New Riverfront Women's Soccer Stadium

[KCtoBrooklyn]

Artificial turf is really not ideal for soccer - not just injuries, but the way the ball rolls and bounces differently affects the game. I might be forgetting something, but I can't think of a soccer specific stadium (constructed by a soccer team who would be the primary tenant) being built with artificial turf, unless perhaps there are extreme weather elements that make maintaining grass impossible.

I agree that artificial turf would be better for maximizing the multiple uses, but I'm not sure the Current will want to make that compromise.

2 of the 3 are soccer specific artificial fields

2 of what 3?

[normalthings]

Artificial turf is really not ideal for soccer - not just injuries, but the way the ball rolls and bounces differently affects the game. I might be forgetting something, but I can't think of a soccer specific stadium (constructed by a soccer team who would be the primary tenant) being built with artificial turf, unless perhaps there are extreme weather elements that make maintaining grass impossible.

I agree that artificial turf would be better for maximizing the multiple uses, but I'm not sure the Current will want to make that compromise.

2 of the 3 are soccer specific artificial fields

2 of what 3?

women's teams on artificial home turf

[KCtoBrooklyn]

I'm still not quite sure what you are referring to. There are 3 NWSL teams that play at least a portion of their games on artificial surface.

One is Seattle, which plays on Lumen Field, built by the Seahawks.

Another is Portland, which plays in Providence Park, home of the Timbers. The stadium originally dates back to 1893 and has been (and continues to be) used for multiple purposes. It might be considered "soccer specific" today, but that is not true to it's origins/history and it was not built by a soccer club. Also, that is one example where the conditions would make maintaining grass very difficult.

The last is Washington, which splits their home games between Audi Field (home of DC United) which is natural grass, and Segra Field, a rinky dink stadium built for a 3rd tier minor league team (USL Championship). It's more the equivalent of Swope Soccer Village than what the Current are proposing.

[Cratedigger]

For the record, the Riverside training facility will have two grass pitches and a turf mini pitch. Don't think that necessarily indicates anything for the stadium though

[normalthings]

3D Model of new stadium

[AlkaliAxel]

Talked to one of the people on this project and they emphasized to me that there will be basically zero parking involved with the stadium.

This person told me "they're gambling big time that the streetcar will be enough to fill most of the seats" with some Uber mixed in.

[Karambit25]

Talked to one of the people on this project and they emphasized to me that there will be basically zero parking involved with the stadium.

This person told me "they're gambling big time that the streetcar will be enough to fill most of the seats" with some Uber mixed in.

Would dedicated shuttle buses from the City Market and 7th and Main work for game nights?

[normalthings]

Talked to one of the people on this project and they emphasized to me that there will be basically zero parking involved with the stadium.

This person told me "they're gambling big time that the streetcar will be enough to fill most of the seats" with some Uber mixed in.

Would dedicated shuttle buses from the City Market and 7th and Main work for game nights?

Once the walking bridge is open, I can cycle to a game. How exciting is that!

[taxi]

Talked to one of the people on this project and they emphasized to me that there will be basically zero parking involved with the stadium.

This person told me "they're gambling big time that the streetcar will be enough to fill most of the seats" with some Uber mixed in.

Would dedicated shuttle buses from the City Market and 7th and Main work for game nights?

Once the walking bridge is open, I can cycle to a game. How exciting is that!

That is exciting. And it's incredibly depressing how unfriendly it is to get there on a bike or on foot, at present. I'm looking forward to it.

[alejandro46]

I think parking either at Rivermarket or at the Casino overflow lots makes sense. Wonder if the Casino will start validating/charging for parking?

[dukuboy1]

Talked to one of the people on this project and they emphasized to me that there will be basically zero parking involved with the stadium.

This person told me "they're gambling big time that the streetcar will be enough to fill most of the seats" with some Uber mixed in.

Woah, that is a huge gamble considering my guess is 70% of your season ticket holders and maybe 75-80% of your match attendance will be from the surrounding suburbs. I know women's soccer is popular especially with young women and girls from pee-wee, to varsity level. A lot of young women even play at the college level from the KC area. But those fans are not living within the Urban Core/downtown.

I suspect they will work out parking with the Casino and maybe someone will build a lot nearby that can be used for match days/nights and the general public for those accessing amenities within the River Park area. Streetcar will be useful but I can see a lot of people needing at least some sort of park & ride area to access the street car to take to the park.

I hope they have a better plan in place beyond the streetcar & Uber, and hope it works out

[AlkaliAxel]

Talked to one of the people on this project and they emphasized to me that there will be basically zero parking involved with the stadium.

This person told me "they're gambling big time that the streetcar will be enough to fill most of the seats" with some Uber mixed in.

Woah, that is a huge gamble considering my guess is 70% of your season ticket holders and maybe 75-80% of your match attendance will be from the surrounding suburbs. I know women's soccer is popular especially with young women and girls from pee-wee, to varsity level. A lot of young women even play at the college level from the KC area. But those fans are not living within the Urban Core/downtown.

I suspect they will work out parking with the Casino and maybe someone will build a lot nearby that can be used for match days/nights and the general public for those accessing amenities within the River Park area. Streetcar will be useful but I can see a lot of people needing at least some sort of park & ride area to access the street car to take to the park.

I hope they have a better plan in place beyond the streetcar & Uber, and hope it works out

I think most of the attendees will be people from urban core looking for an event to go to

[Critical_Mass]

Talked to one of the people on this project and they emphasized to me that there will be basically zero parking involved with the stadium.

This person told me "they're gambling big time that the streetcar will be enough to fill most of the seats" with some Uber mixed in.

Woah, that is a huge gamble considering my guess is 70% of your season ticket holders and maybe 75-80% of your match attendance will be from the surrounding suburbs. I know women's soccer is popular especially with young women and girls from pee-wee, to varsity level. A lot of young women even play at the college level from the KC area. But those fans are not living within the Urban Core/downtown.

I suspect they will work out parking with the Casino and maybe someone will build a lot nearby that can be used for match days/nights and the general public for those accessing amenities within the River Park area. Streetcar will be useful but I can see a lot of people needing at least some sort of park & ride area to access the street car to take to the park.

I hope they have a better plan in place beyond the streetcar & Uber, and hope it works out

Unless things have changed, the 'basically zero parking involved' take is hyperbole. From the citysceneKC article in October:

For people arriving by car, temporary parking with 2,000 spaces will be provided on Parcels 4, 5 and 6 controlled by Port KC. Stephens said as future development occurs, parking for events at the stadium will be included in the projects.

I wouldn't consider it abundant, but if you have 2 to 4 people per carload they can accommodate 6,000 fans out of the max 11,000 seats before you consider street parking.

[DColeKC]

The NWSL averages 7,300/game so I sure hope they're not banking on public transportation being the main mode of transportation.

[dukuboy1]

Talked to one of the people on this project and they emphasized to me that there will be basically zero parking involved with the stadium.

This person told me "they're gambling big time that the streetcar will be enough to fill most of the seats" with some Uber mixed in.

Woah, that is a huge gamble considering my guess is 70% of your season ticket holders and maybe 75-80% of your match attendance will be from the surrounding suburbs. I know women's soccer is popular especially with young women and girls from pee-wee, to varsity level. A lot of young women even play at the college level from the KC area. But those fans are not living within the Urban Core/downtown.

I suspect they will work out parking with the Casino and maybe someone will build a lot nearby that can be used for match days/nights and the general public for those accessing amenities within the River Park area. Streetcar will be useful but I can see a lot of people needing at least some sort of park & ride area to access the street car to take to the park.

I hope they have a better plan in place beyond the streetcar & Uber, and hope it works out

I think most of the attendees will be people from urban core looking for an event to go to

Respectfully, I disagree with that opinion that the majority will be from the urban core. Yes there will be some people from the surrounding area who will attend, looking for something to do. The demographics of the fan base for women's soccer, NWSL, skews heavy to suburban residents. The upside is the stadium is being designed to hold about 10K with expansion options over time if needed. My guess is they pull about 7000-8000 per match. They will have more when it first opens but settle down into that range after. So you don't need a lot of parking to accommodate fans.

Will the residents in the Urban core close to the stadium attend? Yes they will, but they will most likely not be the majority and that's not a knock on them. If you are a 20 or 30 something person with disposable income a lot of times spending it on sports is not a huge priority. Soccer is popular, Sporting KC does well, but it is still a niche sport on the pro level, but making gains against the old guard of MLB, NFL, NBA, and NHL. NWSL is even a bit more of a niche on the pro level. I'd say the women's national team is a big draw but so are the events they typically play in, World Cup, Olympics, etc.

Again, I'm not trying to be a hater, just realistically looking at things from a wholistic viewpoint. The Current will be one of if not the most successful NWSL franchise once the stadium is finished. They will have that and top notch facilities in Riverside. Plus with the other facilities for the Women's National Team in town, KC will become a women's soccer mecca so to speak, and in general continue to grow their brand of KC being a "soccer town" overall.

[DColeKC]

^ Agree with you. I'm very comfortable saying 80%+ will be from the burbs for these games, possibly closer to 85%.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them towards the top end of NWSL attendance either.

[AlkaliAxel]

Project is over budget as well by several mil. Still on track right now though.

[GRID]

^ Agree with you. I'm very comfortable saying 80%+ will be from the burbs for these games, possibly closer to 85%.

I wouldn't be surprised to see them towards the top end of NWSL attendance either.

Not to mention the fact that the vast majority of residents in the KC area and in any American city live in suburban areas. I mean how many people (and I mean people that have the means to even attend pro sporting events) live in the central KCMO corridor from the Plaza to River Market? 100k tops? Out of the 2.2 million in the metro and the 2.6 million in the general KC region?

I have said the same thing about the baseball stadium. I go to many games in DC and Baltimore every year and the vast majority of the fans I run into live nowhere near the stadiums and Nats stadium has like 40k residents literally within a five minute walk.

It would be silly to design any stadium around thinking that a majority of the fans will come from the city center. That's doesn't happen anywhere in America especially in a city like KC.

I also don't see how a tram will even move 5000 people to and from a stadium on the riverfront in a matter of 30 minutes to a hour. Especially since the river market area will be clogged with cars at the same times. I guess it's possible, but you guys all have this very different vision of how many people a single traffic running streetcar will move. But this will be a good test before bringing an even bigger stadium downtown.

It's all good though. At least KC will have a transit system started that can always be improved and expanded on.

[AlkaliAxel]

I mean how many people (and I mean people that have the means to even attend pro sporting events) live in the central KCMO corridor from the Plaza to River Market? 100k tops?

For a $5 ticket and no parking with free streetcar? Literally anyone.

[GRID]

I mean how many people (and I mean people that have the means to even attend pro sporting events) live in the central KCMO corridor from the Plaza to River Market? 100k tops?

For a $5 ticket and no parking with free streetcar? Literally anyone.

Doesn't mean they will "want" to go. I know KC is a little different than most cities, but not everybody cares about sports especially a niche league like women's soccer.

They will draw well but it will be from the entire region and probably mostly from the more affluent suburbs.