World Cup 2026 at Arrowhead?

[WoodDraw]

So we got a pretty fun draw:

Arrowhead will be: USA vs. Uruguay

And CMP will be: Peru vs. Canada or Trinidad and Tobago

Obviously KC will be hoping for Canada there.

Not bad at all...

[TheSmokinPun]

Could have drawn Bolivia or Panama, so clearly got the best game in the group. Arrowhead should be rocking for that one.

But I'll probably end up having more fun at the other game, especially if it's T&T v Peru for a better international atmosphere. I'd highly suggest going to that game to get a great feel for world soccer without having to travel & probably without having to pay a ton to go.

[swid]

Arrowhead now has another warmup event for 2026, with SKC moving the Messi Inter Miami game there.

[TheSmokinPun]

Complete cash grab and caters more to fans of other teams/Messi instead of catering to your own fans. Hate this.

[WoodDraw]

I'm okay with it as long as they don't fuck over the season ticket holders.

I support arsenal and they do this often with the women's club. Play the big matches at the main stadium. It allows more people to see the game and increases interest.

It's for sure a cash grab, but I have a hard time getting angry.

MLS had always been more marketing than integrity of the sport.

[Cratedigger]

Complete cash grab and caters more to fans of other teams/Messi instead of catering to your own fans. Hate this.

Why?

As long as season ticket holders still get a spot I don’t see how opening up access to more people to watch Messi play is a bad thing.

It’s still a home game - just with more seats so it gives opportunity for more people to come.

[KCtoBrooklyn]

I get why season ticket holders would be upset. It sounds like for some, the tickets and experience might be slightly downgraded. But I think the biggest reason some are upset is that they wanted to sell their tickets for big bucks.

Yes, this may be a cash grab, but I'd rather the team make money than scalpers.

There were going to be tons of Messi fans at the match either way. At least now, more SKC fans/average Kansas Citians can go without spending $500 (that the Messi stans would have happily paid anyway at CMP).

Plus, this is good for the city and should provide a nice little tourism boost for that weekend.

[WoodDraw]

Complete cash grab and caters more to fans of other teams/Messi instead of catering to your own fans. Hate this.

Why?

As long as season ticket holders still get a spot I don’t see how opening up access to more people to watch Messi play is a bad thing.

It’s still a home game - just with more seats so it gives opportunity for more people to come.

I think the people against it would disagree. It's no longer a home game, but a game for tourists. Instead of playing in front of their supporters at home, they'll be playing in front of a bunch of Messi shirts for money.


I can see both sides.

[dukuboy1]

Complete cash grab and caters more to fans of other teams/Messi instead of catering to your own fans. Hate this.

Uhhh. pretty sure SKC is not a non-profit company. Of course it is a "cash grab" as you call it. Any franchise needs to maximize every opportunity to generate revenue where & when they can. That money goes back into the team, facilities, players, etc.

SKC ranked 19th on per game avg attendance out of 29 clubs in 2023. 15th in 2022, although all of MLS was up in 2023 so the avg is higher in 2023. Having not rebounded fully from their 330K roughly yearly avg they had from 12/13-17/18 seasons. They still top 300K which good, but lower-middle of the pack. So they need revenue and if this can do it for you awesome. Place will be filled with Messi kits and for most in the stands this may be their only chance or one of a handful of legit chances to see the man play. Pack Arrowhead to the gills and show the soccer world why KC earned it's nickname of soccer capital of USA.

Plus, baseball does this all the time, especially with the Royals sucking so bad the last 7-8 yrs. Most of their marketing is promoting their limited stars but mainly the stars of the visiting team.

[aknowledgeableperson]

The top three items for sports teams are money, money, money. And the fourth item is more money. What would be an interesting comparison would be the team's average revenue per game vs what the team will make at Arrowhead with Messi.

[KCtoBrooklyn]

I don't think we will ever know how much extra the team will make by moving the game to Arrowhead, but here is my speculation.

Arrowhead is about 76k while CMP is about 21k with SRO. But the difference in extra tickets sold will be an even greater. I would guess there are about 14k season tickets holders, so they could only sell about 7k tickets outside of season tickets at CMP vs 62k extra tickets at Arrowhead. Moreover, I would think the majority of suites and other premium tickets are held by season ticket holders, and I would assume Arrowhead has more suite/club seats to sell. Also, CMP has free parking and I'm sure that won't be the case at Arrowhead.

But, let's take a simple approach: there will be an extra 55k people at Arrowhead. Tickets start at $65, but I would guess that average price will easily be over $100. Add in parking, concessions, and merchandise and I would think the average amount spent per person would conservatively be $150-200. Multiply that by 55k and that would be an extra $8.25M-$11M in revenue. I'm sure the Chiefs are getting a cut and there will be other extra expenses, but it seems like the club could net an extra $6-10M from moving the game.

That is a big chunk of money for an MLS team. The highest transfer fee the club has paid for a player (by a wide margin) is the $9.5M for Alan Pulido. Sporting does have an open DP spot, so this could be the difference between signing a typical baseline DP level guy for a transfer of $1-2M or making a higher level, Pulido type signing. Obviously, there is no guarantee that this money will go back into the club or into a single DP signing, but the SKC ownership doesn't strike me as the type that are just looking to pocket some extra cash through the increased revenue.

This is why I think those who are upset about the move from a competitive standpoint are misguided. First off all, I'm not convinced that the change in home field advantage from CMP to Arrowhead will be that drastic - at least when it comes to having a significant impact on the outcome of the match. But even if the club were to hypothetically trade a home match for a true road match in exchange for $10M to spend on a DP transfer, I would take that trade in a heartbeat.

[DColeKC]

I'm not surprised that some SKC fans are upset. The most entitled fans in all of sports are soccer fans. They think they should be consulted on every move a team makes from concession prices to the roster.

Who wouldn't want to see SKC play in a packed Arrowhead? That's bucket list type sports watching for me.

[KCtoBrooklyn]

Tickets went for the Miami match went on sale today. Looks like nearly all of the tickets besides the club seats are sold out.

There are a handful of upper deck tickets for $150. I guess the "starting at $65" were the very top of the nose bleed, and those are all gone. Club level seas are $400-$550. Looks like 6 lower bowl tickets are left at this time: $275-$450.

My previous conservative estimate of an average outlay per person of $150-200 definitely seems low now. Probably $250+ pretty easily.

I did just pull up SeatGeek. No surprise that a lot of the tickets look like they were sold to scalpers and have ended up there.

[swid]

Both SKC and Chiefs season ticket holders had presale windows (I don't know generous the Chiefs-side one was, but I could have bought up to eight additional tickets in the Cauldron if I had wanted), so it probably wasn't *just* the usual "Ticketmaster bots" bogeyman accounting for the lack of tickets by the time the public sale window opened.

[aknowledgeableperson]

If scalpers did buy up most of those tickets then SKC underpriced the tickets.

[TheSmokinPun]

Nah, Ticketmaster is just that easy to get around for bots to just grab. You can't "underprice" tickets when you brag about wanting it to be affordable.

They've made their bed & they're ready to sleep in it without a good majority of their fanbase. Going to be interesting to see how they dig out of this one, and I'm not just talking about the Messi game.

[DColeKC]

They're currently more considered with the hiring of front office staffer than soccer. They seem to think this is a social club and not a professional sports franchise.

[TheSmokinPun]

They're currently more considered with the hiring of front office staffer than soccer. They seem to think this is a social club and not a professional sports franchise.

Oh I'm very aware, I've been part of this community for a decade and a half now. The team fired the first shots.

[DColeKC]

They're currently more considered with the hiring of front office staffer than soccer. They seem to think this is a social club and not a professional sports franchise.

Oh I'm very aware, I've been part of this community for a decade and a half now. The team fired the first shots.

By not consulting with fans before making a hiring decision? The guy made a mistake, paid the price and is now being brought in at a much less significant position. SKC ownership and FO can't do anything right. The "fans" complain about every detail. I would have sold it by now.

[aknowledgeableperson]

Nah, Ticketmaster is just that easy to get around for bots to just grab. You can't "underprice" tickets when you brag about wanting it to be affordable.

They've made their bed & they're ready to sleep in it without a good majority of their fanbase. Going to be interesting to see how they dig out of this one, and I'm not just talking about the Messi game.

"Affordable" is a matter of opinion. I was in the ticket business for many years, when concert tickets were less than $10 till they went well over $100 and KC Kings tickets were under $10 also. Chiefs and Royals tickets were also cheap.
Had talks with promoters, team GMs, and band managers. They all contended with scalpers (KC and other cities at one time had laws about selling tickets over face value) and made comments about what the scalpers were reselling tickets for.
There is more to the story but that is for another time. Basically the thought was if the scalpers can get those "inflated" prices they all wanted a piece of that higher price.