Sporting Park (Children's Mercy Park)

Sporting Park — known from 2015 to 2025 as Children’s Mercy Park — is a soccer-specific stadium in the Village West area of Kansas City, Kansas, home to Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer. Opened June 9, 2011 at a cost of $200 million and designed by Populous, it holds 18,467 for soccer and up to 25,000 for concerts. In 2013 it uniquely hosted the MLS All-Star Game, a U.S. Men’s National Team match, and MLS Cup in a single year — a distinction no other American soccer venue has matched.¹

Overview

Opened	June 9, 2011 (first match vs. Chicago Fire)1
Cost	$200 million (≈$286 million in 2025 dollars)1
Groundbreaking	January 20, 20101
Architect	Populous1
General contractor	Turner Construction1
Capacity	18,467 soccer; up to 25,000 concerts1
Tenant	Sporting Kansas City (MLS)1

Naming history

The stadium has cycled through four names in fifteen years:¹

• Livestrong Sporting Park — 2011 to 2013
• Sporting Park — 2013 to 2015
• Children’s Mercy Park — 2015 to 2025
• Sporting Park — 2026 to present (naming rights expired)

History

Groundbreaking took place January 20, 2010, and the stadium opened June 9, 2011 with an MLS match against the Chicago Fire. Constructed by Turner Construction to a design by Populous at a total cost of $200 million, it was built as a soccer-specific venue — one of the earliest of the new-wave MLS purpose-built stadiums — inside the Village West retail-and-entertainment cluster of western Wyandotte County, adjacent to Kansas Speedway and the Legends shopping district.¹

In 2013, the venue hosted three signature soccer events in a single calendar year — the MLS All-Star Game, a United States men’s national soccer team match, and MLS Cup — a triple no other U.S. soccer venue has completed.¹ The stadium was earlier recognized with the Venue of the Year Award and Community Award from TheStadiumBusiness Awards 2012.¹

Sources

See also

• sporting-kansas-city
• kansas-city-kansas
• wyandotte-county
• kansas-speedway
• legends-outlets
• Wiki

Footnotes

1. Wikipedia — “Sporting Park (Kansas City, Kansas).” — asserts: opened during the 2011 MLS season on June 9, 2011, with a match against Chicago Fire; location in Village West, Wyandotte County; capacity 18,467 for soccer, up to 25,000 for concerts; typical attendance ~21,000; construction cost $200 million (≈$286M in 2025 dollars); groundbreaking January 20, 2010; architect Populous; general contractor Turner Construction; naming history Livestrong Sporting Park (2011–13) → Sporting Park (2013–15) → Children’s Mercy Park (2015–25) → Sporting Park (2026–present); 2013 hosted MLS All-Star Game + USMNT + MLS Cup in a single year; 2012 Venue of the Year and Community Awards from TheStadiumBusiness Awards. ↩ ↩² ↩³ ↩⁴ ↩⁵ ↩⁶ ↩⁷ ↩⁸ ↩⁹ ↩¹⁰ ↩¹¹ ↩¹²