#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.

FC Kansas City Moving to New Stadium in 2014

FC Kansas City has a new home. After spending the 2013 season playing at Shawnee Mission North High School, at the district athletic complex, they are now moving to a facility without football lines. The team today announced that they've signed a two year contract with UMKC to play their games at Durwood Stadium on UMKC's campus.

The stadium, just south of the Nelson-Atkins museum and east of the Plaza, currently seats 850 people for games. As part of the agreement, capacity will be increased to 3,200, with what is apparently a mix of permanent and temporary seats (seating chart here). Back in 2010, the KC Wizards drew just over 1,200 there for a US Open Cup qualifier against the Colorado Rapids.

The move makes sense in many regards, one of the big complaints about the league as a whole last year was the number of stadiums that had football lines along with the soccer lines. The Blues at least have resolved this complaint by people watching the game as Durwood only has soccer lines.

The draw back of the move though is that the Blues will be moving to a smaller facility. Durwood seats 1,400 fewer people than FCKC's average last year at Shawnee Mission.

Club President, President Brian Budzinski tried to address some of those concerns today: “the support in our first year was beyond what we could have expected, We understand the seating capacity is smaller than what our average attendance was last season, but we felt the move to a soccer-specific facility of this caliber was important for our fans’ game day experience and for the players on the field.”

So the team is valuing a better viewing experience with a field without the football lines over a larger crowd. The stadium now becomes the second smallest in the league ahead of Chicago's Benedictine University site after Boston also announced today that they are moving to play at Harvard next year.

Personally I like the move, it shows a nice commitment by FCKC to develop the game instead of just trying to get more people into the stadium. It should also create a better atmosphere at UMKC without the large track around the field too.

Year End Look at 2011 Wishes

With it being New Year's Eve, I figured it was time to take a look back at the 2011 wishes that I'd posted at the end of last year.

1. Return to the Playoffs - This was filled 100%, not only did KC qualify for the playoffs again, but the team won the regular season Eastern Conference crown and had home field advantage. Unfortunately that didn't translate to making the cup finals. Which brings us to the next one...

2. Silverware - Twice KC looked in a good position to make the finals of two competitions, but both times KC failed to make it. Earlier in the season, KC looked to have a good path to the semifinals of the US Open Cup, but couldn't get past the Richmond Kickers. In the MLS Cup playoffs, KC was one step away from the finals, but got outplayed in the Eastern Conference finals, losing to Houston.

3. Re-Sign Michael Harrington - The team got this taken care of, but it Harrington seemed to drop off after a career year last year. He started the year with a small knock that kept him out of action. When he returned he did ok, but wasn't the same player he was last year. As the year went on, he lost his starting spot to Chance Myers and Seth Sinovic. It'll be interesting to see Harrington's role next year.

4. 10-15 points on road trip to start the season - This didn't come true, KC only picked up 6 points on the road trip and looked dead in the water. But after the poor start, KC lost only 3 regular season games the rest of the season. Combine that with a weaker Eastern Conference and KC was able to finish on top of the East.

5. Average over 15,000 in the new stadium - New all time attendance high for Kansas City this year, at 17,810. Over 2,000 over what I was wanting for the new high, and less than 1,000 under LIVESTRONG's capacity.

6. Sell out half the home games - Seventeen home games, of those, KC had 9 games that were at capacity or over. So that was just over the half number. I imagine if KC didn't have most of those home games cramped into about 3 months that total would likely have been a little higher. Still that's a wish that was met.

7. At most 1 home loss - Not quite, Kansas City lost 2 regular season games at home, along with a third in the playoffs to Houston. All 3 of the losses hurt the first two because of the fact that KC let late leads slip away leading to those loses. And the third ended KC's season.

8. Omar Bravo scores 10+ goals - Bravo didn't quite hit the mark, scoring 9 league goals. If he hadn't missed time due to the hernia surgery I figure he likely would have hit the mark. Bravo is now gone and we're likely looking to add another designated player in the upcoming transfer window.

9. US in KC for the Gold Cup and double header sell out - This one came true. KC hosted the final group stage game as the US fought to qualify for the knock out rounds. They did so on the backs of a 1-0 win over Guadeloupe. KC seemed to impress enough to earn the US Olympic qualifying semifinals and finals this year. They also would seem to be at the forefront of earning a World Cup qualifier back at LSP as well.

Stunning

That's one word to describe Livestrong Sporting Park. I haven't really been inside the stadium since the end of last season due to scheduling conflicts, and an inability to get out there when I'd have a chance to get a tour. So this was my first time inside the stadium in a long time. But my reaction would likely be similar to what it was today walking in. The stadium is absolutely stunning.

While there is still a little work to be done, the stadium is so close to being done and so close to opening most fans can taste it. It was hard to walk by someone today that didn't have a smile on their face at the first of three season ticket holder ticket pick up events at the stadium. One of the coolest, but probably least relevant things about the new stadium was the signs for the bathrooms. They have the man or the woman (or both in the instances of family restrooms) kicking a soccer ball. A small detail but funny and a nice little touch at the same time.

Personally I've shied away from getting really excited about the new stadium. Not really sure why, but while some people have been gushing over it, I've been kind of just going about my normal business. That's not to say I wasn't excited about the new stadium, far from it, I was just focusing on other things. It was also probably one of those "out of sight, out of mind things" since I couldn't see it in person every day. Seeing the stadium so close to completion though and I am officially gushing, the place is amazing and I am now beyond excited for the 9th. More photos of the stadium.

Welcome to Livestrong Sporting Park

It was a day of big news today for Sporting KC. On top of the announcement of the US coming to KC in the Gold Cup, we now have an announcement on whose name will be on the stadium. That name is Livestrong Sporting Park. Today the team announced a 6 year partnership with the nonprofit organization founded by Lance Armstrong.

It's not a sponsorship deal for the stadium, but a partnership between the team and Livestrong. The team will donate a portion of all stadium revenue, including ticket sales and concessions, will be donated to the nonprofit to help fight cancer. Robb Heineman said today that the team hopes to raise $7.5 million for the charity of the 6 years of the deal.

It may not be the revenue generating sponsor that many fans were wanting or expecting, but this is a great move for the team. Livestrong is a nation wide brand that is known throughout the world. Earlier today Livestrong Park was even treading world wide. That's not the type of attention you get regularly. That alone could be a huge step for the team, with it treading world wide it's on the minds of plenty of people now looking into this. The other thing is that apparently KC passed up on deals that would have paid KC for the sponsorship to go with the nonprofit.

Personally I really like this. The team has made the naming of the stadium more than just an attempt to get money. They've used it as an attempt to generate a buzz around the team while at the same trying to make a difference by joining a cause that is trying to combat cancer, which I don't think anyone hasn't been affected by it. It shows a lot of character for the team as well that they were willing to pass up money to go this route (although I'm sure the tax write off will be nice too). It's also a great thing for fans as they know that a portion of the money they spend on anything at the stadium will go to this cause. As James said, "My football team and I are going to save lives"

Gold Cup Talk Heating Up

The Gold Cup pairings should be coming out in early March and the speculation is starting to heat up again on where the US will play. I agree with Steven Goff's assessment, and have been saying since the site locations were announced that KC would have a very good chance of having the US in town. People that have been speaking with the front office in other regards have been telling me that they've been told it's very close to being a sure thing. This especially comes true when you look at the knockout round pairings. With Mexico in group A, playing in 3 NFL stadiums and the USA in group C, you set it up where both teams will not meet until the finals, which is what CONCACAF wants. CONCACAF wants a US-Mexico final at the Rose Bowl on June 25th and putting the US in group C and Mexico in Group A is probably the best way to do that. The only better way is if Mexico was in Group B, but based on the stadiums for the two groups, A is the more likely for El Tri.

Bunbury Injury Update, Schedule Changes, and More

Along with the announcement of Kevin Ellis signing with the Wizards today, there was plenty of other news in the Sporting Kansas City world today.

The first is a bit of bad news, originally the speculation was that Teal Bunbury might not miss any of the regular season. Now that doesn't look likely at all. Word from the team today is that Bunbury will now miss four to six weeks for KC. This comes after Bunbury met with team doctors in Kansas City after returning from Arizona. This means that Bunbury is now more likely to miss the Chivas USA game and Chicago Fire game to start the season. There's also a potential that he could miss the team's first trip to Canada to take on Vancouver. This is a blow for KC and for Bunbury as it's certainly a blow in his hopes to fight for a Gold Cup spot with the US.

Sporting KC has also announced two schedule changes and three television changes as the league and FSC announced their new deal and FSC's 31 game schedule. KC will appear 3 times on FSC, all of which at Sporting Park. Two of those 3 games see KC moving the day of the game. KC's game against San Jose on Saturday, June 18th to Friday June 17th at 7:30. The team's second game on FSC is August 13th against the LA Galaxy. The team's final game on September 23rd was moved up a day from Saturday the 24th when KC will take on the Philadelphia Union. Those three combined with the home opener against Chicago give KC 4 national televised games.

In trialist news, Sheldon Bateau was released to head back to Trinidad. Bateau was one of three players along with Daneil Cyrus and Omar Colley from the team's Trinidad camp earlier this offseason. Bateau had captained the TnT U-20 team recently but has not done enough to impress. Bateau played mainly in the midfield it seemed during his time with KC and unfortunately doesn't look like he did enough to impress. In more trialist news, according to Gooch at The Full 90, Scott Lorenz is not going to joining the team for the second phase in Arizona, but according to Gooch Lorenz has not been released by the team. Lorenz had been playing left back for much of the preseason and had impressed enough that KC released second round draft pick, JT Murray early on in preseason. It's odd that the team has chosen to not officially waive him but yet he'll not be back for the second part of preseason.

Finally, check out the photos and video from James at Sporting Times from the stadium today. The stadium opening is getting closer and closer.

Hold Off on Those All Star Game Plans

Yesterday the rumor of the MLS All Star game being in KC resurfaced and there was a bit of skepticism mixed with excitement for the potential of seeing Barcelona at KC's soccer stadium. But as the day wore on we got a little more information. Specifically from the Star and from Robb Heineman himself. Gooch at the Star checked with KC's PR department and they were as surprised by the rumor as most of us were, not knowing Steve Davis' source on the story. Later in the evening on Bigsoccer, Heineman posted to not waste too much time on it, yet. That certainly seems to point to a little bit of truth behind the rumor, but that it's still no where near as close as Davis makes it out to be.

2011 Wishes

There are only a few hours left in 2010, here are the wishes for this year.

1. Return to the Playoffs - Two years of missing the playoffs and it's time to return. KC has never missed the playoffs 3 years running so it's time for KC to return to the playoffs. Missing the playoffs this year would be a major disappointment with the new stadium.

2. Silverware - Yes again I'm asking for silverware again. I want a trophy.

3. Re-sign Michael Harrington - Michael Harrington had one of his best seasons as a pro last year, losing him would be a big loss for KC, so re-signing him has to be one of the highest priorities for KC.

4. 10-15 points on road trip to start season - This wish is really hard to go with considering we don't know for sure how many games KC will play on the road before opening the new stadium, but hopefully KC can have a strong road trip to start the season so they're not in a huge hole when they return home.

5. Average over 15,000 in the new stadium - I'm hopefully betting on the low side, but with a stadium with a capacity of 18,500 I'd hope KC would be able to average at least 15,000 in the 2011 season.

6. Sell out half the home games - 17 home games next season, while selling out half the games and averaging 15,000 would mean a lower amount for the non-sell outs I'd hope that KC can pull out sell outs in half their games this next season.

7. At most 1 loss at home - Depending on the way the road trip to begin the season goes, KC is going to need to have some very good home form to have a good 2011 season.

8. Omar Bravo scores 10+ goals - KC's new designated player Omar Bravo will have the full preseason to prepare with KC for the 2011 season. With a full preseason, Bravo will hopefully be able to gel with the team and be able to put the ball in the back of the net many times for KC.

9. US in KC for the Gold Cup and double header sell out - The US being in KC is definitely not for sure, while it seems the US will be in Group B or C, it's not for sure they'll be in KC. But one can definitely hope and it's note completely beyond the realm of possibility that they will be in KC. If the US does play here, anything but a sell out would be a disappointment for KC.

Year End Review of 2010 Wishes

The year is almost over and it's time to take one more look at my wishes for the year 2010. Here was my take on the wishes half way through the year.

1. The stadium starts to take shape. While I respect Gooch over at the Star, this was the story of the year for KC soccer. The win over United was great, but the fact that this stadium has gone from being approved in January to being the structure you see below. It's amazing that 506 days after dirt started moving at the site the team will take the field for the first time at their new stadium. It's great, a sign of the work the team has done, along with an economy that favored the team to getting work done quickly.

photo courtesy of Thad Bell

2. Qualify for the playoffs early. May be better to just skip this one, the team didn't even qualify for the playoffs this year.

3. Some silverware. Another wish unfulfilled.

4. SI's that contribute more. I think this wish was fulfilled pretty well. Jimmy Nielsen did well, although wasn't as strong the second half of the season. Stephane Auvray proved how valuable he was. Ryan Smith will continue to be a difficult player for opponents to deal with and shut down. Craig Rocastle had a very strong second half to the season being a composed, strong presence in the midfield for KC down the stretch.

5. Re-sign Kei Kamara. This got done during training camp and Kamara was named the team's MVP for the 2010 season.

6. Round of 16 appearance for the USA in the World Cup. The US loss to Ghana was disappointing but it was a great trip for the United States. Overall it was a great tournament for the US and the goal by Landon Donovan against Algeria has been one of the best sports moments of the year, and this video never gets old and still gives me goosebumps.



7. A home record of only 1 loss. Another one that didn't happen. KC finished 7-5-3 in their last season at Community America Ballpark, 24 of 45 points at home isn't good enough and is one of the areas that the team must improve in 2010.

8. At least 40 goals this season. KC only got 36 goals this season, but only 6 teams out of 16 even hit 40 goals this season so while the team not hitting 40 sucks, they were in very good company. And they at least weren't DC who hit an all time low for MLS with only 21 goals.

KC Opening at Chivas, Will Host Chicago in Opener

MLS announced the 2011 First Kick for each team today and we now know 3 of Sporting's 34 games this season. KC will open the 2011 season on March 19th in LA as they take on former Wizards player, Jimmy Conrad, and Chivas USA. The game is at 9:30 central time at the Home Depot Center. This opener had been rumored a bit with the coincidence of Chivas' parent club and SKC's designated player Omar Bravo. It should be a fun weekend and one that I'll be sure to be at. So feel free to join me as it'll be a lot of fun.

The second week of the season, KC will continue their long road trip when they'll travel up to Chicago to take on the Fire. KC will help the Fire open Toyota Park for the 2011 season at 3pm on March 26th.

The Fire will return the favor in June when they travel to KC to be the first opponent in KC's new stadium on the 9th. The time of the game hasn't been announced, but per Robb Heineman at the rebranding announcement, the game is set to be on "national TV" which means an ESPN game to open the new stadium.

KC to Host Gold Cup

So the good news that Robb Heineman said would be announced today appears to be that KC will be hosting the Gold Cup. Today the announcement was made on the venues for the 2011 Gold Cup and KC's Soccer Stadium is one of the venues that will host first round games. The date of the doubleheader in KC is June 14th. KC looks set to host the final group play game for Group C in the Gold Cup. Based off the dates and the venues, it looks like KC will be grouped with Detroit and Tampa for group C. It seems likely that Mexico will end up in Group A with Arlington, Charlotte, and Chicago. So the US is going to end up in Group B (Carson, Miami, Harrison) or C. It certainly be great to see the US here in KC again, but we'll have to wait and see.

Sporting to Start Season on the Road

Robb Heineman made me happy about one thing in the past few days. During an interview with MLSsoccer.com, Heineman said that KC will play all their home games at the team's new stadium out at the Legends. That means no games in neutral venues or games at Arrowhead next season. Earlier this year there had been hints from Heineman and rumors that Sporting would play at least one game in a neutral venue for the 2011 season.

This was a horrible idea in my mind, in a season where you're opening your new stadium, to play one of your home games in a neutral site. The idea of playing a game at Arrowhead, while not ideal was certainly an idea that I was more open to than neutral site venues. I figured that Sporting could use Arrowhead similar to the way that the Union used Lincoln Financial this past season. It would have given them a chance to at least have a game at home to give fans something before the stadium opened. But I understand why they wouldn't do that, even a really well attended game would look bad in a stadium that seats close to 80,000.

Instead the first time KC will see a competitive game live featuring Sporting KC will be June 9th when the stadium opens with a national television audience on ESPN. Heineman made that announcement as part of his introduction of the Sporting KC brand last night. Certainly a great way to open the team's new stadium. I think a lot of fans will have some pent up energy for some live soccer by that point so the crowd should be really into the game.

New 3-D Stadium View

After tonight's announcement, I got the chance to talk with Dave Ficklin about the rebranding and everything that was going on. While speaking with him a few people from Populous came up and began talking with us about the event and other things while talking Ficklin mentioned the new 3-D Virtual Venue that the team has. The Virtual Venue is now up on the Sporting KC website and is absolutely amazing. I've been playing with it for much of the night and it's amazing, it's great to get so many views of what the view is going to look like from all the different positions. It also gives a great feel for what you're going to see from each different spot on the field. It's going to be a great way for fans (sorry members) to try and decide where they are going to get their season tickets in the new stadium. Check it out it's amazing.

Inside the Stadium

This past week, season ticket holders had their first opportunity to go inside the stadium on tours and hear from both Robb Heineman and Dave Ficklin as they answered questions about the stadium itself. Unlike the Bannister site where I could stop by on my way home from work it's been harder for me to get inside the stadium in it's location. So Saturday was my first opportunity to really get inside the stadium. I'd heard from talks with Thad at The Back Post, and James at KCWFans.com about how great it was inside. So I was excited to finally get inside myself and I was not disappointed. I didn't the indepth tour that they've previously gotten (I hope to sooner than later). I took a few photos of the event from different locations around the stadium and there are certainly isn't a bad spot in the stadium judging by the views that I saw. It truly will be one of, if not the best stadium in the league and I'm absolutely looking forward to when it opens.

I had planned this post to be a bit of an uplift after the Seattle game, but unfortunately other commitments got in my way and it's a nice addition to the win last night against Chicago. Here's the rest of the photos I got.

Heineman Offers Clarification

Wizards President, Robb Heineman responded to comments he made yesterday at the season ticket holder stadium tour today on Bigsoccer. He responded to the comments about where the Wizards will play to start next season, the possibility of playing at Arrowhead, as well as neutral site "home" games.

My biggest issue was the neutral site league games, which Heineman addresses first, and even says is likely not a good idea. He says that the Wizards are entertaining the idea of "a" netural site "home" game in a location where the team can assure a "pro-Wizards/pro-Bravo crowd. AKA, they're looking for a location in the southwest (as Heineman mentions), somewhere where they can pull in Mexican fans who want to see Wizards designated player, Omar Bravo play. Any game in a neutral site in Arizona (or anywhere in the southwest) isn't going to be a "pro-Wizards" crowd, it's going to be a "pro-Bravo" crowd that is only cheering for the Wizards because that's who Bravo is playing for. How many of those pro-Blanco fans are still coming to Fire games, even in Chicago now that he's not there?

If the team does play a neutral site home game, Heineman says the team will work to put together a travel package for fans who want to travel, or compensate season ticket holders who don't want to do that. That's a smart move at least in offering both options for season ticket holders instead of holding them to it or not offering the opportunity to possibly travel if people want.

Heineman reiterates that the team will not play a game at CAB next season, because he says much of the equipment on site is leased annually, so the team won't sign leases for an entire year when they would only be using the stadium for a few games. He does say that the team has not ruled out the possibility of playing at Arrowhead some next year. Heineman mentions that in his perfect world the team would play 3 games at Arrowhead to help break up the road trip, similar to the situation this year for Philadelphia where they played 2 games at Lincoln Financial Field while PPL Park was finished. For me this is the best option of the three options, where none of those options are ideal. But I'd rather have a few games at home before the stadium opens just to help provide some help competitively to the team's record.

As I said yesterday, the Galaxy had a horrible run when they opened the Home Depot Center, going 0-4-4, while the Chicago Fire did better, going 2-3-4, picking up 10 points. And going back to my above example with the expansion Union, who went 2-7-1 before PPL Park opened (1-7 on the road). So maybe I overreacted a bit last night, but I don't like the idea of an extended road trip, it gets tiring on players having to travel every single week, and the Wizards have never been a good road team, they only have two seasons in their history where they have a winning record on the road, going 9-7 in 1997 and 5-3-8 2000. Over their history the Wizards average 15 points on the road a season, on the road for a long stretch I struggle to see the Wizards hitting that mark.

I still struggle to see the Wizards making the playoffs in the 2011 season, maybe I'm just pessimistic, but unlike 2003 and 2006 with LA and Chicago, less than half the teams in the league will make the playoffs in 2011, and with a traditionally poor road team playing a long stretch away from home it's hard to see the Wizards getting enough points early on in the season. But I do appreciate Heineman stepping up to clarify his comments from yesterday.

Don't Expect the Playoffs Next Year

Next year is supposed to be a banner year for the Wizards with the biggest news being the opening of the teams new stadium out at the Legends. Today season ticket holders got the chance to take a look inside the stadium for the first time on a tour. And while that's big news in and of itself, the biggest news came from comments made by Robb Heineman to season ticket holders. The first set of news being that the Wizards are not planning on having any games at CAB or at Arrowhead next season, that any home games in KC will be at the team's new stadium. That means until the stadium opens the Wizards will be playing on an extended road trip.

Historically this isn't going to turn out well for the Wizards. The last team to start the season on an extended road trip was 2003 when the LA Galaxy opened the season with 8 straight road games. The Galaxy pulled only 4 points from those 8 games. That season started in early April, the 2011 MLS season is starting on March 19th, so the Wizards could have somewhere around 12 games on the road to start the season. The 2003 Galaxy did happen to make the playoffs, but in a 10 team league. Add in another 8 teams and this road trip to start the season is likely to ruin any chance the Wizards had of making the playoffs before the season even starts. After this past weekend's loss to New York, the Wizards are 58-116-51 on the road, for a total of 225 points, so KC has averaged a point per game on the road in their history. But that's been with traditional 1-2 game road trips, at most 4, not somewhere around 12. For another comparison to the Galaxy and their run in 2003, the Galaxy are 79-105-43 in their history on the road, averaging 1.23 PPG on the road, and that's including 2003 where they went 0-9-6 on the road, and 0-4-4 to start the season, over a full half a point less than what they average throughout their history on the road. What in the Wizards history on the road has shown that KC is going to do any better than LA did?

Training in KC and then traveling every single week for a game isn't going to do anything but give the Wizards players tired legs and jet lag before they even play a "home game."

The reason I put "home game" in quotes is because of the fact that during the same event tonight Heineman said that the Wizards were toying with the idea of the Wizards playing "home games" at a neutral venue, potential expansion site. The sites mentioned were Phoenix, San Antonio, and Cleveland.

This is a horrible idea for the Wizards and specifically for Wizards season ticket holders. Instead of seeing 2 to 3 regular season games, season ticket holders are going to get meaningless friendlies with reserves playing at least a half, or US Open Cup games where the team won't take the competition seriously for their extra season tickets. The team stated in their season ticket holder renewal package that the prices of season tickets were for 20 games. I can't see the Wizards going back on that, because they'd have an even bigger uproar if they dropped the number of games but left ticket prices the same. But then they could pass it off as a savings and a lot of season ticket holders would be happier with the lower price.

So if that happens, then Wizards season ticket holders will have 5-6 "extra game" tickets instead of the 3 that they're currently slated to get. Even if the Wizards were to win the Supporters' Shield, that's only 2 playoff games at home, so that's 3-4 more games for games that will mean nothing or be a less than full team for their tickets. This is "my" team, this is KC's team, not Phoenix's, not San Antonio's, not Cleveland's, we went through this years ago and I never thought we'd have to see the Wizards play home league game in another city after the team was sold to OnGoal. Why should we give up a home game?

A Look at Next Year (Rebranding, Schedule, and Stadium)

Next year is going to be a big year for the Wizards with all that appears set to happen next year mainly dealing with the new stadium. There are three big things that circle around the stadium, the stadium itself, the potential rebranding, and the 2011 schedule. First, the stadium itself. It continues to go up at a rapid pace, and today the Wizards made live a second webcam, this one inside the stadium. The second webcam is in the southwest corner of the stadium and rotates from left to right panning the inside of the stadium. For those that are directionally challenged, it's the corner of the stadium closest to the intersection of State Ave and Prairie Crossing. Certainly gives a nice new perspective of the stadium.

With the new stadium, comes the continued questions and rumors of rebranding. They certainly haven't gone anywhere over the past few weeks, in fact they've only grown. During our blogger podcast the other week we discussed it at great length and all the little signs that one would think would point to rebranding. From the scarf color for season ticket holders this year, to the light blue/dark blue trusses that are going up at the team's stadium that were posted on the KC Soccer Stadium page on Facebook, there are plenty of rumors of the potential color change out there. The renaming rumors haven't gone away either, the Sporting KC rumors are still making the rounds although no trademark registration has been found at this time. The latest "hint" dropped by the team came in the season ticket holder renewal packet, where the supporters' section was no long called "The Cauldron" but instead, the "Member's Stand". Now that's not a huge hint, because while the name Cauldron is tied in with the idea of a wizard, it also has other meanings for instance, a "cauldron of noise". Although it is definitely a bit odd that the team has not labeled the section the Cauldron.

Finally the other thing about the new stadium comes down to next season's schedule. Obviously the Wizards and OnGoal are going to want to maximize the number of games the team plays in the new stadium. And with the rise in ticket prices are not going to want to have people paying as much as they are to sit and watch a few games at CAB. And that means one of two things, either the Wizards do what Philadelphia did this year, play a few games at the city's local NFL team's stadium, or spend the first 3 months of the season on the road like the LA Galaxy in 2003. Neither option is very enticing, but personally I'd rather play a game or two at Arrowhead instead of spending the first 3 months on the road. I figure one of these two is a forgone conclusion, as I'm sure the Wizards have petitioned the league for a back heavy home schedule next year. The Wizards could find themselves in a very big hole by the time they do finally open their stadium in June either way, but the idea of being on the road continually for the first 3 months is not appealing. Unlike the 2003 Galaxy who got into the playoffs still, there are 8 more teams in the league than there were then, getting 4 points in the first 3 months of the season isn't going to cut it no matter how good the team's record ends up being at the new stadium. You run the risk or tarnishing the official opening of the new stadium because the team is rooted at the bottom of the table because of the early schedule.

Season Ticket Prices

Last week the Wizards sent out season ticket renewal information to their existing season ticket holder base. Needless to say I've heard from a few fans who were surprised at how much the ticket prices went up. While most of the stadium seats don't have a real comparison at the Wizards current stadium in CAB, most fans outside the Cauldron are seeing a big increase in their season ticket price. Obviously part of the increase is due to the fact that MLS is adding 2 home games to each team's schedule, so that adjusts for part of it. But the rest is due to the opening of the new stadium. The only section in the stadium that didn't see a big increase, was the Cauldron (named the "Member's Stand" in the renewal pack, another subtle hint at a re-branding), which only saw an increase in price due to the extra games, the supporters' section price per ticket will remain $14 per game for season ticket holders. The next cheapest section is the other end line, which is $360, or $18 a game. The sidelines are obviously more expensive, with the midfield seats the most expensive, and the west stand being more expensive than the east.

As I said before I've heard plenty of fans complain, so what I did is I started comparing the Wizards ticket prices for next year to other teams' season ticket holder information that's come out. What I found is that of the teams I looked at, they had comparable prices to the Wizards, based on the areas I could find. Here's a look at a few of them, all prices are per game.

Supporters' Section
Wizards 2011 - $14
Chicago - $10
Philadelphia - $14.50
Colorado - $12
LA - $25
Portland $15

East Stand
Wizards 2011 - $25
Chicago - $20
Philadelphia - $33.88
Colorado - $27
LA - $42.50
Portland - $21

East Stand Midfield
KC - $35
Chicago - $30
Philadelphia - $41.11
Colorado - $33
LA - $50
Portland - $35

South End
KC - $18
Chicago - N/A
Philadelphia - $23.61
Colorado - $21
LA - $28
Portland - $15

West Stand
KC - $30
Chicago - $30
Philadelphia - $33.88
Colorado - $29
LA - $42.50
Portland $21

West Stand Midfield
KC - $40
Chicago - N/A
Philadelphia - $41.11
Colorado - $35
LA - $50
Portland $35

Stadium Club
KC - $62.50
Chicago - $49.95
Philadelphia - $64.72
Colorado - N/A
LA - N/A
Portland $75

CONCLUSION - While the prices for the new stadium are certainly a big jump up from what Wizards season ticket holders have paid in the past, the information I've provided above basically shows that the Wizards are basically on par with many of the other teams in the league that currently have soccer specific stadiums. Particularly Philadelphia, where the Wizards are right around the average for Philly in every location through the stadium.

I know people are not incredibly happy about the prices (I'm not super thrilled about it myself as I'm currently entertaining the idea of moving out of the Cauldron), but we've been spoiled the past few years, both under the Hunts and then under OnGoal making the best of a bad situation at CAB. We've been paying one of the lowest prices for season tickets. Sure it's been affordable and easily accessible, but this wasn't going to last forever, especially with a new stadium. So while it's not the most well liked decision OnGoal has made it's one that matches up with the ticket prices other teams currently have for their soccer specific stadiums.

The thing I'm most disappointed in, and something I thought OnGoal could really set a nice precedent on, was bringing back some form of "youth" season ticket, because I have plenty of friends that bring their kids to games that could potentially be priced out with the rise in prices. I understand why they didn't do it, mainly because when the Wizards had it in the past, it was abused as adults used kids tickets to get in at cheaper prices. But with more and more scanners being used instead of just tearing the ticket stub, I think changes could be made to the system to allow a "junior" pass.

Stadium Coming Along Nicely

Photo courtesy of James Starritt

For those that haven't been out at the stadium site for a while, you're missing a lot. The stadium site is moving along incredibly fast. Yesterday, James over at KCWFans.com was out at the stadium site and got some fantastic photos of how the stadium is coming along, including the above photo. It's absolutely fantastic how the stadium is coming along, it's going up so quickly. He also informed us via Twitter that there will be a second webcam inside the stadium coming soon. It's especially nice to see how it's coming along considering it's only been just over a year since the Wizards announced the move from the Bannister Mall site to the site out at the Legends. So to think that we're just over 9 months from the first event is just beyond exciting.