2011 Sporting Kansas City

[Ez Street]

Sporting Kansas City will open the team?s state-of-the-art new stadium against the Chicago Fire on Thursday, June 9th, 2011. Major League Soccer unveiled details of home openers for all 18 clubs on Monday, highlighted by the announcement of First Kick in KC Soccer Stadium, the team?s $180 million home ground currently under construction in Kansas City, Kansas.

Sporting Kansas City 2011 season ticket packages begin at $14 per seat and are currently available as part of a holiday ticket special with no payment due until February. Interested individuals can purchase their 2011 season tickets and tour the KC Soccer Stadium at www.SportingKC.com/VirtualVenue or by calling 888-4KC-GOAL.

While match time and broadcast information for the home opener will be announced at a later date, Kansas City will play their first game of the 2011 MLS season at Chivas USA at 9:30 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 19th at The Home Depot Center in Carson, California. Sporting will then travel to Chicago for the Fire?s home opener the following weekend on Saturday, March 26th at 3 p.m. CT at Toyota Park in Bridgeview, Illinois.

The Fire?s return trip to Kansas City on June 9th will mark a momentous date in Kansas City soccer history as the city?s first professional soccer-specific stadium opens 18 months after breaking ground on the site near The Legends in Wyandotte County.

The stadium will seat 18,500 soccer spectators and features a canopy roof that will cover every seating section and includes a 2,016-square-foot HD video board on the south end and a 550-square-foot HD video board on the north end. The supporters section has a capacity of 2,000 seats and is complemented by an innovative Supporters Club, the first of its kind in MLS, and one of five club spaces throughout the building.

Sporting Kansas City and Major League Soccer enter their 16th season in 2011, which will feature two new expansion teams in the Vancouver Whitecaps and Portland Timbers, as every club plays each team twice in a 34-game season.

The full 2011 MLS schedule will be released by early February.

2011 SCHEDULE:
Saturday, March 19th: Sporting Kansas City at Chivas USA at 9:30 p.m. CT -- 2011 Season Opener
Saturday, March 26th: Sporting Kansas City at Chicago Fire at 3:00 p.m. CT
Thursday, June 9th: Sporting Kansas City vs. Chicago Fire (time TBD) ? 2011 Home Opener in KC Soccer Stadium
Tuesday, June 14th: 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup? doubleheader at KC Soccer Stadium (time TBD)

[Ez Street]

Sporting Kansas City forward Teal Bunbury was named to the U.S. Men?s National Team roster on Tuesday for the team?s January training camp in Carson, California at the Home Depot Center. The camp begins January 4th and will culminate with the United States? first international match of 2011 against Chile at 8 p.m. CT on Saturday, January 22nd.

The invitation is the second straight selection for Bunbury, who made his international debut in the United States? last match, a 1-0 victory over South Africa in November?s Nelson Mandela Challenge. Bunbury played 45 minutes in the friendly, replacing Robbie Findley to start the second half at Green Point Stadium.

Bunbury, who holds dual citizenship for the United States and Canada, is coming off a successful rookie season for Sporting Kansas City after being drafted fourth overall in the 2010 MLS SuperDraft out of Akron. The 20-year-old, one of four forwards and the fourth-youngest selection on the 24-player roster selected by Bradley, contributed five goals and two assists in 26 appearances, and also scored a goal in a U.S. Open Cup game in April and recorded an assist in Kansas City?s upset of Manchester United in July.
Bunbury was also chosen to Major League Soccer?s Generation adidas squad that traveled to Spain earlier this month. He scored three goals and added an assist in matches against the reserve sides for Real Madrid and Atletico Madrid.

The United States, ranked No. 18 in the final FIFA rankings of 2010, has two games scheduled for 2011 thus far. Following the first friendly against Chile, the United States will then travel to Cairo to face No. 9 Egypt on February 9th.

The United States will also compete in the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup in June. The tournament announced last week that Sporting Kansas City?s state-of-the-art stadium, currently under construction in Kansas City, Kansas, will host a Gold Cup first round doubleheader on June 14th as one of 11 host cities for the tournament.

In other international action, Sporting Kansas City defender Roger Espinoza is currently in camp with Honduras, who defeated Panama 2-1 on Saturday in an international friendly. Espinoza will now travel with Honduras to face the Catalonia National Team at 12:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday, December 28th at Estadi Olimpic de Montjuic in Barcelona, Spain. The Catalan XI squad will feature seven FC Barcelona players, including Carlos Puyol and Gerard Pique, and is managed by Johan Cruyff.

The friendly will be Honduras? final match of 2010, as the team prepares for the 2011 Central American Nations Cup to be held in Panama City in January. Espinoza has 16 appearances for Honduras, ranked No. 59 in the world, including two at the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa.

Sporting Kansas City striker Sunil Chhetri is on loan to the India National Team, who cancelled Sunday?s friendly against Qatar. India?s next scheduled international match is December 26th versus Syria.

[aknowledgeableperson]

What I found interesting on one sports site was an article that stated Major League Soccer may soon exceed NBA and NHL in average attendance per game.  Not sure how the average attendance is throughout the leagues but if this were to happen do we start talking about the Big 5 sports instead of the Big 4?  And that means the KC metro area has three of the five leagues represented in the area.  Any effect of diluting the market of adding another team?

[MidtownCat]

Those attendance numbers are kind of interesting.

http://www.mls-daily.com/2010/04/mls-at ... a-nhl.html

NFL – 67,508 (2009 season)
MLB – 30,213 (2009 season)
MLS – 18,452 (2010 season, as of 04/11/2010)
NBA – 17,110 (2009/10 season)
NHL – 17,004 (2009/10 season)
These figures are a little bit skewed; MLS teams play once or twice a week, while NBA and NHL teams sometimes play three or four times a week, which means that NBA and NHL games are still drawing more fans on a weekly basis.That’s not saying that MLS couldn’t draw those numbers a couple of times per week, mind you; only that, at the moment, they’re not trying to.

Equally impressive is how MLS attendance stacks up against the attendance of their sister leagues in Europe (according to European Football Statistics):

Bundesliga (GER): 42,790
English Premier League (ENG): 34,088
La Liga (ESP): 28,971
Serie A (ITA): 23,899
Ligue 1 (FRA): 20,119
Eredivisie (NED): 19,319
MLS (USA): 18,452
Championship (ENG): 18,113
Scottish Premier League (SCO): 15,128
Bundesliga 2 (GER): 15,056
So not only are they in the top ten, but they’re also ahead of Scotland and the Championship. Interesting.

[NDTeve]

Will not miss that opening...should be a blast!

[skim82]

I will plan on attending as many Sporting KC games as I can.

It's a comforting feeling to know that our MLS team is locally owned.  There's something to be said about civic leaders who actually live and work in our community. 

I'm not saying that the Hunts' are terrible people, but with the Cerner folks behind this club, you know they'll work harder to make Kansas Citians proud.

[KCMax]

I will plan on attending as many Sporting KC games as I can.

It's a comforting feeling to know that our MLS team is locally owned.  There's something to be said about civic leaders who actually live and work in our community. 

I'm not saying that the Hunts' are terrible people, but with the Cerner folks behind this club, you know they'll work harder to make Kansas Citians proud.

Are you saying David Glass does not work hard to make Kansas City proud?

[szazzy]

There is a farewell party for Jimmy Conrad tomorrow at 810 Zone on the Plaza from 5-8. It is raising money for the Child Protection Center in Kansas City.

http://cpcevents.org/conrad-event.html

[szazzy]

3 Draft picks selected - let's hope a couple of them pan out.

C.J. Sapong ? 10th Overall (1st Round) Position: Forward
Born: 12/27/1988
Height: 6-2
Weight: 185
College: James Madison University
Hometown: Manassas, Virginia
Citizenship: USA

J.T. Murray ? 32nd Overall (2nd Round) Position: Defender
Born: 08/04/1988
Height: 5-11
Weight: 165
College: University of Louisville
Hometown: Grove City, Ohio
Citizenship: USA

Konrad Warzycha ? 46th Overall (3rd Round) Position: Midfielder
Born: 02/14/1989
Height: 6-1
Weight: 190
College: Ohio State
Hometown: Dublin, Ohio
Citizenship: USA

Konrad is the son of Columbus Crew head coach Robert Warzycha.

[szazzy]

2 part interview with Rob Heineman. Lots of stuff in here, including that shirt and stadium sponsors would be announced soon. Most suprising to me was that he states that Sporting Kansas City is approaching 9,000 season tickets sold for this season with an eventual goal of 12,000 by the opener in June. When OnGoal purchased the team from Lamar Hunt, that season ticket holder number was rumored to be around 1,000.

http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2011/01/ ... tential-dp
http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2011/01/ ... sor-coming

[KCMax]

2 part interview with Rob Heineman. Lots of stuff in here, including that shirt and stadium sponsors would be announced soon. Most suprising to me was that he states that Sporting Kansas City is approaching 9,000 season tickets sold for this season with an eventual goal of 12,000 by the opener in June. When OnGoal purchased the team from Lamar Hunt, that season ticket holder number was rumored to be around 1,000.

http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2011/01/ ... tential-dp
http://www.sportingkc.com/news/2011/01/ ... sor-coming

Heineman may have let it slip that the Men's national team will be playing in the stadium.

[KCFutbol]

Heineman may have let it slip that the Men's national team will be playing in the stadium.

While I'd love to see that happen, I'm not holding my breath.

Another rumor making the rounds is Barcelona coming to KC for the 2011 All-Star Game. Rob was pretty non-committal about that one, too.

[Ez Street]

I think it's safe to say the USMNT will play here this season, whether it's in the Gold Cup or for a Friendly, it'll probably happen.

As far as Bar?a, it would have to be part of a U.S. tour that included the ASG. Similar to what ManU did last summer. You want to absolutely pack that 18,500 seat stadium, Bar?a will overflow that bad boy. There is no way they'd come over for just one game in Sporting Park. You know they'd have to hit New York and probably two other locations including KC.

[bobbyhawks]

I think it's safe to say the USMNT will play here this season, whether it's in the Gold Cup or for a Friendly, it'll probably happen.

As far as Bar?a, it would have to be part of a U.S. tour that included the ASG. Similar to what ManU did last summer. You want to absolutely pack that 18,500 seat stadium, Bar?a will overflow that bad boy. There is no way they'd come over for just one game in Sporting Park. You know they'd have to hit New York and probably two other locations including KC.

Playing Barcelona in the new stadium would be cool, but also an incredible waste.  If Barcelona comes to town and they do not have the game at Arrowhead, they will be letting a lot of fringe and future fans down.  Frankly, Arrowhead would be a great place for the ASG due to its recent renovations.

[KCFutbol]

Playing Barcelona in the new stadium would be cool, but also an incredible waste.  If Barcelona comes to town and they do not have the game at Arrowhead, they will be letting a lot of fringe and future fans down.  Frankly, Arrowhead would be a great place for the ASG due to its recent renovations.

All true, but the reason we would be getting the MLS ASG is because of the new stadium. Chelsea played the MLS All-Stars at Toyota Park in Chicago which is only a couple of thousand larger than "Sporting Park".

But from strictly a $$'s standpoint Arrowhead makes more sense.

[bobbyhawks]

All true, but the reason we would be getting the MLS ASG is because of the new stadium. Chelsea played the MLS All-Stars at Toyota Park in Chicago which is only a couple of thousand larger than "Sporting Park".

But from strictly a $$'s standpoint Arrowhead makes more sense.

Sure, but the only reason could also be because Arrowhead is newly renovated and actively seeking big name events.  In my mind, the MLS needs to use this game more than anything else to boost their image.  Having a 70k+ stadium says something.  Not that there is anything wrong with the new stadium (other than its location).  I love the design and think it would be amazing if we got the ASG, but it would be best for the entire league to have the game in a big stadium.  Perhaps they are afraid of a big stadium looking empty?

[KCFutbol]

Sure, but the only reason could also be because Arrowhead is newly renovated and actively seeking big name events.  In my mind, the MLS needs to use this game more than anything else to boost their image.  Having a 70k+ stadium says something.  Not that there is anything wrong with the new stadium (other than its location).  I love the design and think it would be amazing if we got the ASG, but it would be best for the entire league to have the game in a big stadium.  Perhaps they are afraid of a big stadium looking empty?

With Barça as the opponent? Hardly seems likely. Barça fanboys will travel from all over the midwest. I can see it outdrawing the Wiz v ManU match last year which had over 53K in attendance.

[KCPowercat]

Anybody headed to the snowball fight at noon at umkc with Kia?

[szazzy]

Anybody headed to the snowball fight at noon at umkc with Kia?

I went - an absolute blast. I work out of the house so my schedule is pretty flexible. The Cauldron and Kei Kamara just made it happen together out of nothing on twitter last night. Kei Kamara mentions he's never been in a snowball fight, and 18 hours later it was happening.

A bit of sledding off jumps, a bit of snow soccer, and something like a 20-on-20 snowball fight. The snow was still really powdery but a few fans showed up early and pre-made a couple hundred or so. Kei tried to tackle the snowman in the pictures, but it was made last night by someone I'm guessing and was solid ice - he got the worst end of it.

Michael Harrington (who just re-signed with the team yesterday...best news of the off-season), Matt Besler, and Jon Kempin showed up too, then Kei took everyone who made it out for lunch at Chipotle. Good snow day and no one blew a knee.

Photos here - http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2 ... 5625502041

http://www.westsidestudiokc.com/2011/01 ... all-fight/

and a short video recap
http://kctv.neulion.com/mlsvp/console.j ... 0&id=11286

[KCMax]

Do a lot of the players make their homes here? I guess I just kinda figured after the season they went back to their permanent homes, or played in winter leagues in the southern hemisphere or something. Really cool that Kamara lives here and is embracing the community.