Sporting KC
Sporting KC moves Miami game to Arrowhead
SKC has relocated the match vs Messi
Sporting Kansas City has announced that the match versus Miami has been relocated. The April 13th match against Inter Miami CF has been changed from Children’s Mercy Park to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. The demand for tickets for matches versus Lionel Messi was intense last season and is expected to still be high.
The match will also be the 28th anniversary of the club’s inaugural match on April 13, 1996, when the Kansas City Wiz beat the Colorado Rapids 3-0. Digital Takawira scored a brace and Frank Klopas added a goal. As an MLS original, the Kansas City Wiz/Wizards played at Arrowhead from 1996-2008 when they relocated to Community America Ballpark. The team rebranded as Sporting Kansas City and moved into their current stadium in 2011.
Not only does Lionel Messi play for Miami but former Barcelona teammates Luis Suarez, Sergio Busquets & Jordi Alba are also on the South Florida team’s roster. While loaded with veteran firepower it is unknown if any of them will be in the game-day roster.
Sporting KC has stated that the tickets for the match will start at $65 for the general public and will go on sale at 12 p.m. on January 16 via Ticketmaster. Current Sporting KC season ticket members will have their tickets moved.
Welcome to @GEHAField, Sporting Nation 🏟️#SportingKC will host Inter Miami CF at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday, April 13. A once in a lifetime experience right here in the Soccer Capital of America.
Details 📰 https://t.co/N104PJDW9Q pic.twitter.com/CZgD3U3hnt
— Sporting Kansas City (@SportingKC) January 8, 2024
“This match has generated an unprecedented amount of interest since Major League Soccer released our schedule less than three weeks ago,” said Sporting Kansas City President and CEO Jake Reid via press release. “We believe this will be the biggest event in Kansas City this spring and we are proud to partner with Arrowhead Events to provide an incredible experience for our fans and our team. The opportunity to host this match, which is set to be Lionel Messi’s first MLS match in the Midwest, at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium is especially exciting as our region prepares to host Copa America matches this summer and FIFA World Cup matches in 2026.”
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Hardly surprising. I personally don’t have a horse in this race, but to think any club hosting Miami so long as he’s there isn’t at the very least crunching numbers regarding a move to a bigger stadium (if applicable) is naive.
In another post someone commented this isn’t “Messi League Soccer”. To hell it isn’t. This league cares about $$$, not the fans. Have we already forgotten the Open Cup BS from last month? Frankly, Sporting is consistently proving to be just the same. They don’t want to show off CMP or the club culture. They want Me$$i.
This is my frustration. I get the club needs money to improve. Gotta pay to upgrade infrastructure and players. But to just so blatantly show their fans over and over that cash grabs are more important than loyal fans is very disheartening. Especially after the club operated so differently for so long.
It definitely is the Messi soccer league. He gets a share of league profits!
Saw Coutino linked with a Miami transfer. Guess they’ll bring him in as an academy call-up///
Yeah, I don’t know how they can sign him. The others that aren’t on DP deals seem plausible. But if they do this, when he’s still young enough to command huge wages, that has to be the final straw that some (more) cheating is happening in Miami.
And you wonder why some of us don’t want to reward Miami with adulation and special treatment?
I had season tickets from the last season at Arrowhead until 2017 and I cancelled them because the club showed over and over that they didn’t gaf about the fans by taking away benefits and increasing prices. I got back in after this last year thinking that they had turned a corner after the letter from the supporter groups. Boy was I wrong.
I will be seeking a refund for my 3500-a-seat package. I know it ain’t much to the club, but it’s all I can do. I refuse to give money to a club that only exists to enrich billionaires.
Here’s what I sent to my ticket rep:
Thanks for the info, but it’s disappointing on several counts.
Arrowhead isn’t a very good place to watch soccer. I know the sight lines will be ‘similar’, but it’s a shallower seat pitch and we’ll be farther from the field.
Access to the stadium is terrible, especially leaving afterwards. It’s also on the other side of the city for me, and all the other STMs in Johnson county.
More tickets means more access to Messi fans. So much for any home field advantage.
Finally, Ticketmaster. I’ve had nothing but problems dealing with them over the years; even now, they’ve blocked my access because their algorithm believes I’m a bot.
All in all, a decision that doesn’t put STMs first and certainly is sub-optimal for me. A red card for SKC management.
And, there is this: While loaded with veteran firepower it is unknown if any of them will be in the game-day roster.
What’s the uproar going to be for the first team to move venues and/or jack prices, then have Messi and Barcelona 2015 sit out for reasons?
Last fall: “Mindful that Messi may not play, Chicago said on Tuesday they will offer a $250 credit toward new memberships for next season — or a $50 credit for anyone unable to use the new member credit — to all single-game ticket buyers who attend the Miami match regardless of which players make an appearance.”
I don’t think I’ve ever been more disgusted with this franchise than right now. Guess the team wants to be a celebrity-chasing tabloid rather than a club dedicated to its loyal fans. I’ve written enough about this on other threads and I don’t have it in me to repeat it all.
I bet the Wilkinson hiring just increased that disgust.
SKC are becoming increasingly difficult to support.
Do you all think the team reads KCSJ? Can I be held responsible for this?
I personally had decided it almost surely wasn’t happening. I had no inside information that it was ever even on the table (and I was actually given some grief that I made it sound like it was legit in my other pieces and my podcast, when it was just an op-ed).
I’m a little surprised it’s happening for all the reasons you all mention. Upsetting STM and Messi maybe not playing above everything else.
Well, at least now you have a better chance of scoring your free press tickets, since I would guess the geha press boxes were much larger. I would be more impressed if you actually paid for a ticket then had to endure the game in a lousy for-soccer stadium.
Yeah, I did have that press box thought. And I’ve been coordinating to get tickets for friends/family with a podcast follower using their STM hook-up.
I do put in an unreasonable amount of time and effort on this website and soccer related content, so while I know I have a privilege at times, I also feel like it’s one anyone that wants to dedicate the time to the cause could get. The barrier for entry into KC soccer writing is relatively low. I hope I’ve gotten better over the years, but I’m definitely a work in progress.
But I am grateful for the perks I get! Hopefully this is one more of them.
It was discussed long before we even knew it was on the schedule.
I’m excited for it! Grew up going to Wizards games at Arrowhead so it will be very cool to be back. I hope they maximize it by making it throwback night and going through the same pregame.
Go break the KC and Missouri records for attendance to a soccer game. Grow the game by impressing the non-Sporting fans and turn some of them into fans just like we did in 2010 with the win over Manchester United…
Keep ticket prices affordable (reportedly $65). Give STMs good seats and free parking (which seems to be the case). Give the Cauldron lots of tickets right behind the goal to create a home atmosphere.
I have real doubts about this creating new fans. Idk how this grows the game either. It’s not a club showcase like the Man U game was (also a friendly and not a meaningful league game). This is done to showcase a player for another team.
People will be attending a Sporting KC match that normally would not. That’s a good thing. Same thing occurs during meaningful CCL games vs Mexican teams…
“People will attend a sporting KC match that normally would not.”
Can sporting KC convert those fans to SKC fans? Probably not. Against Mexican teams or even ManU there isn’t a crowding out effect bc they’re not in the same league. So you can go watch ManU play and be surprised by KC and adopt them as your MLS team.
That’s not how it’s going to work with Messi. He’s in the league. So all the Argentina fans or Barca fans who show up for Messi stay loyal to him and won GAF about SKC. It’s also not a home game. Playing at arrowhead doesn’t have the same appeal or atmosphere as CMP.
People who think this will convert fans are DRASTICALLY overestimating how many people this will convert.
It’s catering to an opponent’s fans and the ultra casuals by shedding what makes our club special. It’s pathetic and won’t work.
According to Bukaty, SKC sold 1,500 tickets the day after the Man U game. I don’t expect that here… but there will be some. Very very few of the people going to the game who aren’t SKC fans are actually Miami fans… they’re local to KC and going for the event that is watching the best player in history. The idea that some of them can’t be moved down the ladder – some converted to soccer fans… some of them to MLS and Sporting fans… is ridiculous. It’s way more likely imo that they convert those people than the Mexican fans at a CCL match. This is a very similar group of people that went to the Man U game.
The question is not if STMs are upset, but how many STMs are upset. As previously posted in your original article, I am one STM who is not upset. I have no clue what the percentage will be on either side but maybe the club does and is willing to take whatever heat results.
If Messi doesn’t play this is going to be really embarrassing.
As a pissed off STM, I hope he doesn’t play!!
I’m totally neutral on this subject; I wouldn’t mind one bit if it stayed at CMP, but I couldn’t care less that it’s at a different location, because I still get to go to the game. Is it the same atmosphere as CMP? Nope, it definitely won’t be. Will I be as close to the field and be able to hear the players and see the sweat on the faces? Nah, probably not.
But, will any of that make an ounce of a difference for me as a fan in terms of going to every other game this season? Nope, it won’t.
I just don’t understand the upheaval over this. It’s one game, why are people acting like they just announced the whole season will be played at Arrowhead? It’s a profit-focused industry, of course they’re going to take advantage of a cash grab like this.
Granted, I don’t think this will generate any new SKC fans, but if it makes 50,000 other people – who wouldn’t be able to go if it was at CMP – excited to see one of the best players in the history of the sport, who cares? Let them be happy, wear their Messi jerseys, wave their Argentina flags, and then never give SKC a second thought after the game. It’s okay for that to happen, and should be expected.
Like Kat said, it shouldn’t surprise any of us that the team and the league care and focus on money. It’s nothing new, and why are people acting like it is?
I 100% expect none of the money to be truly re-invested into the organization, but guess what: that wouldn’t happen if it was played at CMP either.
It is what it is. It’s not ruining anyone’s season, it’s not going to affect anything except maybe take away home field advantage (and let’s not act like CMP is the fortress is used to be anyways), and it’s one game. Enjoy it, let others who just want to see Messi enjoy it, and embrace the Soccer-community vibes of it, and just have fun with it.
I think the team needs to market this game hard to get the most people in the seats. I remember going to Wiz games at Arrowhead as a kid, but it would be awesome if the stadium was full. If you want this to not just be a sea Messi shirts, tell everyone you know to come to this game; make it a KC game for Kansas City pride. I’m tempted to fly back to KC to see this match because I hope the atmosphere will be awesome. It is happening, so let’s get on board, get pumped, and show out.
I also think they should do some sort of ticket package combo: for an extra $20-25 get a $30 voucher to see a match at CMP later in the year. Get fans of international football to come see a match with Messi, then try to gain them as SKC fans in a second match. There are lots of people that follow European/International football that don’t have a MLS team, this should be a chance to get them interested in our city’s team.
“Granted, I don’t think this will generate any new SKC fans, but if it makes 50,000 other people – who wouldn’t be able to go if it was at CMP – excited to see one of the best players in the history of the sport, who cares? Let them be happy, wear their Messi jerseys, wave their Argentina flags, and then never give SKC a second thought after the game. It’s okay for that to happen, and should be expected.”
Why cater to those people at the expense of the team and dedicated fans? This isn’t charity. You don’t have a god given right to watch Messi play. The club should do everything in its power to exert home field advantage and win points. Punting the game to a bigger stadium so an opponents fans can see him play? Fucking dumb.
David, still waiting for your angry op-ed… (I wish I could use my favorite sweating/grinning emoji here…, I’ll work on that for the comments).
Channel that anger into bringing people to the KCSJ. I think, maybe because of some of my writing, people think we are a mouthpiece of the team (ironically, I get in trouble sometimes for the stuff I write). This would be an opportunity to show we don’t all agree. I know Mike is pretty upset too.
In all seriousness, I think it would make a good story. That said, I know your personal life is busier than mine.
I’ve been resisting the urge to collect my various long-winded comments into an organized editorial. Especially now that it’s a done deal (and likely was months ago) so nothing any of us say or do will have much effect. If the team gave a rat’s ass about what fans thought or felt, much of this backlash might not even be there because it’s probably rooted in fans already feeling disrespected and taken for granted by the team.
Fans who already feel well-treated might feel differently about this than fans who do not, and as last year showed, that latter group is pretty significant and hasn’t changed their minds just because the team squeaked into an expanded playoff slot and embarrassed itself vs. Houston.
Exactly. Schedule an off-season friendly if you want to do public service and fundraising. This isn’t like opening the upper deck at the Benz.
“Why cater to those people at the expense of the team and dedicated fans? This isn’t charity. You don’t have a god given right to watch Messi play. The club should do everything in its power to exert home field advantage and win points. Punting the game to a bigger stadium so an opponents fans can see him play? Fucking dumb”
What expense exactly? No STMs are being stopped from going to the game, and I don’t think Sporting will lose just because they’re at Arrowhead, just like I don’t think they’d win solely due to if it were at CMP.
They aren’t punting the game just by playing at a different location that is still just as accessible to anyone that would be going to the game at CMP. If an extra 30 minute drive is enough to make people decide not to go to the game, then they don’t care about supporting the team – they just want to complain about something.
No one said anything about it being a right or a charity. Everyone is still having to pay for tickets. It’s not like they’re making STMs pay an additional fee so that it can help cover free tickets for others.
I don’t have very high tier season tickets, but if I did, I honestly would not care even the slightest if getting slightly-less-cushy seats for one game meant that thousands more people could experience something that I get to regardless.
Frankly, half the people with the upper tier season tickets don’t go to a sizeable amount of games. They have the tickets because they can afford them and I imagine it’s a status thing for some of them. I’d bet that a good amount of them are upset just because they can’t resell for the amount they were hoping to.
The last few years have already told fans that the organization doesn’t care about fans like we wish they would, it’s nothing new and sure not a surprise. So because they’re not making this an “exclusive” event to a privileged few [a few as in 21,650], that’s the straw thats breaking the camel’s back for a lot of people? Sheesh.
All this does is give a lot more people a very likely once in a lifetime opportunity to see one of the best players, ever.
I didn’t grow up loving soccer. Till my senior year in high school, I thought it was one of the dumbest sports I had ever seen.
I’ve fallen in love with it since then, and some of my best memories at CMP haven’t been because of where the games were being played or what the outcome was, it was due to who I’ve gotten to see play in person – Pirlo, Zlatan, Nuer, Schweinsteger, Mueller, Lewandowski, Chicharito, Lampard, Gerard, Keane, Villa, etc, and that’s without growing up watching them play. But those names are nothing compared to Messi, and there’s thousands of people that have grown up watching him and have a lot more vested in seeing him play than I do, so I’m happy for them that they get to experience it.
I was afraid to come into these comments because I thought it’d be super negative.
I think this is the take, KCrews123. I’m not worked up, but I see why people are. I think you put it very well.
Here is the problem I have. I am a STM and my seats at CMP are 5-6 seats from midfield 15 rows back. I log into ticketmaster to see where my seats are and they are a full section away from midfield. Now I am not even getting seats to the game that are equivalent to the ones I purchased. Sporting obviously kept the center section so they could sell my already purchased ticket at a higher price. This is pure and utter BS. Here is the letter I sent to my market rep. I doubt I will get a response. May be cancelling my STM after this.
I would like to discuss the seat selection we were given for the Miami game at Arrowhead Stadium. The seats we were given are not equivalent to our season ticket seats at Sporting Park. Our season tickets are right off of midfield which the equivalent seats would be in the middle of section 119 Arrowhead, not 5 rows into section 120. Please contact me when you get a chance so we can discuss options. Thank you.
I see quite a few pissed off STMs on Reddit who are getting far worse seats than their CMP equivalent, all so the team can gobble up those sweet, sweet Messibucks that fans likely won’t see any tangible benefit from. All the pro folks are talking up the chance for casual fans to see an all-time great, but that’s coming at the expense of long-time loyal fans having that experience worsened because they’ll be farther away in worse seats.
I live 3 hours away so I don’t have a direct dog in this fight. But if I were SKC I’d be more interested in rewarding my most loyal supporters and focusing on winning a league match than in doing public service for non-fans so I can pocket some extra dough.
If you want KC-area masses to see Messi, schedule a friendly. They’ll be interested, they’re already doing globetrotting Messi tours to scavenge money.
Not getting equivalent seats is an issue, for sure. I would hope your rep/the team would do right by you and fix that (let us know!).
The other big issue I have against the team doing this (which as I said, I’m generally for it), is they kept selling season tickets to folks saying it was the “only” way to guarantee access to seeing Messi. Then they opened up 50k+ seats. If you want to go you are going to be able to go. I doubt they sell out Arrowhead. That was disingenuous marketing and if someone got roped into buying tickets for that purpose, I’d be pissed if I was them.
Definitely not resolved. No reply from the rep today on my email but he did email a pre-sale code today for additional seats, lol. I logged into the site and my equivalent seats at Arrowhead were listed on Ticketmaster for 240 dollars. I Got back on the site later today and the seats were sold. My season tickets are already paid in full for this year but seriously considering canceling after this season after this treatment. I have been a STM since 2013.
Seems like that boat has sailed. They’ve had to have been planning this for months, right? There’s no way this gets arranged in the last few weeks. And it never occurred to them to reach out to STMs, or to prioritize planning to treat STMs right? This is like slapping someone, then offering them face cream. The damage is done, especially doubling down on an already sour feeling that management was taking fans for granted. They’re clearly showing they care more about Messi fan money than SKC fan treatment, and again that’s not a one-off out-of-the-blue problem.
You and the anti-Arrowhead folks have convinced me and pulled me to your side. I don’t think I speak for Chad, but I think we are coming from the same place. In a perfect world, the Arrowhead idea is a valid one that would open up more seats for more fans. But, clearly, this ain’t no perfect world.
Season Ticket holders should have been communicated with and given like for like seats.
Rebate guarantees should have been made for a Messi-less squad (a la Chicago I believe someone pointed out)
Shoulda planned a tailgate/fanfest to allow the supporters crews to promote themselves and try to capture some of the cool factor of being a SKC fan even in CMP
We can probably list some others. The fact is they didn’t. Haven’t even announced a badass 3rd DP for us to get excited about. I really want to be a rabid SKC fan (even living 9 hours away) and come in for a few games a year, but it ain’t easy (and the Current management seems to be making some missteps as well, but more on the player relationship side). I guess we’ll always have the powerhouse Monarchs…
I’ll acknowledge that, done right, there are clear arguments for an Arrowhead game and some of the advocates have helped me see that despite my initial recoiling from it. But nothing I’ve seen or learned since has made me feel that they’re handling this right or that the focus is really on the right aspects of doing that.
And to repeat myself, I don’t think the blowback would be there (or be nearly as strong) if fans felt valued by current management. It very much fits the current modus operandi to blithely and arrogantly assume SKC fans would be thrilled with this (or could be made to accept it), just like decisions to, say, cut local vendors from CMP. If this happened in, say, 2018, it might have had a very different reaction.
EDIT: And boy are they pouring fuel on the fire by hiring Gavin Wilkinson. How many rakes can one team step on?
Hiring Gavin Wilkinson is extremely upsetting and beyond disappointing. I’ve said it before, but Sporting has become a shell of the organization I stumbled across 10 years ago and fell hard for. This move makes the club as a whole unrecognizable to me now.
Exactly. The Wizards were an afterthought to me, but after the move to CMP I became much more invested. This was sport as I remembered it before it became a corporate entertainment venture.
A quick aside: I grew up in St. Louis, and was a Rams STH when they moved from LA. I saw firsthand how they dismantled a franchise and worked assiduously to alienate their fan base before orchestrating their move back to LA.
Do I think SKC are laying the foundation for a move? No. But they’re doing everything in their power to give a gigantic middle finger to their supporters. They’re transforming a model franchise into a laughingstock.