KC Current Parking Four Times Season Ticket Prices for Some

The Kansas City Current are set to make history in a little under a month on March 16th when they open CPKC Stadium. They will host the Portland Thorns in the first ever, purpose-built stadium for women’s sports!

However, they dropped a bomb on season ticket holders who have long been waiting to figure out where they will park at the new stadium. There are a limited number of parking passes available and they are $50 per match plus taxes and fees. That means, for a full season it’ll nearly cost $800 for parking alone with all the fees, according to multiple season members who spoke with their reps.

KANSAS CITY:

The KC Current just announced single-game parking will be $50 + taxes & fees per match.

That price gets you a general admission spot to one of the highlighted lots.

Thoughts? @KCTV5 #KCCurrent #KCBaby pic.twitter.com/Y9WTWYBykK

— Mark Poulose (@MarkKCTV5) February 21, 2024

The team released a statement about being “excited” to give STM the first chance at these tickets.

A statement from the Kansas City Current about concerns over season ticket member parking.#KCBABY pic.twitter.com/9bYvxDNh0U

— PJ Green (@PJGreenTV) February 21, 2024

Multiple season ticket members reached out to their ticket reps to voice their concerns. One Facebook user, Anna Ferguson, shared her verbatim response from her rep.

“Totally understand for your frustration at this time,” began the rep. “In regards (sic) to those frustrations about pricing, there will be other options for off-site parking along with a shuttle service if this doesn’t work for you. Also, there will be other options that we will [come] out with within the next week of how to get to the stadium without having to pay for parking.”

Nearly Four Times Some Ticket Costs

If you buy season tickets in the Supporters section of CPKC stadium, you can get tickets for just $196 plus taxes and fees. While taxes and fees would push four of those tickets over the nearly $800 to park, it’s not by much. Obviously, people will probably carpool, so it’s unlikely to be $50+ per person to park, but it’s still sticker shock.

For those curious, here is #KCBaby 2024 ST pricing vs #SportingKC 2023 ST pricing pic.twitter.com/cf3kbsJIXT

— Mike (@downthebyline) July 13, 2023

For comparison, it’s the most expensive parking for a sports team in the city. The Chiefs have $50 parking, but discounts are available if you don’t do the single game option. The Royals let you park for $20. And Sporting Kansas City, the KC Comets/KC Mavericks, KC Monarchs and others all have free options.

The difference is location. No one else is in a dense area like the Current.

Fan Reactions and Further Plans

As should have been expected, many fans are very unhappy. Many adjectives were used: horrible, stunned, ridiculous, shocking, a joke, and betrayed.

Part of the problem is the timing. The plan was rolled out Tuesday, but you have to decide to buy one of these limited spaces in the next few days. Fans are reporting you have to pay in full as well, there are no payment plans like there are on season tickets. All of this less than a month out from the first home game. If you haven’t budgeted for that, it’s a huge impact on your wallet.

There are also a very limited number of ADA parking spots available, though the team says they’ll have spots elsewhere and some sort of transportation or shuttle.

The other part is the plan for everyone who doesn’t get one of these limited tickets are unknown. The team says they’ll unveil them at a later date. There aren’t a ton of days left before the games start. It feels like another self-inflicted wound by the team who is doing so much else right. From handling player departures to the parking, it all feels like it could be handled better.

And frankly, fan experience is paramount. If someone has a bad experience, they may never come back. It feels like the first game, at least off the pitch, could be a bit of a mess. At the very least, there is a lot of work still to be done by the non-soccer side of the KC Current and the game day operations staff.

CPKC Stadium, It’s a Big Deal

‘This is Part of a Downtown Stadium’

There is a subset of the fans out there that seem completely fine with this. It’s part of having a stadium downtown. Perhaps those fans have experience with living in a big city with a stadium downtown? Kansas City has mostly had stadiums out in suburbs since Municipal Stadium closed down shop in the 1970s. And the city was much different then. Sure, the T-Mobile Center is centrally located, but it’s also surrounded by parking.

There is a distinct lack of parking and a lack of public transportation for CPKC Stadium. The KC streetcar extension has been delayed. And the stadium is on the edge of what is likely considered downtown. I feel for the residents in the Berkley Riverfront who are going to have 11,500 fans, plus lots of employees (where are they parking?!) descending on their neighborhood.

Plans will start to emerge, but the lack of clarity is rightfully causing concern. Some groups are already sharing their plans, and more will certainly emerge. But for a city that is very spread out, and for fans traveling in from out of town, parking is an amenity they are used to and will be an adjustment.

The Current have a few weeks to get a lot in order to rescue this situation for many fans.

Update on 2/25/2024: The KC Current released the beginning stages of a parking plan including some updates that parking passes can be done in two installments and a $10 credit will be given to anyone who has four or more people in a vehicle in their parking lot.

A multi-modal transportation plan for our downtown stadium.

Here are 7️⃣ ways to get to @cpkcstadium 🏟 pic.twitter.com/PZCYQKQ7cl

— KC Current (@thekccurrent) February 25, 2024