I'm embarking on a trip to visit all 18 stadia and games for all 19 MLS clubs...but more than that, I'm tailgating, talking to and standing with the supporters at all 19 stops. A few of you may remember me from a couple of weekends ago. Below is my review. The Great Tour resumes after a massive financial hiatus. Proximity and a Professional Development Seminar made a stop in Kansas City a logical pick for the second stop. Sporting Kansas City is one of the Original Ten MLS franchises, a charter member of the 1996 launch of the league. While most of the members of that class have struggled to foster a strong supporter culture, SKC is enjoying a top-down rebirth, including a palace of a new stadium and a third rebranding since their debut. That rebranding still sticks in the craw of many KC fans, who still pepper their chants and wardrobe with references to the Wiz and Wizards. While the moniker Sporting Kansas City may win the approval of European traditionalists, a handful of KC supporters begrudgingly accept it. Key word here being "handful". I attended a Wiz game in 1996 in Arrowhead Stadium, where the supporters numbered in the high dozens and crowds barely approached five digits. In the NFL stadia that the league used in that era, it made such a crowd look miniscule. It's not that way anymore. The park is constantly full, the supporters are in force and now number in the thousands, and most importantly now have the backing of elements of the front office. This was by design when OnGoal acquired the club a few years ago and set in motion plans for a soccer-only stadium and local control of the team. Kansas City laid down a blueprint of how a supporters' section can suffer through Original Ten mediocrity and come out firing on the other side. They may not have Seattle's numbers or D.C.'s Tradition, but they've handled their challenges. The Day: 105, hotter than alien balls. If this game had started at 2 instead of 7, I may not have made it. The First Beer Someone Shoved in My Hand: There was plenty of perfectly good Boulevard Wheat Ale available, and I get handed a mixture of Vodka and Kool-Aid-style lemonade that tasted like Mike's First Miserable Attempt At Hard Lemonade. Disgusting, and hard for me to forgive. Chow: I was given a choclate cupcake. Unlike most supporter tailgates, the KC crowd didn't do the communal thing - it was every party for themselves. The Park: Livestrong Sporting Park is a gem. It sits between Kansas Speedway and Legends Shopping Center, is easy to get in and out of, sections are covered, the supporter's club is a modern soccer bar done right, and the sightlines are perfect (something learned from the teams' brutal stay at a local minor-league baseball park). Haven't seen Red Bull Arena or BBVA Park yet, but Sporting KC has the gold standard at the moment. The People: As the Cauldron (the umbrella under which all of SKC's supporters operate) have swelled in their ranks, many I spoke with seem to be fans in their 20's who came to a handful of Wiz games as children and have joined with the supporter's culture. SKC fans are also among the few who welcome opposing fans - a few dozen fans from Houston (that night's opponent) were huddled under the tents. Disappointments: The communal tailgate is a must, and its omission here is sad coming from the city that invented tailgating. I also wanted to take a lap around the concourse of the park to get a few pics, but the supporters' section behind the north goal was self contained - it was there or outside. Best Random Bit: Kansas City has a few possible rivals (Recreate the AFC West fight with Colorado? Fight for the love of the late Lamar Hunt with Dallas?), but the Front Office wants Chicago: The supporter's club bathroom urinal guards (if that's what they're called) are emblazoned with the words "Wiz on the Fire". Did You Even Watch the Game?: Kansas City was by far the better team, a 4:1 ratio of outshooting Houston. Jimmy Neilsen (the KC keeper) could have brought out a book to read. Houston couldn't break KC's midfield and the posts conspired against Kei Kamara all night. Nil-all draw, and Sporting hated giving up two points for a home game they completely owned. How Great Were the Fans?: SKC doesn't have the largest group by any means, and the passion of Portland and Chicago might have them beat. But I've NEVER seen a supporter's section interact and get followed as much by the casual fans as I did in KC. Many of the traditional soccer songs were known and sung by the crowd at large, a holy grail that has eluded nearly every club to this point. The jumbotron even showed a tween girl fan singing along with the infamous "wings of a sparrow" song, wisely cutting away before she could say what she'd do once she flew over Houston tomorrow. Being a Wiz/Wizards/Sporting supporter at this point in time must feel like nothing short of complete vindication for what you've loved all this time after dark early days. In any event, I'm also hoping to speak/chat with some of you as I'm also chronicling the American Supporter Culture for a book on my stops. I'd also like some more input, esp. from a lot of long-term KC supporters. Let me know what you think...
Pretty good, but with at least a couple of inaccuracies I have to correct: Just because we use Wiz and Wizards in some of our songs does not imply that we hate the SKC name, only that the songs work better with the word Wiz or Wizards. I use Wizards and SKC interchangeably, as I do football and soccer. In fact one of the more popular new songs is "Carefree" which ends in a deafening shout of S! K! C! No one could deny that there are fans who are resentful of the rebranding, but the mere fact that 90% of the fans now in the Cauldron were not there before the rebranding is strong counter evidence to your statement. Chicago and DC have been our most hated rivals for more than a decade, and the organization employs several of the team's earliest fans. I suspect the idea for the Fire urinal stoppers came from those individuals. I will say this as many times as I have to: there is nothing manufactured about our antipathy toward those clubs. Many of the newer supporters do seem to see Houston as our biggest rival. I don't believe Colorado will ever be a huge rival because we're too friendly with their fans, and there just isn't much competitive history between KC and Dallas, so that isn't happening either, not to mention both of those teams are in the other conference, which means that critical games against them will be sparse.
Not exactly sure how you define "communal" as I've never attended another group's tailgate. But as you noted, the weather was extremely hot (approx 104 F pregame). The Cauldron called OFF providing food that day due to weather.
I will also say that you are free to leave the members club and wander the stadium if you wish. You just cant take your beer out with you (or one back in from the rest of the stadium) and make sure you have your ticket!