On Oct. 6, owners and players of the KC Current, part of the National Women’s Soccer League, broke ground in Kansas City on their new stadium, the first in the United States built specifically for a professional women’s soccer team.
The 11,500-seat stadium will sit on the Missouri River in Berkley Riverfront Park, according to KCTV5. Construction of the stadium is expected to be completed before the 2024 season.
“This stadium is for Kansas City, the best sports town in the world,” owner Angie Long said at the groundbreaking ceremony in a video tweeted by the team. “This stadium is for our world-class female athletes, and this stadium is for you to witness Kansas City Current lift championships for years to come.”
Until the stadium’s completion, the Current will continue to play in Children’s Mercy Park, which it shares with the MLS’s Sporting Kansas City.
A stadium built solely for the Current will set them apart from the other 11 teams in the league. Ten of the teams share a stadium with a men’s professional team, including OL Reign who share with the MLS’s Seattle Sounders and the NFL’s Seattle Seahawks. One team, the San Diego Wave, shares a brand-new stadium with San Diego State.
“If you want to compete on a global basis for these incredible athletes, you’re going to have to have something of this magnitude for them to want to come and be part of your team,” team owner Chris Long told the Kansas City Star.
While the Current are only in their second season, the team’s roots were established in Kansas City. The team started as FC Kansas City and was one of the founding members of the National Women’s Soccer League in 2012 but was bought by Real Salt Lake owner Dell Loy Hansen in 2017 and became the Utah Royals.
Following reports of racism and sexism in the organization, Hansen sold the team in 2020 to Angie and Chris Long of the Kansas City-based Palmer Square Capital Management, allowing its return to Kansas City, as the Deseret News reported at the time.
The team’s current ownership group also includes Brittany Mahomes, a former collegiate and professional soccer player and the wife of Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, according to USA Today.
Ahead of the United States co-hosting the 2026 FIFA World Cup with Canada and Mexico, FIFA designated Kansas City as one of the host cities, opening the door for the Current’s new stadium to potentially be used during the tournament.
“From our vantage point, we want to do whatever we can to make it attractive to FIFA,” Chris Long told the Star.
The groundbreaking came days after the team clinched its first playoff appearance in club history.