Children’s Mercy Park: Guide to the Home of Sporting Kansas City

Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club that plays its home matches at Children’s Mercy Park, a soccer-specific stadium located in Kansas City, Kansas.

Soccer Club Sporting Kansas City

Children’s Mercy Park Name

In 2015, Children’s Mercy Kansas City and Sporting Kansas City launched a 10-year partnership to promote health and fitness among Kansas City-area school children and provide specialized sports medicine to a youth athlete market that has experienced a substantial increase in sports-related injuries.

Sporting Kansas City Childrens Mercy Park Stadium

As part of the partnership, Children’s Mercy has exclusive naming rights to Children’s Mercy Park, as well as Sporting KC’s training center and the championship field at Swope Soccer Village. In addition, Children’s Mercy became the official healthcare and sports medicine partner of the National Training Center in Kansas City, Kansas.

Children’s Mercy is one of the nation’s top pediatric medical centers. The 354-bed, not-for-profit hospital, provides care for children from birth through the age of 21, and is ranked by U.S. News & World Report as one of “America’s Best Children’s Hospitals.”.

Children’s Mercy Park History & Description

From 1996 through 2007, the Wizards played home games in Arrowhead Stadium, the American football stadium mainly used by the Kansas City Chiefs. Wizards management kept the west end of Arrowhead tarped off for the first 10 years of play, limiting seating near the field. In 2006, fans could sit all the way around the field, but, in 2007, seating was [again] only available along the sidelines. After the 2007 final season at Arrowhead, the Wizards continued to use the stadium for select large events. In 2008, the club played a regular season home game against the Los Angeles Galaxy at the stadium to accommodate the large crowd expected for David Beckham’s Galaxy debut. Again in 2010, the Wizards played a friendly here against English club Manchester United, winning 2–1.

The Wizards entered an agreement with the Kansas City T-Bones to use their home stadium, CommunityAmerica Ballpark, during the 2008 and 2009 seasons. The deal was later extended to include 2010. The stadium, located across the state line in Kansas City, Kansas, built a new bleacher section financed by the Wizards to increase its capacity to 10,385. This move made the Wizards the third MLS team to share their home ground with a baseball team. D.C. United had been sharing RFK Stadium with Major League Baseball’s Washington Nationals in Washington, D.C., before the latter’s move into Nationals Park. The San Jose Earthquakes used Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum in Oakland, home of the Oakland A’s (and Oakland Raiders), for certain games during the 2008 and 2009 seasons.

The Wizards originally planned to return to Kansas City, Missouri, and build a new stadium there – tentatively called Trails Stadium – as part of a major mixed-use development. The team had received all required approvals and was awaiting site demolition; however, the 2008–09 financial crisis ultimately led to the scrapping of the Trails Stadium project.

Children’s Mercy Park

The team sought a new site for its stadium, quickly settling on development in Kansas City, Kansas, known as Village West, near CommunityAmerica Ballpark and the Kansas Speedway. In September 2009, the developer asked Wyandotte County (in Kansas) and Kansas state officials for permission to use revenues from existing tax increment financing in the Village West area to help finance the soccer complex. On December 17, Wizards president Robb Heineman provided an update on the stadium situation, identifying the Kansas City, Kansas, location as near-final, pending the signature of the final agreements. On January 19, 2010, Wyandotte County approved the bonds to help finance the stadium, and on January 20 the groundbreaking ceremony was made, with Wizards CEO Robb Heineman using heavy machinery to move dirt on the construction site.

When the Kansas City Wizards first rebranded as Sporting Kansas City, they built Livestrong Sporting Park. Spending $200 million on the complex, it was the first “European style” soccer complex in the United States. Name rights were held by the Livestrong Foundation until the downfall of Lance Armstrong from his doping scandal; Sporting Kansas City subsequently changed the name of their stadium to Sporting Park. On November 19, 2015, the stadium was renamed to Children’s Mercy Park in a ten-year deal with Children’s Mercy Hospital.

Children’s Mercy Park City Description

Children’s Mercy Park is located in Kansas City, Kansas. Kansas City, abbreviated as “KCK”, is the third-largest city in the U.S. state of Kansas, the county seat of Wyandotte County, and the third-largest city of the Kansas City metropolitan area. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 156,607. The city formed as a streetcar suburb of Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. It is situated at Kaw Point, the junction of the Missouri and Kansas rivers. It is part of a consolidated city-county government known as the “Unified Government”. Wyandotte County also includes the independent cities of Bonner Springs, Edwardsville, a portion of Lake Quivira, and the unincorporated area known as Loring.

Kansas City has a number of buildings that are listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The city is home to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Kansas City in Kansas, which covers 12,500 square miles (32,000 km2) in eastern Kansas.

Memorial Hall is a 3,500-seat indoor arena/auditorium located in the city’s downtown. The venue, which has a permanent stage, is used for public assemblies, concerts and sporting events. In 1887, John G. Braecklein constructed a Victorian home for John and Margaret Scroggs in the area of Strawberry Hill. It is a fine example of the Queen Anne style architecture erected in Kansas City, Kansas.

Rosedale Arch, a replica of the Arc de Triomphe, at the top of Memorial Drive (39°3′49.8″N 94°36′54.2″W).
The Rosedale Arch, dedicated to the men of Kansas City, Kansas, who served in World War I, is a small-scale replica of France’s famous Arc de Triomphe. It is located on Mount Marty in Rosedale, overlooking the intersection of Rainbow and Southwest Boulevards.

Wyandotte High School is a public school building located at 2501 Minnesota Avenue. Built in 1936 as a Works Progress Administration project, the school was later designated as a Historical Landmark by the city in 1985 and placed on the National Register of Historic Places on April 30, 1986. In 1889, the Wyandotte County Museum and Historical Society was established as a permanent repository of the county’s history. The Argentine Carnegie Library, the only Carnegie library that exists in the metropolitan area, was built in 1917. The library has moved the collections and staff from Argentine to the new South Branch, at 3104 Strong Ave., a few blocks to the west and north, which opened September 26, 2012. The library has turned over the building to the Kansas City, Kansas USD 500.

Other points of interest in the Kansas City, Kansas, area include Fire Station No. 9, Granada Theater, Hanover Heights Neighborhood Historic District, Huron Cemetery, Judge Louis Gates House, Kansas City, Kansas Hall, Kansas City, Kansas Fire Headquarters, Great Wolf Lodge, Schlitterbahn Vacation Village, Quindaro Townsite, Sauer Castle, Scottish Rite Temple, Shawnee Street Overpass, Soldiers and Sailors Memorial Building, St. Augustine Hall, Theodore Shafer House, Trowbridge Archeological Site, Westheight Manor and Westheight Manor District, White Church Christian Church, Wyandotte County Courthouse and the Muncie area.

Children’s Mercy Park Weather

Kansas City lies in the Midwestern United States, as well as near the geographic center of the country, at the confluence of the longest river in the country, the Missouri River, and the Kansas River (also known as the Kaw River). The city lies in the humid continental climate (Köppen Dfa) zone, with four distinct seasons, and moderate precipitation, and is part of USDA plant hardiness zone 6. Being located in the center of North America, far removed from a significant body of water, there is significant potential for extremes of hot and cold swings in temperature throughout the year. Unless otherwise stated, normal figures below are based on data from 1981 to 2010 at Downtown Airport. The warmest month of the year is July, with a 24-hour average temperature of 81.0 °F (27.2 °C). The summer months are hot, but can get very hot and moderately humid, with moist air riding up from the Gulf of Mexico. High temperatures surpass 100 °F (38 °C) on 5.6 days of the year, and 90 °F (32 °C) on 47 days. The coldest month of the year is January, with an average temperature of 31.0 °F (−0.6 °C). Winters are cold, with 22 days where the high is at or below the freezing mark and 2.5 nights with a low at or below 0 °F (−18 °C). The official record maximum temperature is 113 °F (45 °C), set on August 14, 1936, at Downtown Airport, while the official record minimum temperature is −23 °F (−31 °C), set on December 22 and 23, 1989. Normal seasonal snowfall is 13.4 inches (34 cm) at Downtown Airport and 18.8 in (48 cm) at Kansas City International Airport. The average window for freezing temperatures is October 31 to April 4, while for measurable (0.1 in or 0.25 cm) snowfall, it is November 27 to March 16 as measured at Kansas City International Airport. Precipitation, both in frequency and total accumulation, shows a marked uptick in late spring and summer.

Kansas City is situated on the edge of the “Tornado Alley”, a broad region where cold air from the Rocky Mountains in Canada collides with warm air from the Gulf of Mexico, leading to the formation of powerful storms especially during the spring. A few areas of the Kansas City Metropolitan Area have had some severe outbreaks of tornadoes at different points in the past, including the Ruskin Heights tornado in 1957, The Tornado Outbreak Sequence of May 2019 and the May 2003 tornado outbreak sequence. The region can also fall victim to the sporadic ice storm during the winter months, such as the 2002 ice storm during which hundreds of thousands lost power for days and (in some cases) weeks. Kansas City and its outlying areas are also subject to flooding, including the Great Flood of 1993 and the Great Flood of 1951.

How to get to Children’s Mercy Park

Children’s Mercy Park
1 Sporting Way
66111 Kansas City, Kansas
United States

Children’s Mercy Park Parking

All Parking Lots will open three (3) hours prior to game time and close two (2) hours following the game (cars will be towed to the Red Lot if they are still in parking lots after closing time). Trailers, campers, buses, RVs or any vehicle deemed too large to occupy a single parking space will not be permitted to park in any lot and be directed to an overflow lot near Orange Lot. To access the overflow lot enter off of State Avenue and 110th where a parking associate will direct you in. Tailgating in all General Admission lots is encouraged; however, your vehicle can only occupy one parking space.

Children's Mercy Park Parking

Parking Options for Non-Season Ticket Members

  • NFM LOT 2: Available to purchase via SeatGeek. Open to anyone.
  • ORANGE LOT: Available for free for all non STMs (Season Ticket Members) that don’t have a parking pass.
  • HOLLYWOOD CASINO PARKING: Expedited shuttle service to and from Children’s Mercy Park.

Season Ticket Member Parking Options

  • NFM LOT 1: Available to UMB Field Club Season Ticket Members and Suite Ticket purchasers.
  • NFM LOT 2: Available to purchase via SeatGeek. Open to anyone.
  • BLUE LOT 1: Available to Shield Club Season Ticket Members and Premium Terrace Table Season Ticket Members. No single game parking available for purchase.
  • BLUE LOT 2: Available to Season Ticket Members that purchased for the year. No single game parking available for purchase.
  • WHITE LOT: Complimentary parking for all Season Ticket Members.
  • HOLLYWOOD CASINO PARKING: Expedited shuttle service to and from Children’s Mercy Park.

Children’s Mercy Park Tickets

Tickets for Children’s Mercy Park events may be purchased the following ways: