sits. Now Heineman says that there are no seating plans at the stadium. He did say that they are enlarging the season ticket holder base by 500.
In terms of the team's players that are still out of contract, Heineman touched on two of the three, Soni Mustivar and Paulo Nagamura, both restating the club's interest in both players returning but not giving much in the way of details for either one. No mention of the club's other player out of contract, Mikey Lopez. At the same time he did bring some ease to the question of Krisztian Nemeth's future with the club, twice answering questions about the Hungarian's potential departure.
As for new additions, that seemed to be one of the big talking points of the session. Heineman mentioned how the club was looking to still add a player on each line of the team, defense, midfield, and forward to strength the squad, as well as the fact that they're looking at Designated Players, which would be expected.
As for where these potential new players would come from, Heineman was asked where the team was focusing on for players, to which he responded with Spain. That's not been a bad proving ground for KC over the past few years as the team has brought in Oriol Rosell, Toni Dovale, and Jordi Quintilla from the European country to Kansas City. Speaking of Rosell, Heineman was also asked about the rumors of his return to MLS and Kansas City because of being out of favor in Portugal. Heineman didn't sound too optimist of him returning to either the team or the league as a whole. It also sounds like fans shouldn't get their hopes up about news on player signings coming in the next week either. Although if you do want to do some detective work over that time, Heineman was asked for the initials of KC's next signing and he responded with CRH.
Another topic that brought a couple questions was next season's schedule. According to Heineman the schedule doesn't look like it will be out until some time in January. And for those people that were disappointed in the number of Sunday games that KC had last year, it sounds like that won't be changing in 2016 which would seem to mean more nationally broadcast games for KC next year as well. And if Heineman gets his way, 2016 for KC will begin on the road.
Finally a couple odds and ends. It sounds like the national training center will finally start moving dirt in February according to Heineman. Then there's the big question from across the pond that continues to be asked, and that's if Heineman and OnGoal are still interested or if they'd renew their interest in acquiring English Premier League club, Everton. Those in the blue side of Liverpool probably shouldn't be holding their breath.
That said, as always you have to take what Heineman says with a grain of salt.
One of the big questions that is pretty much asked in every one of Heineman's Q&A sessions is asking about the potential expansion of Sporting Park. In the past Heineman has posted about needing to sell out through 2017, or needing so many years of capacity before expansion would take place. He even talked about where the expansion would take place, expanding the East Stand. It always seemed a little bit far fetched when thinking about the size of the site that Sporting Park currently sits. Now Heineman says that there are no seating plans at the stadium. He did say that they are enlarging the season ticket holder base by 500.
In terms of the team's players that are still out of contract, Heineman touched on two of the three, Soni Mustivar and Paulo Nagamura, both restating the club's interest in both players returning but not giving much in the way of details for either one. No mention of the club's other player out of contract, Mikey Lopez. At the same time he did bring some ease to the question of Krisztian Nemeth's future with the club, twice answering questions about the Hungarian's potential departure.
As for new additions, that seemed to be one of the big talking points of the session. Heineman mentioned how the club was looking to still add a player on each line of the team, defense, midfield, and forward to strength the squad, as well as the fact that they're looking at Designated Players, which would be expected.
As for where these potential new players would come from, Heineman was asked where the team was focusing on for players, to which he responded with Spain. That's not been a bad proving ground for KC over the past few years as the team has brought in Oriol Rosell, Toni Dovale, and Jordi Quintilla from the European country to Kansas City. Speaking of Rosell, Heineman was also asked about the rumors of his return to MLS and Kansas City because of being out of favor in Portugal. Heineman didn't sound too optimist of him returning to either the team or the league as a whole. It also sounds like fans shouldn't get their hopes up about news on player signings coming in the next week either. Although if you do want to do some detective work over that time, Heineman was asked for the initials of KC's next signing and he responded with CRH.
Another topic that brought a couple questions was next season's schedule. According to Heineman the schedule doesn't look like it will be out until some time in January. And for those people that were disappointed in the number of Sunday games that KC had last year, it sounds like that won't be changing in 2016 which would seem to mean more nationally broadcast games for KC next year as well. And if Heineman gets his way, 2016 for KC will begin on the road.
Finally a couple odds and ends. It sounds like the national training center will finally start moving dirt in February according to Heineman. Then there's the big question from across the pond that continues to be asked, and that's if Heineman and OnGoal are still interested or if they'd renew their interest in acquiring English Premier League club, Everton. Those in the blue side of Liverpool probably shouldn't be holding their breath.
That said, as always you have to take what Heineman says with a grain of salt.
Thursday, November 19, 2015
Sporting KC and Children's Mercy Announce Partnership, Sporting Park Now Children's Mercy Park
Sporting Kansas City and Children's Mercy Hospital today announced a long term partnership "to promote health and fitness among Kansas City-area schoolchildren and provide specialized sports medicine to a youth athlete market that has experienced a substantial increase in sports-related injuries."
The partnership will also give Children's Mercy exclusive naming rights to Sporting Park, which will be renamed Children's Mercy Park. It also gives Children's Mercy the naming rights to the team's training center as well as the championship field at the Swope Soccer Village. It'll be the third official name for the stadium since its completion back in 2011 when it was LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.
The partnership is a 10 year agreement that will begin in 2016 and will focus on three areas; improving access to pediatric-trained sports medicine, strengthing community, protecting youth athletes and educating parents and coaches. And while there's plenty of PR speak in the release about these sections I don't doubt that much of this will be done. On the first point, Children's Mercy will open a sports medicine and rehabilitation center at the National Training Center when it opens.
Having one of the best medical centers for children in the country opening a center in a facility that will very likely be used by US youth national teams over the years (along with SKC academy and other children) is a no brainer. As for strengthing the community, it's a lot of PR speak, but this will strength Sporting's connection with Children's Mercy, especially with the Victory Project. And on the protecting youth athletes point, Children's Mercy will develop a "soccer-specific curriculum" for the Sporting Club Network as well as providing training, rehabilitation, and conditioning program for the academy.
Having one of the best medical centers for children in the country opening a center in a facility that will very likely be used by US youth national teams over the years (along with SKC academy and other children) is a no brainer. As for strengthing the community, it's a lot of PR speak, but this will strength Sporting's connection with Children's Mercy, especially with the Victory Project. And on the protecting youth athletes point, Children's Mercy will develop a "soccer-specific curriculum" for the Sporting Club Network as well as providing training, rehabilitation, and conditioning program for the academy.
The partnership will also give Children's Mercy exclusive naming rights to Sporting Park, which will be renamed Children's Mercy Park. It also gives Children's Mercy the naming rights to the team's training center as well as the championship field at the Swope Soccer Village. It'll be the third official name for the stadium since its completion back in 2011 when it was LIVESTRONG Sporting Park.
Overall I don't think SKC could have done any better with their new name for the stadium. Children's Mercy is a fantastic hospital and working with them on this seems to be a no brainer.
Thursday, June 11, 2015
#TBT The Renderings on the Way to Sporting Park
On Tuesday of this past week was the anniversary of the first game played at Sporting Park between Sporting KC and the Chicago Fire. In honor of that for this week's Throw Back Thursday I'm going to share some renderings of KC's stadium history that I either have gotten over the years, or that can be found online.
We'll start way back in 2006 and the attempts to get a stadium built down near 69 Highway and 159th Street in Overland Park. The stadium didn't get built because of the failure of Question 1 that November. The sunken stadium bowl had one roof that curved and wrapped around half the stadium.
From there came the Bannister site and the 3 Trails development that went on for a couple years getting as far as tearing down the old Bannister Mall and plenty of renderings of the stadium. The first kept a form of the curved roof, but on both sides of the stadium in this sky view of the stadium.
From there, the Bannister site changed as plans changed, and the new updated look of the stadium got rid of the curved roof and instead went with a more square look with what would best be described as an English stand .
Along with the square look, we eventually got some more close up views of this design of the stadium, including the walk into the stadium and a much more neighborhood feel to the stadium, where you could walk right up to it. Almost like if the stadium had been built now at one end of the Legends, where you could walk through the Legends shopping area right up to the stadium. In the photos you also see the beginnings of the idea of a "Cauldron bar" for supporters to hang out in before and after the game.
Without the backing of the TIF money, bonds, and recession, the Bannister stadium plan ended up getting shelved as did the entire redevelopment there. Sporting worked out a deal with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County to utilize STAR Bonds that were used to build the Legends in the first place. With that came a permanent move to the Kansas side as the club had been playing at Community America Ballpark after leaving Arrowhead.
One of the first looks fans got of the new stadium designs was at a season ticket holder gathering in September of 2009 ahead of a friendly between Chivas Guadalajara and Club America at Arrowhead. Fans got to ask questions of KC staff at the gathering and a number of questions about the move away from Bannister. We also got some renderings and in them you can see the basic shape of the stadium really starting to come into place, although thankfully we didn't get the wavy roof.
That basic design would continue to evolve as the process continued to move forward. The next rendering really was close to the final result except for a few big things like the roof, and the absence of the Victory Suite in the northwest corner of the stadium.
The final design for the stadium except for minor changes came out in 2010. And it looks like the stadium we've come to love, minus the buildings in the Sprint Plaza.
There it is, one of the "crown jewels of American soccer."
Thankfully, the stadium itself helped us forget a rather forgetful game against the Chicago Fire, and this moment when Michael Kennedy introduced himself to a whole new set of KC fans after the performance in 2004.
We'll start way back in 2006 and the attempts to get a stadium built down near 69 Highway and 159th Street in Overland Park. The stadium didn't get built because of the failure of Question 1 that November. The sunken stadium bowl had one roof that curved and wrapped around half the stadium.
From there came the Bannister site and the 3 Trails development that went on for a couple years getting as far as tearing down the old Bannister Mall and plenty of renderings of the stadium. The first kept a form of the curved roof, but on both sides of the stadium in this sky view of the stadium.
From there, the Bannister site changed as plans changed, and the new updated look of the stadium got rid of the curved roof and instead went with a more square look with what would best be described as an English stand .
Along with the square look, we eventually got some more close up views of this design of the stadium, including the walk into the stadium and a much more neighborhood feel to the stadium, where you could walk right up to it. Almost like if the stadium had been built now at one end of the Legends, where you could walk through the Legends shopping area right up to the stadium. In the photos you also see the beginnings of the idea of a "Cauldron bar" for supporters to hang out in before and after the game.
Without the backing of the TIF money, bonds, and recession, the Bannister stadium plan ended up getting shelved as did the entire redevelopment there. Sporting worked out a deal with the Unified Government of Wyandotte County to utilize STAR Bonds that were used to build the Legends in the first place. With that came a permanent move to the Kansas side as the club had been playing at Community America Ballpark after leaving Arrowhead.
One of the first looks fans got of the new stadium designs was at a season ticket holder gathering in September of 2009 ahead of a friendly between Chivas Guadalajara and Club America at Arrowhead. Fans got to ask questions of KC staff at the gathering and a number of questions about the move away from Bannister. We also got some renderings and in them you can see the basic shape of the stadium really starting to come into place, although thankfully we didn't get the wavy roof.
That basic design would continue to evolve as the process continued to move forward. The next rendering really was close to the final result except for a few big things like the roof, and the absence of the Victory Suite in the northwest corner of the stadium.
The final design for the stadium except for minor changes came out in 2010. And it looks like the stadium we've come to love, minus the buildings in the Sprint Plaza.
There it is, one of the "crown jewels of American soccer."
Thankfully, the stadium itself helped us forget a rather forgetful game against the Chicago Fire, and this moment when Michael Kennedy introduced himself to a whole new set of KC fans after the performance in 2004.
Thursday, May 14, 2015
Sporting Park Set to Host Olympic Qualifying
Sporting Park is set again to host international matches. The KC Star is reporting that Sporting Park will be announced today as one of the hosts for this fall's CONCACAF Olympic qualifying tournament. This would be the second cycle in a row that Sporting Park has hosted qualifying, last time; the stadium hosted the semifinals and the final of the tournament. This year though Rio Tinto Stadium in Salt Lake is supposed to be the host of the semifinals and finals.
The stadium has proven over the years to be a good home to the US team as the full men's team is 3-0 at Sporting Park, while the women are 1-0-1 in their two games here. The event means that Sporting Park will continue its streak of hosting a US team each year the stadium has been open.
It could be a chance for KC fans to see goalkeeper Jon Kempin, who has been in camp with the US U23 team on a number of occasions, even earning a call up to the full national team camp in January this past year with a number of U23 players. With the other likely goalkeeper, Cody Cropper potentially in Europe with his club team during the stretch of the tournament, Kempin could be in for plenty of game time.
I know the last time these games were here it was quite enjoyable, even though the US wasn't there, the El Salvador vs Honduras game was really fun.
Sporting Park though will be guaranteed the US team this time, as the Star reports that Sporting Park will get two double headers for Group A, which will contain the US U23 team. The first doubleheader would take place on October 1st; with the second one would be October 3rd. The other teams that will join Group A won't be known until August when the draw takes place.
The stadium has proven over the years to be a good home to the US team as the full men's team is 3-0 at Sporting Park, while the women are 1-0-1 in their two games here. The event means that Sporting Park will continue its streak of hosting a US team each year the stadium has been open.
It could be a chance for KC fans to see goalkeeper Jon Kempin, who has been in camp with the US U23 team on a number of occasions, even earning a call up to the full national team camp in January this past year with a number of U23 players. With the other likely goalkeeper, Cody Cropper potentially in Europe with his club team during the stretch of the tournament, Kempin could be in for plenty of game time.
I know the last time these games were here it was quite enjoyable, even though the US wasn't there, the El Salvador vs Honduras game was really fun.
Thursday, March 12, 2015
Sporting Park to Host US vs Panama in the Gold Cup
CONCACAF today announced the groupings for this summer's Gold Cup, including the USA and their fourth trip to Sporting Park since the stadium opened. The United States, already grouped in Group A will play in Dallas, Foxborough and Kansas City for their three group games. Joining them will be Panama, Haiti, and Honduras or French Guiana (those two meet in a home and away playoff in late March to decide the final team in the tournament).
The United States will open the group in Dallas against the winner of the Honduras/French Guiana playoff on July 7th before taking on Haiti in Foxborough on the 10th. The Yanks will close out group play on July 13th at Sporting Park against Panama. Certainly not an easy group for the United States, especially if Honduras, as expected, takes care of French Guiana in the playoff matchup. You'll have Honduras who has qualified for the last two World Cups, Haiti, who while having not qualified for the World Cup since 1974, have given the US trouble in the past in the Gold Cup, including a 2-2 draw that the US had to salvage at the death in the 2009 version of the competition. Then you have Panama, the USA's opponent in KC, the team they beat in the 2013 version of the tournament in the final 1-0 (beating Mexico twice in that tournament), the team that was a late Graham Zusi goal from heading to the World Cup themselves, and the only team to beat the US in the group stages of the Gold Cup since the tournament was founded in 1991. So there really won't be any easy games for the US in this competition.
Group B will also see its share of tight games with Costa Rica, El Salvador, Jamaica, and Canada making up the group. In Costa Rica you have arguably the best team in CONCACAF right now as the seeded team. You then add in regional rival El Salvador, 2014 Caribbean Cup winners, Jamaica, and co-hosts, Canada, who automatically qualified. While Costa Rica should win the group, playing Canada in Toronto in their final group game could be a strong test.
Of the three groups, Mexico in Group C got the easiest as they'll go up against Guatemala, Trinidad and Tobago, and Cuba. While you have Guatemala and TnT both runner's up in their regional competitions, neither made The Hex in the last round of World Cup qualifying. Meanwhile Cuba qualified as the fourth place finisher out of the Caribbean.
The winner of the 2015 Gold Cup will meet the winner of the 2013 Gold Cup (the USA) in a home and home series for the right to go to the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. If the US wins the Gold Cup this year, the US will automatically advance to the Confederations Cup.
Wednesday, February 11, 2015
Heineman Takes to Twitter Again
Once again while killing time while on a flight, Sporting Club CEO, Robb Heineman took to Twitter again, conducting a Q&A with fans. Heineman answered a number of questions over an hour or so of Tweeting. There was lots of decent information in his tweets, but as always with these conversations you always have to take it with a grain of salt and remember Heineman's tendency to troll the fans on occasion.
Heineman came out with his first question answering Orlando City fans who have held out hope that they could some how get Dom Dwyer to return to their club now that they've entered MLS in 2015. Quickly seeming to put an end to any speculation (and really any hope Orlando City fans had of getting him were a delusional to begin with).
Heineman also crushed some wild fan hopes for player signings, from the hopeful, to the never gonna happen. And also crushed the baseless speculation that the team was chasing Giovanni Dos Santos again. He did though provide some hope of an incoming Designated Player, and also said that the team was still looking to bring in a defensive midfielder. Heineman also seemed to indicate that the club has yet to give up on getting Brazilian right back, Igor Juliao back in Kansas City.
Heineman answered a few questions pertaining to stadiums throughout the tweet along as well. The first one would be a blow to a number of fans who were hoping for an expanded Sporting Park in the future. When asked when we'd see an expanded Sporting Park, Heineman responded "I'd guess never." It's a departure from his previous comments on the topic when he's said things from five years to that they'd look into it after 2015. While Toronto is working on an expansion of BMO Field to up their capacity, Sporting Park really is restricted by the land it is on. The only way to go is up. In the past talk has been about raising the roof on the East Stand so that he matched the level of the West Stand and adding a second tier, as well as adding more seats above the Cauldron. The process for that certainly wouldn't be cheap or as easy as the expansion of BMO appears to be. On other stadium topics, Heineman was asked whether the team would ever return to the Truman Sports Complex, to play at either of the two stadiums out there. In regards to Kauffman, Heineman was more interested in the idea if it were a downtown stadium. As for Arrowhead, Heineman was asked about playing one game a year at the team's former home, to which he responded that the chances were low.
Back to Sporting Park, Heineman was asked about friendlies this summer for Sporting, to which Heineman responded that they had nothing lined up at this time regarding a big name European team. Heineman did though say that they were working on setting up a friendly between the team and former goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen's Oklahoma City Energy, which would be fun. But on the other hand I also think that game would do a lot more for Oklahoma City to host Sporting for a game (just don't get hurt). My assumption had been that one of the friendlies this summer would be a visit from partner club Fluminense as part of the home and home friendlies that were part of the agreement. Heineman was asked about training at Fluminense ahead of the 2016 season, for which Heineman said that the club would like to, which would be the perfect time for the "return" leg of the friendlies.
Heineman also pretty much confirmed the leaked jerseys as the team's new primary jersey for those that were doubting that the leaked jersey was really going to be the team's new jersey in 2015. He also gave further proof to the word going around that there was going to be no third jersey in 2015. Rumors had been making the rounds that KC would have a third that would keep the argyle pattern but would instead go to white instead of the black that the team had over the past two years.
A few other minor bits of information from his tweets tonight. He said that the land where the US Training Complex will be going in is currently being prepped for the ground breaking, which previously mentioned was planned for some time in the first half of 2015. He also seemed to confirm an eventual interest in the team creating a USL team that would play at Swope Park with FC Kansas City. It's an area that I feel is the next logical step for Kansas City. The LA Galaxy showed how a successful model for their USL team can help players develop to eventually help the main team. With a number of other MLS teams starting USL teams themselves this year, it'll be interesting to see how many do it right and how many do it wrong, and whether that pushes Kansas City to create their USL team quicker or not.
We also may have finally found out why I'll likely never get a job with Sporting Kansas City. This may have been my favorite question of the night, though it went unanswered.
Heineman ended the night with the below Tweet, that will certainly lead to a lot of responses and create further interest locally in the team and their push in 2015.
Of course, as I feel obligated to say each time Robb does one of these things, make sure you take your grain of salt.
Heineman came out with his first question answering Orlando City fans who have held out hope that they could some how get Dom Dwyer to return to their club now that they've entered MLS in 2015. Quickly seeming to put an end to any speculation (and really any hope Orlando City fans had of getting him were a delusional to begin with).
Heineman also crushed some wild fan hopes for player signings, from the hopeful, to the never gonna happen. And also crushed the baseless speculation that the team was chasing Giovanni Dos Santos again. He did though provide some hope of an incoming Designated Player, and also said that the team was still looking to bring in a defensive midfielder. Heineman also seemed to indicate that the club has yet to give up on getting Brazilian right back, Igor Juliao back in Kansas City.
Heineman answered a few questions pertaining to stadiums throughout the tweet along as well. The first one would be a blow to a number of fans who were hoping for an expanded Sporting Park in the future. When asked when we'd see an expanded Sporting Park, Heineman responded "I'd guess never." It's a departure from his previous comments on the topic when he's said things from five years to that they'd look into it after 2015. While Toronto is working on an expansion of BMO Field to up their capacity, Sporting Park really is restricted by the land it is on. The only way to go is up. In the past talk has been about raising the roof on the East Stand so that he matched the level of the West Stand and adding a second tier, as well as adding more seats above the Cauldron. The process for that certainly wouldn't be cheap or as easy as the expansion of BMO appears to be. On other stadium topics, Heineman was asked whether the team would ever return to the Truman Sports Complex, to play at either of the two stadiums out there. In regards to Kauffman, Heineman was more interested in the idea if it were a downtown stadium. As for Arrowhead, Heineman was asked about playing one game a year at the team's former home, to which he responded that the chances were low.
Back to Sporting Park, Heineman was asked about friendlies this summer for Sporting, to which Heineman responded that they had nothing lined up at this time regarding a big name European team. Heineman did though say that they were working on setting up a friendly between the team and former goalkeeper, Jimmy Nielsen's Oklahoma City Energy, which would be fun. But on the other hand I also think that game would do a lot more for Oklahoma City to host Sporting for a game (just don't get hurt). My assumption had been that one of the friendlies this summer would be a visit from partner club Fluminense as part of the home and home friendlies that were part of the agreement. Heineman was asked about training at Fluminense ahead of the 2016 season, for which Heineman said that the club would like to, which would be the perfect time for the "return" leg of the friendlies.
Heineman also pretty much confirmed the leaked jerseys as the team's new primary jersey for those that were doubting that the leaked jersey was really going to be the team's new jersey in 2015. He also gave further proof to the word going around that there was going to be no third jersey in 2015. Rumors had been making the rounds that KC would have a third that would keep the argyle pattern but would instead go to white instead of the black that the team had over the past two years.
A few other minor bits of information from his tweets tonight. He said that the land where the US Training Complex will be going in is currently being prepped for the ground breaking, which previously mentioned was planned for some time in the first half of 2015. He also seemed to confirm an eventual interest in the team creating a USL team that would play at Swope Park with FC Kansas City. It's an area that I feel is the next logical step for Kansas City. The LA Galaxy showed how a successful model for their USL team can help players develop to eventually help the main team. With a number of other MLS teams starting USL teams themselves this year, it'll be interesting to see how many do it right and how many do it wrong, and whether that pushes Kansas City to create their USL team quicker or not.
We also may have finally found out why I'll likely never get a job with Sporting Kansas City. This may have been my favorite question of the night, though it went unanswered.
Heineman ended the night with the below Tweet, that will certainly lead to a lot of responses and create further interest locally in the team and their push in 2015.
Keep hearing rvdv rumor....definitely on the radar. Not imminent...
— Robb Heineman (@RobbHeineman) February 12, 2015
Of course, as I feel obligated to say each time Robb does one of these things, make sure you take your grain of salt.
Thursday, February 05, 2015
K-State Spring Game at Sporting Park Confirmed
Sporting KC today confirmed that Kansas State University will be playing their spring football game at Sporting Park this year. Due to the renovations at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, the Wildcats were looking for a new location for this year's game. Rumors that Sporting Park would be the site of the game have been around for the last couple weeks and they were finally confirmed today. K-State will play their spring game at Sporting Park on the afternoon of April 25th.
Sporting KC is on the road that day, playing in Houston against the Dynamo. They do return home the next Sunday, May 3rd for an ESPN game against the Chicago Fire.
There have been plenty of questions asked about this move in the middle of the season for Sporting KC. Many of them are based off the history of issues the stadium has had with its playing surface since the stadium first opened. With the new playing surface the hope is that it will hold up better this year and avoid instances like the team had in their first few home games of 2014 (or at different times throughout the last 4 years at Sporting Park). I'm one of the people that is hesitant over this move. The concern comes mainly because of the stadium's history with the playing surface. If the ground's crew can prove that they can get the surface into good playing condition I'll be fine with the game. But based off of the history, I'm skeptical until they prove otherwise. Hopefully the new grass surface that was installed in 2014 will hold up better than the past surface.
Wednesday, January 21, 2015
Sporting Park to Host K-State Spring Football Game?
It started out as just a rumor on Twitter, that with the construction on going at Bill Snyder Family Stadium in Manhattan, Kansas State University was looking to move their spring football game to Sporting Park. The KC Star was able to get confirmation that the school has "reached out to Sporting KC and have had preliminary discussions about
bringing the spring game to Kansas City tentatively on the afternoon of
April 25."
There aren't many other facilities in the state that could host a large number of K-State fans for a football game. Playing their spring scrimmage at Memorial Stadium on KU's campus seems laughable and any high school stadium just won't have the capacity that K-State would likely want/need for the game. So if they want to stay in the state they're quite limited.
Sporting is in Houston on April 25th to take on the Dynamo, but return home the following weekend, and play a nationally televised game on ESPN 2 on Sunday May 3rd against Chicago. Would a week be enough time to recover from a football game hosted there? Would soccer fans tuning in see football lines still on the field (an annoyance to most soccer fans).
Sporting Park has already hosted one football game as the NCAA Division II championship was held at Sporting Park last December (and will be for the next three years as well), the difference this time is that the game would take place in the middle of the season.
Would this be a good move? I'm not really sure it is. Since Sporting Park opened in 2011 there's been one turf related issue after another. From a dry summer, to overuse, to a fungus caused problems. Last year for the first couple home games the turf looked horrible and was eventually replaced with a new grass surface. Once that surface settled it did well, but there are still plenty of questions based on the history the stadium has had with it's surface.
One point I will make regarding this is the argument that a SSS shouldn't be hosting football games. A soccer specific stadium does not mean a soccer only stadium. I understand the want and need to fill stadium dates with things like concerts and football, I just don't like the idea of doing it so early in the season in a stadium that has a history of playing surface issues.
There aren't many other facilities in the state that could host a large number of K-State fans for a football game. Playing their spring scrimmage at Memorial Stadium on KU's campus seems laughable and any high school stadium just won't have the capacity that K-State would likely want/need for the game. So if they want to stay in the state they're quite limited.
Sporting is in Houston on April 25th to take on the Dynamo, but return home the following weekend, and play a nationally televised game on ESPN 2 on Sunday May 3rd against Chicago. Would a week be enough time to recover from a football game hosted there? Would soccer fans tuning in see football lines still on the field (an annoyance to most soccer fans).
Sporting Park has already hosted one football game as the NCAA Division II championship was held at Sporting Park last December (and will be for the next three years as well), the difference this time is that the game would take place in the middle of the season.
Would this be a good move? I'm not really sure it is. Since Sporting Park opened in 2011 there's been one turf related issue after another. From a dry summer, to overuse, to a fungus caused problems. Last year for the first couple home games the turf looked horrible and was eventually replaced with a new grass surface. Once that surface settled it did well, but there are still plenty of questions based on the history the stadium has had with it's surface.
One point I will make regarding this is the argument that a SSS shouldn't be hosting football games. A soccer specific stadium does not mean a soccer only stadium. I understand the want and need to fill stadium dates with things like concerts and football, I just don't like the idea of doing it so early in the season in a stadium that has a history of playing surface issues.
FCKC Home Opener to be at Sporting Park
FC Kansas City and Sporting KC announced today that the Blues' home opener will in fact be played at Sporting Park. The plan since the two clubs formed their partnership had been to have the home opener at Sporting Park to start the Blues' 2014 season as they look to defend their NWSL title. With the Blues at home the first weekend of the season against Sky Blue FC the question was all about the date.
Sporting KC is set to play Real Salt Lake at home on Saturday April 11th, and with that game and easy sell out for Sporting there was no reason to do a double header and double up on games when SKC sells out without an extra game. So the best option for the Blues was to play the day after. So FCKC will kick off their season on Sunday afternoon at 3pm against Sky Blue FC at Sporting Park.
It should be a good opportunity for the women to play in the stadium and its amenities. No offense to their prior stadiums, but it will also give a more professional feel for the game as well. Hopefully they can pull in a good crowd.
Saturday, January 03, 2015
2015 Wishes
Time to make my wishes for the year 2015. Yesterday I reviewed my wishes for 2014, so let's move forward.
1. Silverware - As always, number 1 on the list is trophies. I want more trophies. For a period of time last year, Kansas City held the MLS Cup, NWSL championship, and MISL title all at the same time. While I'd prefer it to be Sporting KC bringing home more silverware, I'd be thrilled to see FCKC and/or the Missouri Comets repeat.
2. Sporting KC improve their home form - Last year, Sporting was a mediocre 6-5-6 at Sporting Park. Over the past two years, Sporting KC has lost 10 league games at home, that's almost 30 percent of the team's home games over that two year stretch. With Sporting moving to the Western Conference, which on paper looks to be a brutal conference next year, Kansas City will need to take advantage of their home games.
3. A little more balanced scoring - Not saying that I want Dom Dwyer's scoring in 2015 to drop off, but Sporting needs a little more balance in their attack in 2015. While Dwyer scored 22 goals for KC, the next highest scorer in league play was Graham Zusi with 5. For Dwyer to have continued success, someone needs to pick up the scoring a little bit and get closer to 10-12 goals than anyone did this past season.
4. Finally defeat the Seattle Sounders at home - With the move to the Western Conference, Sporting KC will get to face the Seattle Sounders at least once at home in 2015. Since the Sounders came into the league in 2009, Sporting is 0-4 at home against the Sounders and 0-4-1 in all competitions (the US Open Cup goes in the record books as a draw). In face, KC has just one win period against the MLS incarnation of the Sounders, in the team's first match up in 2009. Since then, KC is 0-7-1 in league play and 0-8-2 in all competitions. It's about time to end that losing streak, both at home and overall.
5. Ike Opara (or whoever partners Matt Besler) is fully recovered and starts 25-30 games - I'm not foolish enough to think that Opara will make Sporting fans forget Aurelien Collin, but Opara is a talented center back. The question with him has always been his health. Like with Chance Myers, hopefully Peter Vermes' patience with him pays off this season when he's likely to be the starting center back. If he's not, hopefully whoever does replace Collin can be solid enough so that I don't see tons of "Collin wouldn't have made that mistake" comments this season.
6. Luis Marin is available for all 34 league games, allowing Jon Kempin to start all but a game or two with Oklahoma City - At this point in Kempin's development he needs to be regularly playing. With Marin the clear number 1 on the roster I'd like to see Kempin loaned out to OKC again for the season. Unlikely last year hopefully Marin can stay healthy which will allow Kempin to spend the entire season in OKC starting pretty much every game. That way, either late in Marin's contract or when it runs out, Kempin is ready to step up and take over the starting job.
7. US Men's national team says perfect in Kansas City - This summer, for the sixth time in KC and fourth time in Sporting Park's history, the US men's national team will be playing here. So far the US is 5-0 in Kansas City, and with the US hosting a group stage game, no matter who it's against the US should be able to beat them at Sporting Park.
8. US win the Gold Cup - A win in the Gold Cup would guarantee them a spot in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. Thanks to their 2013 win though if they lose they still have a chance to make it, but the easier option is to just win the Gold Cup this year.
9. Missouri Comets return to championship game - The Comets are 10-0 at this point with 10 games left in the season. And looking at the schedule of remaining games, I can't see the Comets not making the playoffs at this point. With that, the next step should be to get back to the championship game. That should see the Comets have to face the winner of the match up between 2nd and 3rd place in the Central Conference, which could see another game against the Milwaukee Wave. From there the Comets are likely to have to face the Baltimore Blast out of the Eastern Conference, who at this point are also undefeated. Getting past them would see a final against the winner of the Southern Conference (either Monterrey or Dallas) and the Western Conference (likely San Diego). Still, the way the Comets are playing this season a trip to the finals should be expected of this team.
10. FC Kansas City improve attendance - With the move to Durwood Stadium last year, the Blues went from the second highest attended team, to the second lowest. Being the defending champion should help the team's attendance some, but there needs to be more to it than that. For this team, and league to continue, attendance needs to improve.
11. US women's team wins World Cup - The women didn't get an easy draw, having to face both Australia and Sweden before closing the group out against Nigeria. The team showed some weakness in the recent tournament in Brazil where the women finished second and there have been plenty of questions about coach Jill Ellis. But there's no reason the US shouldn't compete, and it's been too long (16 years) since the US last won the women's World Cup.
1. Silverware - As always, number 1 on the list is trophies. I want more trophies. For a period of time last year, Kansas City held the MLS Cup, NWSL championship, and MISL title all at the same time. While I'd prefer it to be Sporting KC bringing home more silverware, I'd be thrilled to see FCKC and/or the Missouri Comets repeat.
2. Sporting KC improve their home form - Last year, Sporting was a mediocre 6-5-6 at Sporting Park. Over the past two years, Sporting KC has lost 10 league games at home, that's almost 30 percent of the team's home games over that two year stretch. With Sporting moving to the Western Conference, which on paper looks to be a brutal conference next year, Kansas City will need to take advantage of their home games.
3. A little more balanced scoring - Not saying that I want Dom Dwyer's scoring in 2015 to drop off, but Sporting needs a little more balance in their attack in 2015. While Dwyer scored 22 goals for KC, the next highest scorer in league play was Graham Zusi with 5. For Dwyer to have continued success, someone needs to pick up the scoring a little bit and get closer to 10-12 goals than anyone did this past season.
4. Finally defeat the Seattle Sounders at home - With the move to the Western Conference, Sporting KC will get to face the Seattle Sounders at least once at home in 2015. Since the Sounders came into the league in 2009, Sporting is 0-4 at home against the Sounders and 0-4-1 in all competitions (the US Open Cup goes in the record books as a draw). In face, KC has just one win period against the MLS incarnation of the Sounders, in the team's first match up in 2009. Since then, KC is 0-7-1 in league play and 0-8-2 in all competitions. It's about time to end that losing streak, both at home and overall.
5. Ike Opara (or whoever partners Matt Besler) is fully recovered and starts 25-30 games - I'm not foolish enough to think that Opara will make Sporting fans forget Aurelien Collin, but Opara is a talented center back. The question with him has always been his health. Like with Chance Myers, hopefully Peter Vermes' patience with him pays off this season when he's likely to be the starting center back. If he's not, hopefully whoever does replace Collin can be solid enough so that I don't see tons of "Collin wouldn't have made that mistake" comments this season.
6. Luis Marin is available for all 34 league games, allowing Jon Kempin to start all but a game or two with Oklahoma City - At this point in Kempin's development he needs to be regularly playing. With Marin the clear number 1 on the roster I'd like to see Kempin loaned out to OKC again for the season. Unlikely last year hopefully Marin can stay healthy which will allow Kempin to spend the entire season in OKC starting pretty much every game. That way, either late in Marin's contract or when it runs out, Kempin is ready to step up and take over the starting job.
7. US Men's national team says perfect in Kansas City - This summer, for the sixth time in KC and fourth time in Sporting Park's history, the US men's national team will be playing here. So far the US is 5-0 in Kansas City, and with the US hosting a group stage game, no matter who it's against the US should be able to beat them at Sporting Park.
8. US win the Gold Cup - A win in the Gold Cup would guarantee them a spot in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. Thanks to their 2013 win though if they lose they still have a chance to make it, but the easier option is to just win the Gold Cup this year.
9. Missouri Comets return to championship game - The Comets are 10-0 at this point with 10 games left in the season. And looking at the schedule of remaining games, I can't see the Comets not making the playoffs at this point. With that, the next step should be to get back to the championship game. That should see the Comets have to face the winner of the match up between 2nd and 3rd place in the Central Conference, which could see another game against the Milwaukee Wave. From there the Comets are likely to have to face the Baltimore Blast out of the Eastern Conference, who at this point are also undefeated. Getting past them would see a final against the winner of the Southern Conference (either Monterrey or Dallas) and the Western Conference (likely San Diego). Still, the way the Comets are playing this season a trip to the finals should be expected of this team.
10. FC Kansas City improve attendance - With the move to Durwood Stadium last year, the Blues went from the second highest attended team, to the second lowest. Being the defending champion should help the team's attendance some, but there needs to be more to it than that. For this team, and league to continue, attendance needs to improve.
11. US women's team wins World Cup - The women didn't get an easy draw, having to face both Australia and Sweden before closing the group out against Nigeria. The team showed some weakness in the recent tournament in Brazil where the women finished second and there have been plenty of questions about coach Jill Ellis. But there's no reason the US shouldn't compete, and it's been too long (16 years) since the US last won the women's World Cup.
Tuesday, December 16, 2014
Sporting Park to Host Gold Cup and USA Again
For the fourth time in five years, Sporting Park will host the US men's national team next summer as part of the Gold Cup. The US national team will close out Group A on Monday, July 13th at Sporting Park against an opponent still to be determined. The US will open play in the Gold Cup on Tuesday July 7th in Frisco, Texas before moving to Gillette Stadium in Foxborough on the 10th for the second game before finishing the group phase in Kansas City.
The US will be attempting to sweep this cycle's Gold Cups, giving them an automatic berth in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. Another team winning the Gold Cup would lead to a one game playoff at a later date to decide who would represent CONCACAF at the competition.
From reading the release put out by Sporting, tickets to the Gold Cup double header will not be included in season ticket packages this time around, unlike 2011. Season ticket holders will have access to an exclusive pre-sale prior to tickets going on sale to the general public.
In the USA's previous three trips to Sporting Park, the US is 3-0-0 with a +5 goal difference (6 for, 1 against). In Kansas City as a whole, the US men are 5-0-0, scoring 13 while allowing 3. Add in the US women's record in KC, and the US men and women are 8-0-3 in Kansas City, scoring 25 and conceding just 7.
This could also mean that Kansas City host three national team games in 2015. There will be the two Gold Cup games, and there is still the Mexico vs Paraguay friendly in March that hasn't been confirmed to be in KC just yet. With KC on the short list to host the 2017 Copa America Centenario the three games would be a chance for KC to impress further. The city has already shown they'll support the US. And the Olympic qualifiers showed that the city will show up for games that don't include the US.
The US will be attempting to sweep this cycle's Gold Cups, giving them an automatic berth in the 2017 Confederations Cup in Russia. Another team winning the Gold Cup would lead to a one game playoff at a later date to decide who would represent CONCACAF at the competition.
From reading the release put out by Sporting, tickets to the Gold Cup double header will not be included in season ticket packages this time around, unlike 2011. Season ticket holders will have access to an exclusive pre-sale prior to tickets going on sale to the general public.
In the USA's previous three trips to Sporting Park, the US is 3-0-0 with a +5 goal difference (6 for, 1 against). In Kansas City as a whole, the US men are 5-0-0, scoring 13 while allowing 3. Add in the US women's record in KC, and the US men and women are 8-0-3 in Kansas City, scoring 25 and conceding just 7.
This could also mean that Kansas City host three national team games in 2015. There will be the two Gold Cup games, and there is still the Mexico vs Paraguay friendly in March that hasn't been confirmed to be in KC just yet. With KC on the short list to host the 2017 Copa America Centenario the three games would be a chance for KC to impress further. The city has already shown they'll support the US. And the Olympic qualifiers showed that the city will show up for games that don't include the US.
Wednesday, November 12, 2014
Sporting KC Adding Retail Store at Sporting Park
There will be an addition at Sporting Park in the coming years. No Sporting Kansas City will not be adding more seats to the stadium at this time, but they will be adding something the team has felt was lacking, a retail store to Sporting Park.
The new store will be 5,000 square feet, that's more than six times the amount of square footage the stadium currently has for retail (currently 750). The store will cost seven figures and serve as the venue's merchandise hub. The plan is that the shop will open for the start of the 2016 MLS season.
Recently during a fan forum, Robb Heineman called the lack of bigger store one of their biggest mistakes when building the stadium.
Really at the time the stadium was built though there was no way of knowing the team would take off in popularity the way it had. Similar to the capacity of the stadium, there was really no way of knowing Sporting would become as popular as it has in Kansas City based on the history of the Wizards when it came to attendance.
It may seem like a minor thing, but this is something that the team desperately needed to add, the existing stores just didn't provide the space that was needed, too many times the stores were overly crowded making it hard to move around and make purchases. The new store will be accessible from both inside and outside the stadium, which will be good for the team going forward and allow them to have a store that would be open on non-game days that would allow them to sell merchandise, for example, during the Christmas season. It's a revenue stream that was left unfulfilled currently.
The team's growth has the team number 2 in the league in terms of growth sales. The Sporting brand has gotten strong enough that they made scarves with the old Wizards logo on it. The team's VP/Merchandise, John Moncke said that the team sold 5,000 of those throw back scarves, the most sales of a single scarf in the team's history. And based on his quotes in the article regarding the merchandise, I think Sporting is feeling comfortable enough in the branding of Sporting KC that we may start to see a little more throw back merchandise show up.
The new store will be 5,000 square feet, that's more than six times the amount of square footage the stadium currently has for retail (currently 750). The store will cost seven figures and serve as the venue's merchandise hub. The plan is that the shop will open for the start of the 2016 MLS season.
Recently during a fan forum, Robb Heineman called the lack of bigger store one of their biggest mistakes when building the stadium.
Really at the time the stadium was built though there was no way of knowing the team would take off in popularity the way it had. Similar to the capacity of the stadium, there was really no way of knowing Sporting would become as popular as it has in Kansas City based on the history of the Wizards when it came to attendance.
It may seem like a minor thing, but this is something that the team desperately needed to add, the existing stores just didn't provide the space that was needed, too many times the stores were overly crowded making it hard to move around and make purchases. The new store will be accessible from both inside and outside the stadium, which will be good for the team going forward and allow them to have a store that would be open on non-game days that would allow them to sell merchandise, for example, during the Christmas season. It's a revenue stream that was left unfulfilled currently.
The team's growth has the team number 2 in the league in terms of growth sales. The Sporting brand has gotten strong enough that they made scarves with the old Wizards logo on it. The team's VP/Merchandise, John Moncke said that the team sold 5,000 of those throw back scarves, the most sales of a single scarf in the team's history. And based on his quotes in the article regarding the merchandise, I think Sporting is feeling comfortable enough in the branding of Sporting KC that we may start to see a little more throw back merchandise show up.
Tuesday, November 11, 2014
Sporting Set New Attendance Record
For the fourth straight year, Sporting KC has set a new record attendance for the club. This year, Sporting KC broke the 20,000 per game average for the first time in club history, averaging 20,003 per game in the 2014 season. Sporting sold out all 17 league home games increasing their record to 53 in MLS play (league and playoffs). The last time Sporting failed to sell out was March 25th of 2012 against FC Dallas. Sporting was even able to sell out games going up against Royals playoff run including Game 1 of the ALCS and Game 5 of the World Series (a game that would have clinched the World Series if the Royals had won).
The team topped the record set last year by just under 300 people per game, drawing over 20,000 seven times over the course of the season.
Here's the list of 19 prior seasons.
2014 - 20,003
2013 - 19,709
2012 - 19,404
2011 - 17,810
2003 - 15,573
2004 - 14,816
1996 - 12,986
2002 - 12,287
2007 - 11,586
2006 - 11,083
2001 - 10,954
2008 - 10,716
2010 - 10,286
2009 - 10,053
2000 - 9,882
1999 - 9,849
2005 - 9,691
1997 - 9,058
1998 - 8,073
In terms of Sporting's ranking in MLS, Sporting actually fell in the rankings compared to last year, going from 7th to 8th in the league. A larger stadium and better attendance for Salt Lake allowed them to jump over Kansas City. MLS as a whole also set a new record attendance this year, 19,148 per game. And that's with Chivas USA setting the league record for the lowest single game attendance, 3,702 earlier this season. A new record should likely be set again next year with Chivas USA gone and New York City and Orlando City joining the league.
Here's the full list of attendance this year.
Seattle - 43,734
Toronto - 22,086
Los Angeles - 21,258
Portland - 20,806
Vancouver - 20,408
Salt Lake - 20,351
Houston - 20,117
Kansas City - 20,003
New York - 19,421
Philadelphia - 17,631
Montreal - 17,421
DC - 17,030
Columbus - 16,881
Dallas - 16,817
New England - 16,681
Chicago - 16,076
Colorado - 15,082
San Jose - 14,947
Chivas - 7,063
The team topped the record set last year by just under 300 people per game, drawing over 20,000 seven times over the course of the season.
Here's the list of 19 prior seasons.
2014 - 20,003
2013 - 19,709
2012 - 19,404
2011 - 17,810
2003 - 15,573
2004 - 14,816
1996 - 12,986
2002 - 12,287
2007 - 11,586
2006 - 11,083
2001 - 10,954
2008 - 10,716
2010 - 10,286
2009 - 10,053
2000 - 9,882
1999 - 9,849
2005 - 9,691
1997 - 9,058
1998 - 8,073
In terms of Sporting's ranking in MLS, Sporting actually fell in the rankings compared to last year, going from 7th to 8th in the league. A larger stadium and better attendance for Salt Lake allowed them to jump over Kansas City. MLS as a whole also set a new record attendance this year, 19,148 per game. And that's with Chivas USA setting the league record for the lowest single game attendance, 3,702 earlier this season. A new record should likely be set again next year with Chivas USA gone and New York City and Orlando City joining the league.
Here's the full list of attendance this year.
Seattle - 43,734
Toronto - 22,086
Los Angeles - 21,258
Portland - 20,806
Vancouver - 20,408
Salt Lake - 20,351
Houston - 20,117
Kansas City - 20,003
New York - 19,421
Philadelphia - 17,631
Montreal - 17,421
DC - 17,030
Columbus - 16,881
Dallas - 16,817
New England - 16,681
Chicago - 16,076
Colorado - 15,082
San Jose - 14,947
Chivas - 7,063
Wednesday, January 01, 2014
Review of 2013 Wishes
With 2013 behind us now, it's a chance to take a look at my 2013 wishes that I posted back in January 2013 and see how they worked out.
1. Silverware - An MLS Cup is certainly a nice way to end a season and fulfill this wish. We should do that more often.
2. 15 goals from Claudio Bieler - Sporting KC's DP finished with 10 regular season goals, he adding another in the US Open Cup, and another in the playoffs, so even counting all competitions, this one didn't get fulfilled.
3. A second double digit goal scorer - This was another one that didn't get fulfilled. Kei Kamara was second on the team in scoring, with 7 league goals (8 in all competitions) and Kamara played in less than half of KC's 34 games. So this one likely wouldn't have been filled if Kamara hadn't transfered to England. It goes down as a negative though.
4. A game in the Hex at Sporting Park - KC ended up with the final home game of the Hex against Jamaica. It ended up not being necessary for qualification as the US had already qualified for the World Cup. That actually ended up being just fine because the game just became a big party for US fans and was capped off by Sporting KC's own Graham Zusi scoring the game winning goal.
5. No more than 1 home loss - KC struggled at home this season, it's becoming a bit of a routine since Sporting Park opened. The team has struggled to break teams down at home, especially ones that choose to sit back. KC finished with a 9-5-3 record at home, the five losses equaled the number that KC had at home the first two years that Sporting Park was open combined. It was KC's road record that again carried them in 2013 as they went 8-5-4 on the road. This was even true in the Champions League, where KC won their two away games, but drew their two at home.
To be fair, when it came to crunch time in the playoffs KC took care of business in the playoffs, winning two and drawing one, but also coming from behind in each of their home games to get the results that they needed.
6. Comets break the "Big 2" - This was a success for the Comets in the playoffs at least. In the regular season the Comets finished third in the league and after losing at home to the Milwaukee Wave it looked like another "Big 2" final. But in Milwaukee, the Comets won the game and then won the mini-game, both times with late goals that saw them make the finals against Baltimore, which unfortunately they lost.
7. Successful launch of FC Kansas City and the NWSL - This I think was a major success. For FCKC it was a successful year, they were a late goal away from finishing in first place in the league in the regular season and ended up as number two overall in attendance behind Portland. I think if you were to ask the owners of FCKC the only thing that could have gone better was a championship and potentially a more "soccer friendly" facility, although Shawnee Mission North is not a bad place to watch a game.
As for the league itself, I think the league is in a very good place after their first season. They're already adding an expansion team in Houston that is owned by the Dynamo. And there are rumors that other MLS teams are interested in an NWSL team. If that's true it speaks well to the stability of the league going forward. The short term goal has to be to make it to year four, something the previous two women's leagues haven't made it to. But it's been a very successful first year.
8. Advancement from the group phase of the Champions League - This was a success in the basic terms of it. KC advanced to the knockout round and will take on Mexican side Cruz Azul. But on one side it is also disappointing because of where KC ended up. With KC opening with two games on the road and winning both, hopes were high that KC would finish in the top half of qualifiers, getting to play the second leg at home, and having a better chance of avoiding a Mexican side. But KC then drew their two home games and ended up falling all the way to the seventh seed.
9. No friendlies - KC played a club record 45 competitive games in 2013 and this year they didn't add a friendly to that list of matches.
1. Silverware - An MLS Cup is certainly a nice way to end a season and fulfill this wish. We should do that more often.
2. 15 goals from Claudio Bieler - Sporting KC's DP finished with 10 regular season goals, he adding another in the US Open Cup, and another in the playoffs, so even counting all competitions, this one didn't get fulfilled.
3. A second double digit goal scorer - This was another one that didn't get fulfilled. Kei Kamara was second on the team in scoring, with 7 league goals (8 in all competitions) and Kamara played in less than half of KC's 34 games. So this one likely wouldn't have been filled if Kamara hadn't transfered to England. It goes down as a negative though.
4. A game in the Hex at Sporting Park - KC ended up with the final home game of the Hex against Jamaica. It ended up not being necessary for qualification as the US had already qualified for the World Cup. That actually ended up being just fine because the game just became a big party for US fans and was capped off by Sporting KC's own Graham Zusi scoring the game winning goal.
5. No more than 1 home loss - KC struggled at home this season, it's becoming a bit of a routine since Sporting Park opened. The team has struggled to break teams down at home, especially ones that choose to sit back. KC finished with a 9-5-3 record at home, the five losses equaled the number that KC had at home the first two years that Sporting Park was open combined. It was KC's road record that again carried them in 2013 as they went 8-5-4 on the road. This was even true in the Champions League, where KC won their two away games, but drew their two at home.
To be fair, when it came to crunch time in the playoffs KC took care of business in the playoffs, winning two and drawing one, but also coming from behind in each of their home games to get the results that they needed.
6. Comets break the "Big 2" - This was a success for the Comets in the playoffs at least. In the regular season the Comets finished third in the league and after losing at home to the Milwaukee Wave it looked like another "Big 2" final. But in Milwaukee, the Comets won the game and then won the mini-game, both times with late goals that saw them make the finals against Baltimore, which unfortunately they lost.
7. Successful launch of FC Kansas City and the NWSL - This I think was a major success. For FCKC it was a successful year, they were a late goal away from finishing in first place in the league in the regular season and ended up as number two overall in attendance behind Portland. I think if you were to ask the owners of FCKC the only thing that could have gone better was a championship and potentially a more "soccer friendly" facility, although Shawnee Mission North is not a bad place to watch a game.
As for the league itself, I think the league is in a very good place after their first season. They're already adding an expansion team in Houston that is owned by the Dynamo. And there are rumors that other MLS teams are interested in an NWSL team. If that's true it speaks well to the stability of the league going forward. The short term goal has to be to make it to year four, something the previous two women's leagues haven't made it to. But it's been a very successful first year.
8. Advancement from the group phase of the Champions League - This was a success in the basic terms of it. KC advanced to the knockout round and will take on Mexican side Cruz Azul. But on one side it is also disappointing because of where KC ended up. With KC opening with two games on the road and winning both, hopes were high that KC would finish in the top half of qualifiers, getting to play the second leg at home, and having a better chance of avoiding a Mexican side. But KC then drew their two home games and ended up falling all the way to the seventh seed.
9. No friendlies - KC played a club record 45 competitive games in 2013 and this year they didn't add a friendly to that list of matches.
Wednesday, December 11, 2013
NCAA Championships Coming to Sporting Park and Swope
The NCAA announced today the cites for upcoming championship series throughout the US. A number of those events will be taking place at around KC. Fourteen events in all will be hosted in KC between 2014 and 2017. Of that, 13 of the events will be hosted at Sporting KC facilities.
The Swope Soccer Village in Swope Park will be hosting eight championships over the four years, starting next year. In 2014 the NCAA Division III men's and women's championships will be hosted at Swope. Then in 2015, 2016, and 2017, the NCAA Division II men's and women's championships will be hosted there. Those events all take place the first weekend in September (Dec 5-6 in 14, Dec 4-5 in 15, Dec 1-3 in 16, and Nov 30-Dec 2 in 17)
Sporting Park will be hosting five events over the next four years. The big one for soccer fans comes in 2015, when Sporting Park will be hosting the NCAA Division I men's championships. The championship will take place December 11th through the 13th. While that one is probably the most exciting, the other events are not going to be seen as exciting for some soccer fans. Sporting Park will be hosting the NCAA Division II football final for the next 4 years, 2014-2017.
I can already hear the comments "football at Sporting Park? Football lines on a soccer field? ANGRY!!!" A couple things, first the final is after the MLS season is over (unless they switch to a winter schedule). The final is Dec 20th in 2014, the 19th in 2015, the 17th in 2016, and the 16th in 2017. So even if Sporting makes MLS Cup the season should be over. The other issue is the lines still showing up the next year. I've seen early season games in both DC and Dallas that have had faint football lines on the field. That's certainly a minor concern, but one that I think Sporting would do their best to make sure it wasn't not an issue.
The final event being hosted in KC is the women's volleyball championship in 2017 at the Sprint Center.
Wednesday, September 18, 2013
Sporting Park in Running to Host College Cup
Sporting Park could be a future host of the NCAA men's and women's college cup. Kansas City is bidding for 13 NCAA division 1 and 2 championships in the coming years. Sporting Park would be the host site of three of those potential finals. Not only that, Sporting's training facility at the expanded Swope Park could host two finals as well.
Sporting Park is named as the host site for the NCAA division 1 men's and women's soccer finals and could also play host to the NCAA division 2 football final. Swope could play host to the division 2 men's and women's finals. I'd love the soccer finals to be here in KC, the college cup is always a good opportunity to see future MLS players and some good soccer as well. The division 2 finals would be a bonus and would be a great way to show off the Swope Park facility.
The football final I don't care much about but could be big in KC with the likes of Pittsburg State and Northwest MO State around and consistently good in the division. If KC does host, hopefully by then KC has their field issues under control, even though the final would be in January and the field would likely have time to recover by the time the MLS season starts.
Sporting Park is named as the host site for the NCAA division 1 men's and women's soccer finals and could also play host to the NCAA division 2 football final. Swope could play host to the division 2 men's and women's finals. I'd love the soccer finals to be here in KC, the college cup is always a good opportunity to see future MLS players and some good soccer as well. The division 2 finals would be a bonus and would be a great way to show off the Swope Park facility.
The football final I don't care much about but could be big in KC with the likes of Pittsburg State and Northwest MO State around and consistently good in the division. If KC does host, hopefully by then KC has their field issues under control, even though the final would be in January and the field would likely have time to recover by the time the MLS season starts.
Sunday, September 15, 2013
Sporting Park's Surface
With the Flatlands Music Festival over at Sporting Park, the surface covering is off the playing surface and preparations are being made for Tuesday's Champions' League game against Real Esteli. With just that by itself questions would be asked of how exactly the surface will stand up after the concert. But the questions about the way the playing surface has held up has been a question for much longer than that. The questions really started to pick up after the Colorado game when the surface started to come apart a bit more during the game when players would make cuts or moves on the field.
It got worse during the game last weekend against Columbus. So bad in fact, that Columbus blamed three muscle injuries some of their players suffered on the poor surface at Sporting Park. The surface even prompted a response from Robb Heineman after the game.
Heineman's comment though just brought more questions from fans. Mainly fans were asking why in a city where for three months of the season the average low temperature is above 62 degrees they were having a problem with the surface that requires the temperature to be below 62. I understand that it's hard to get grass to grow in the 90 degree heat of the summer that we've had the last couple weeks, but that's been the exception this summer. For the most part this has been a fairly cool summer in KC, it hasn't been deathly hot for a very large period of time, and there had been decent rainfall. Unlike last year when KC had a number of +100 days and a long period of time without rain. Last year the surface held up better than this year with all those heat issues.
This is the second time in the short three year history of the stadium that the field has been a problem. In the stadium's first year everyone blamed it on the condensed home schedule that Sporting was playing and the field not getting enough time to really let the roots take hold. But this year there really isn't much of an excuse, at least in my mind for why the surface is in such poor shape. And this is the same team that back in 2009 had their grounds crew win the award for the "field of the year."
With the World Cup qualifier less than a month away, KC will want to get the field situation taken care of before the US team gets here. You don't want the attention for the game being more paid to the field surface than the play or the atmosphere. And you don't want to potentially piss off a number of US fans by having a player like Michael Bradley hurt his ankle, possibly more seriously and put the player's World Cup in doubt.
I have faith that they'll get the field situation straightened out quickly, but this is becoming a bad habit. All the bells and whistles in and around the stadium won't mean much if the field is a piece of crap. Maybe Heineman should really consider getting that Sporting blue turf he keeps trolling fans with.
It got worse during the game last weekend against Columbus. So bad in fact, that Columbus blamed three muscle injuries some of their players suffered on the poor surface at Sporting Park. The surface even prompted a response from Robb Heineman after the game.
That was beautiful...turf, not so much...as soon as overnight temps back under 62, we'll be fine...
— Robb Heineman (@RobbHeineman) September 8, 2013
Heineman's comment though just brought more questions from fans. Mainly fans were asking why in a city where for three months of the season the average low temperature is above 62 degrees they were having a problem with the surface that requires the temperature to be below 62. I understand that it's hard to get grass to grow in the 90 degree heat of the summer that we've had the last couple weeks, but that's been the exception this summer. For the most part this has been a fairly cool summer in KC, it hasn't been deathly hot for a very large period of time, and there had been decent rainfall. Unlike last year when KC had a number of +100 days and a long period of time without rain. Last year the surface held up better than this year with all those heat issues.
This is the second time in the short three year history of the stadium that the field has been a problem. In the stadium's first year everyone blamed it on the condensed home schedule that Sporting was playing and the field not getting enough time to really let the roots take hold. But this year there really isn't much of an excuse, at least in my mind for why the surface is in such poor shape. And this is the same team that back in 2009 had their grounds crew win the award for the "field of the year."
With the World Cup qualifier less than a month away, KC will want to get the field situation taken care of before the US team gets here. You don't want the attention for the game being more paid to the field surface than the play or the atmosphere. And you don't want to potentially piss off a number of US fans by having a player like Michael Bradley hurt his ankle, possibly more seriously and put the player's World Cup in doubt.
I have faith that they'll get the field situation straightened out quickly, but this is becoming a bad habit. All the bells and whistles in and around the stadium won't mean much if the field is a piece of crap. Maybe Heineman should really consider getting that Sporting blue turf he keeps trolling fans with.
Thursday, August 22, 2013
Robb Heineman AMA
Robb Heineman was on Reddit today to have an AMA (Ask Me Anything). During the interview he gave some pretty candid answers to some questions and obviously had a bit of fun as well (including giving a date for the installation of the Sporting Blue turf).
Here are some of the highlights and some commentary.
Expansion of Sporting Park.
Heineman said that there is currently no time table for expansion of Sporting Park, and that demand for tickets in 2015 will help dictate when they'll look into expanding the stadium. When asked further questions regarding expansion of the stadium, Heineman responded that expansion would see about 8,000. Most of them would be in the East Stand but a couple thousand he said would be above the Cauldron.
In regards to Sporting Park he was also was asked about when the team would look to move the team into downtown KC instead of out at the Legends. Heineman's response was 21 more years out at Sporting Park.
US Soccer Training Facility
Heineman was asked about this development and where they were in the process. Heineman responded by saying that the site selection should be done in the next 90 days and that construction to begin in the spring. In conjunction with that question, Heineman was asked about the Hall of Fame. He responded that they are interested in it but have not been approached.
US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League
Heineman was asked a couple questions regarding some competitions outside of league play, the Open Cup and the CCL. He was asked what would be the best way to elevate the US Open Cup. Heineman's response was more prize money for the players (currently it's about $100,000 split between the players.
He was also asked about the CCL and it's priority. Heineman responded that it was a huge priority and then gave an example saying that Peter Vermes' incentive bonus for the CCL is the same as it is for winning MLS Cup. So either Sporting is placing a lot of priority on the CCL, or Vermes doesn't get a big bonus for winning MLS Cup.
USL Pro
Heineman was asked about the USLPro and Sporting KC's affiliate, Orlando City. Questions about his feeling on the partnership and how some Orlando fans aren't happy with a lot of the flipping of players. Heineman avoided that part of the question, stating how much he liked the partnership and how each guy that has gone has gotten better.
He was also asked whether KC would look to set up their own USLPro team. Heineman responded that they were likely too if/when Orlando enters MLS and that the team would likely be within 200 miles of KC. When asked further his response was that Omaha, Des Moines, and the KC metro were the favorites. Omaha doesn't currently have minor league soccer but has a very nice stadium at Creighton, Morrison Stadium. Des Moines has one of the most successful PDL franchises, especially at the gate, but they don't have a stadium, currently playing on a high school football field. The KC metro would be an interesting idea, maybe putting a team up north, or out east to try to drive interest on that side of town without forcing fans across town to Sporting Park.
Player Acquisitions
Heineman was asked a number of questions about player acquisition related questions, many related to designated players and the types Sporting would look at. Heineman said if they'd add a DP this season it'd be a number 10. He also stated their lack of interest in Ronaldinho and how they were looking more on the 27 or younger scale. When asked about Jermaine Jones and his interest in MLS, Heineman said they weren't interested.
The part I found more interesting and not surprising based on his tweets was his response to the question about what the hardest part was about signing foreign players. The toughest part according to Heineman is dealing with agents and various "card" owners of players. It certainly seems to fit with many of the things we've heard over the last few years in regards to player signings, especially summer signings.
Overall plenty of good information in the AMA.
Here are some of the highlights and some commentary.
Expansion of Sporting Park.
Heineman said that there is currently no time table for expansion of Sporting Park, and that demand for tickets in 2015 will help dictate when they'll look into expanding the stadium. When asked further questions regarding expansion of the stadium, Heineman responded that expansion would see about 8,000. Most of them would be in the East Stand but a couple thousand he said would be above the Cauldron.
In regards to Sporting Park he was also was asked about when the team would look to move the team into downtown KC instead of out at the Legends. Heineman's response was 21 more years out at Sporting Park.
US Soccer Training Facility
Heineman was asked about this development and where they were in the process. Heineman responded by saying that the site selection should be done in the next 90 days and that construction to begin in the spring. In conjunction with that question, Heineman was asked about the Hall of Fame. He responded that they are interested in it but have not been approached.
US Open Cup and CONCACAF Champions League
Heineman was asked a couple questions regarding some competitions outside of league play, the Open Cup and the CCL. He was asked what would be the best way to elevate the US Open Cup. Heineman's response was more prize money for the players (currently it's about $100,000 split between the players.
He was also asked about the CCL and it's priority. Heineman responded that it was a huge priority and then gave an example saying that Peter Vermes' incentive bonus for the CCL is the same as it is for winning MLS Cup. So either Sporting is placing a lot of priority on the CCL, or Vermes doesn't get a big bonus for winning MLS Cup.
USL Pro
Heineman was asked about the USLPro and Sporting KC's affiliate, Orlando City. Questions about his feeling on the partnership and how some Orlando fans aren't happy with a lot of the flipping of players. Heineman avoided that part of the question, stating how much he liked the partnership and how each guy that has gone has gotten better.
He was also asked whether KC would look to set up their own USLPro team. Heineman responded that they were likely too if/when Orlando enters MLS and that the team would likely be within 200 miles of KC. When asked further his response was that Omaha, Des Moines, and the KC metro were the favorites. Omaha doesn't currently have minor league soccer but has a very nice stadium at Creighton, Morrison Stadium. Des Moines has one of the most successful PDL franchises, especially at the gate, but they don't have a stadium, currently playing on a high school football field. The KC metro would be an interesting idea, maybe putting a team up north, or out east to try to drive interest on that side of town without forcing fans across town to Sporting Park.
Player Acquisitions
Heineman was asked a number of questions about player acquisition related questions, many related to designated players and the types Sporting would look at. Heineman said if they'd add a DP this season it'd be a number 10. He also stated their lack of interest in Ronaldinho and how they were looking more on the 27 or younger scale. When asked about Jermaine Jones and his interest in MLS, Heineman said they weren't interested.
The part I found more interesting and not surprising based on his tweets was his response to the question about what the hardest part was about signing foreign players. The toughest part according to Heineman is dealing with agents and various "card" owners of players. It certainly seems to fit with many of the things we've heard over the last few years in regards to player signings, especially summer signings.
Overall plenty of good information in the AMA.
Monday, July 15, 2013
Besler, Collin, and Zusi on All Star Game Day Roster
Peter Vermes and MLS Commissioner Don Garber today announced the full roster for the All Star Game on July 31st at Sporting Park. The 20 man roster that will be coached by Vermes will take on AS Roma. All 11 of the MLS "Fan XI" were named to the final roster. That means that all three of Sporting KC's selections, Matt Besler, Aurelien Collin, and Graham Zusi will all be in uniform for the game that night.
With the Gold Cup final set to take place only 3 days before the game though some changes could definitely be made to the roster. There are currently five players named to the 20 man roster that are still competing in the Gold Cup; goalkeeper Nick Rimando, defenders Corey Ashe and Tony Beltran, midfielder Kyle Beckerman, and forward Chris Wondolowski. That number could grow if the likes of Besler, Zusi, or Omar Gonzalez are called in for the knockout round when Jurgen Klinsmann will be allowed to make some roster changes if he chooses to.
Kansas City and Salt Lake lead the way with representatives with each having three players on the roster. Houston, Los Angeles, Montreal, and New York all have two players on the team. Dallas, Seattle, Portland, Chicago, Vancouver, and San Jose all have a single player.
If Vermes wanted to be a bit of a dick and enact a matter of payback for the All Star game in New York a few years ago he could. At that time, Vermes was not happy that Hans Backe played Sporting's designated player, Omar Bravo 81 minutes in the loss to Manchester United. The only player that played longer was David Beckham who played the whole game. Thierry Henry and Tim Cahill are New York's representatives this year. And to put the cherry on top, Sporting play New York in KC the Saturday after the All Star game.
Here's the full roster.
Goalkeepers: Raul Fernandez (Dallas), Nick Rimando (Real Salt Lake)
Defenders: Corey Ashe (Houston), Matt Besler (Sporting KC), Tony Beltran (Real Salt Lake), Aurelien Collin (Sporting KC), Omar Gonzalez (Los Angeles), DeAndre Yedlin (Seattle).
Midfielders: Kyle Beckerman (Real Salt Lake), Patrice Bernier (Montreal), Tim Cahill (New York), Brad Davis (Houston), Will Johnson (Portland), Mike Magee (Chicago), Graham Zusi (Sporting KC).
Forwards: Marco Di Vaio (Montreal), Thierry Henry (New York), Robbie Keane (Los Angeles), Camilo (Vancouver), Chris Wondolowski (San Jose).
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