The beautiful game has deep roots in Kansas City, drawing diehard fanbases and shaping the region’s culture. Get acquainted with the decades of grassroots support and championship-caliber success that have established the city’s place as a standout destination for American soccer.
Soccer Roots
Although the region undoubtedly had a presence in earlier decades—the Kansas City Spurs captured the North American Soccer League championship in 1969—Kansas City’s standing as a true soccer community skyrocketed with the arrival of the 1994 FIFA World Cup.
The Kansas City Wiz, known today as Sporting Kansas City, was one of ten founding Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs. The league was established in direct support of America’s effort to host the World Cup for the first time.
With the investment of founder/owner Lamar Hunt, the Wiz first took the pitch during MLS’ inaugural season in 1996. After its first season, the Wiz became the Kansas City Wizards, then transitioned to its current designation as Sporting Kansas City (or Sporting KC) in 2010.
The club has gone on to win the MLS Cup twice in 2000 and 2013. It has also taken home the U.S. Open Cup four times in 2004, 2012, 2015 and 2017, along with one Supporters’ Shield in 2000. Plus, the team’s presence in Kansas City has reinforced the community’s standing as an attractive pick for top-tier soccer. Its home field at Children’s Mercy Park has hosted the U.S. Men’s National Team more than ten times.
Lamar Hunt
Hunt stands as one of the most influential figures in American sports history. He founded the league and owned two teams—the Wiz and Columbus Crew—while also serving as founder of the American Football League (AFL) and owner of the Dallas Texans. The team would move to KC and become the now-legendary Kansas City Chiefs in 1963, followed by a merger of the AFL with the National Football League (NFL) in 1966.
His additional contributions are countless. The country’s longest-running national soccer competition is known as the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, while the winner of the AFC Championship Game is awarded the Lamar Hunt Trophy. He was also influential in the growth of tennis. He’s even responsible for the term “Super Bowl” as the NFL’s most coveted achievement. The Hunt family’s ownership of the Chiefs continues today.
Women’s Soccer Origins
Kansas City is home to the world’s first stadium purpose-built for a women’s professional sports team, where the Kansas City Current hosts matches in front of a deeply committed fanbase and consistent sellout crowds. It’s the crown jewel in a longstanding legacy of success in professional women’s soccer, reaching back to the first days of the country’s top league.
FC Kansas City was established with the founding of the National Women’s Soccer League, taking the pitch for the first time in 2013. The team captured back-to-back NWSL championships in 2014 and 2015 before ceasing operations in 2017, but an even more momentous era for women’s soccer in Kansas City would soon begin.
History for Women’s Sports
During FIFA Women’s World Cup 2019, as the U.S. Women’s National Team battled to victory, KC-based business leaders Angie Long and Chris Long were in Paris to watch the action unfold live. Throughout the tournament, they were struck by images of one city’s raucous watch parties that drew continuous coverage on broadcasts in France and around the world—their hometown, Kansas City.
Hardly a year later, the opportunity arose to relocate a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team that had been playing in Utah. The Longs, encouraged by the demonstrations of KC’s soccer enthusiasm they had seen on television in Paris, leapt at the chance. The move established them as founders and owners of the Kansas City Current, along with entrepreneur Brittany Mahomes. (In 2023, the ownership group expanded to include Patrick Mahomes, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback and Brittany’s husband.) Together, they made plans for a team to blaze a trail for the future of women’s sports.
In 2022, the club established the first purpose-built training center for a women’s professional sports team in the United States. The $18 million project features two full-field grass pitches, elite weight and cardio training centers, a locker room and sports medicine care. Then, with the arrival of the first match in the 2024 season, the Current took the pitch at the historic CPKC Stadium. The 11,500-seat venue stands on the banks of the Missouri River as the world’s first stadium dedicated to a women’s professional sports team.
The Current’s historic investments continue to be matched by record-breaking performances on the pitch. Among many other team and individual accolades, the Current took home the NWSL Shield (presented to the team with the best record at the end of the regular season) in 2025, securing the award earlier in the season than any other club in league history.
More Achievements
Kansas City’s indoor soccer roots date back to 1981, when the Kansas City Comets spent a decade competing as a member of the Major Indoor Soccer League. Today, a modern team bearing the same name plays at Independence’s Cable Dahmer Arena in the Major Arena Soccer League.
The soccer successes extend to more world-class infrastructure developments. The Compass Minerals National Performance Center can welcome national teams from around the world to benefit from its state-of-the-art facilities. The sport’s professionals have benefited from KC’s historical and contemporary contributions as well: United Soccer Coaches, the world’s largest soccer coaches’ organization serving every level of the game, was founded in 1941 and is headquartered in Kansas City.
Of course, the region’s most globally identifiable achievement arrives in June 2026. With a passionate soccer fanbase and world-class training facilities, it’s no surprise that the City of Fountains was awarded six matches for the summer of 2026.
