Images: Kansas City Current
The Kansas City Current are preparing to move into their landmark new stadium later this month, with the National Women’s Soccer League club believing that the project can set an example for the NWSL, and women’s sport as a whole.
The Current broke ground on CPKC Stadium in October 2022, and will kick off their season by facing the Portland Thorns at the venue on March 16.
Dubbed the first stadium purpose-built for a professional women’s sports team, CPKC Stadium aims to prove how control over stadiums is the key to success for women’s sport, allowing a team to play at the best times and providing the revenue streams needed to reinvest in players and the fan experience.
The 11,500-seat stadium has been developed at a cost of $117m (£91.9m/€107.5m), the majority privately funded via club ownership. The stadium sits along the banks of the Missouri river with the Kansas City downtown directly to its south. It is intended to be the opening chapter of an entertainment district that will seek to transform an underutilised, industrial area with new amenities for fans and residents, while boosting the local economy.
CPKC Stadium offers intimate fan views with all seats within 100 feet of the pitch. Numerous luxury seating options are provided, including 13 suites with private patios and a Pitch Club space including premium food and beverage and field-level views.
A two-story KC Current team store is incorporated, while all guests will be able to move easily around the stadium via a single 360-degree accessible main concourse. A Home Locker Room will provide the Current with its own luxury space, unlike many women’s sports teams who often have to use visitor or auxiliary changing rooms in their ‘home’ stadiums.
From a sustainability perspective, reusable cups will be used for all poured and fountain beverages and no single-use plastic bottles or cups will be sold through a partnership with Bold Reuse. A state of the art stadium recycling and compost program has been drawn up, while the club anticipates LEED certification following application this spring.
Railroad company CPKC agreed a 10-year deal back in October for the naming rights to the stadium. Heading into its debut season, the Current has sold-out season tickets, with 2,000 seats being made available on a per-match basis.
Having previously played at Children’s Mercy Park, the home of Major League Soccer (MLS) club Sporting Kansas City, the opening of CPKC Stadium represent a new dawn for the Current, with co-founder and co-owner, Angie Long, believing the team is blazing a trail for others to follow.
Speaking on a virtual stadium tour and briefing with invited members of the media, Long said: “We are the first and we won’t be the last. Indeed, in a lot of ways, we’re proof of concept.
“I also believe that’s just getting started. Just wait until people get in the stadium and they feel it (the atmosphere) and the players are there. Each time one team levels up, the expectations of the players are just that they deserve this. Not that it’s a ridiculous expectation. This is something that begins to feel like the new norm.”
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