Leveling the field
Leveling the field
CPKC Stadium’s legendary debut was over a century in the making.
Hi, friends! I’m very excited to have this piece from Kata Stevens in Power Plays, looking at a historic weekend for women’s sports in Kansas City. Enjoy!
In Kansas City, they say that if you don’t like the weather, wait 20 minutes. But there were no complaints about the climate on Saturday at CPKC Stadium. It was the opening day of the 12th season of the National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL), and the home-team Kansas City Current were facing the Portland Thorns in a match that was to be broadcast live on ABC. The grass was green, the sky was blue, and as 11,500 fans loaded into the sold-out stadium, Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a three-time Super Bowl MVP and co-owner of the Current, took the mic to lead the space’s inaugural chant, “KC BABY!”
The game itself was thrilling, as the Current defeated the Thorns 5-4, tying the record for most goals in NWSL history. But history was made even before kickoff.
That’s because CPKC Stadium is the first stadium built and designed specifically for an NWSL team.
Now, despite reports, CPKC isn’t the first stadium built for a women’s soccer team in the United States. The town of Cary, N.C., built WakeMed Soccer park for the Carolina Courage of the WUSA (the first of two leagues that preceded the NWSL), and the Atlanta Beat of the WPS (the second of said leagues) had a public-private partnership with Kennesaw State, building a soccer-specific stadium in 2010.
But the financial backing of CPKC Stadium gives it a special distinction. The stadium cost over $120 million to build, and the majority of the money was privately funded.
“I think there are so many ways that we talk about the investment in women's sports not matching that of men's that are really tangible. But facilities are one of the biggest ways to show value in a product and in an entertainment experience,” said Sarah Spain, an ESPN commentator and former owner of the NWSL’s Chicago Red Stars.
“For centuries, literally, there's been taxpayer funds helping men’s sports to continue to be a really important part of a city’s identity, and that hasn't been the case for women’s sports. So being able to have ownership that has private equity and funds and investors capable of building the stadium, the practice facility, that gorgeous locker room, is the difference here.”
Saturday received a lot of (deserved) fanfare, but to truly understand the significance of the moment requires a deeper dive into the history of women’s soccer, the history of pro women’s soccer in Kansas City, and the way the Current have tried to weave together all of this history, both on the field on Saturday and in the walls (literally) of the historic stadium.
If these walls could talk
At halftime on Saturday, fourteen members of the first-ever U.S. Women’s National Team took the field. The trailblazers first came together in 1985.
“It’s not just about soccer,” said Michelle Akers, a member of that ‘85 team and a National Soccer Hall of Famer. “It's really about the life we're opening up for women to make choices to be who they are, to do what they want to do, and recognize the disparities.”
Few people understand the journey to this precipice of progress better than Akers, who played when when team per diems were minuscule, roach motels were expected and sewing circles were tradition as the women outfitted recycled men’s kits to fit their smaller figures.
“Those stories are important,” Akers said. “Not just to applaud the old people who did some things in the past a long time ago. It's to say, ‘S–t, we came that far, and here we are now, but we still have a freaking long way to go.’ Instilling that fight in that mentality.”
“This stadium is like a stake in the ground that women’s soccer is forever here to stay.”
There are walls at CPKC Stadium dedicated to remembering their ancestry; walls that feature the text in Title IX that cemented women’s rights in education, as well as a wall featuring the team of legendary ‘85ers, who as a team, have yet to receive Hall of Fame recognition.
“This stadium is like a stake in the ground that women’s soccer is forever here to stay,” Akers said. She was one of the key organizers in bringing the ‘85ers to the pitch for their halftime reunion on Saturday, and it remains her mission to remind the newest generation of fans and players of the fight it’s taken to get to this place. “I want all our generations integrated into the game to hold valuable places and to be role models.”
Julie Foudy, a World Cup champion and part of the majority-women ownership group of Angel City FC, hopes that the development of a purpose-built NWSL stadium will set a new trend. She remembers the moment Angie Long showed her the first renderings of the stadium.
“I just had a smile from ear to ear thinking of the progress where we can build something like that, as something super hopeful, and so needed, so long overdue,” she said. “So I'm very grateful for making this big leap and showing the rest of the world where they should be as well.”
How we got here
Before we go any further, let’s take a look back at a timeline exploring a very abbreviated version of women’s soccer history.
1895: The first prominent women's football match was recorded
In March of 1895, the British Ladies’ Football Club held their first public match between the ‘North’ and the ‘South’ according to reporting at the time. The ‘North’ beat the ‘South’ seven to one as more than 10,000 paying spectators watched.
1900: Women participated in the Olympics for the first time
Twenty-two women competed across five sports: tennis, sailing, croquet, equestrianism and golf in the 1900 Paris Olympics.
1920: The first international women’s football game was played
In the early twenties, women playing football became more popular. A British team, ‘Dick Kerr’s Ladies’ beat a French team 2-0 with an attendance of 25,000 . On Boxing Day of the same year, ‘Dick Kerr’s Ladies’ played ‘St Helen's Ladies’ to an audience of 53,000. The following year, there was backlash and the FA banned women from playing. The ban was not lifted until 1971.
1972: Title IX passed in the United States
Title IX was enacted under the Education Amendments Act, building on the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Prior to Title IX, only one in 27 girls engaged in sports. By 2016, the participation rate had increased to two in five girls according to the Women's Sports Foundation.
1985: The U.S. Women’s National Team made its debut
In August, the U.S. Soccer Federation announced the U.S. National Women’s Soccer team (USWNT) of seventeen players including midfielder Michelle Akers and goalkeeper Kim Wyant.
1991: The U.S. Women's National Team won the inaugural FIFA Women's World Championship
Michelle Akers clinched the victory with a goal three minutes before the end of the match, watched by 60,000 fans at the Tianhe Stadium in Guangzhou, China. The USWNT had previously dominated five straight matches, outperforming their rivals with a score tally of 23-4 leading up to the final match.
1999: The Women's World Cup final at the Rose Bowl was watched by millions
Considered a pivotal moment for women in sports, the final match drew a crowd of 90,000 spectators and captured the attention of a global television audience of 17.9 million as the USWNT triumphed over China in a nail-biting penalty shootout. Only in 2014 was that viewership record surpassed by the United States-Portugal game at the men's World Cup. The 1999 victory catapulted the team members to celebrity status; they were featured on leading news shows, graced the covers of major magazines, and were honored guests at the White House.
2000: The Women’s United Soccer Association (WUSA) was founded
The first ever women’s soccer league in which players were paid as professionals was founded, creating jobs for woman athletes on eight teams. The league played for three seasons, folding in 2003.
2009: Women’s Professional Soccer (WPS) was founded
A second attempt at a women’s league was made, featuring between six and seven teams over it’s three-year tenure. This league also folded, but made way for the league we now know as the NWSL.
2012: The National Women's Soccer League was established
The NWSL was established after two other failed women’s soccer leagues folded. The league began with eight teams, and has since grown to 14; most recently the Utah Royals and Bay FC in 2024, as well as Angel City FC in 2022—the first soccer club to be owned by an all-female ownership group.
2015: The USWNT defeats Japan in the World Cup
Making history as the first team ever to win three World Cups, the USWNT cemented their place in history as a beacon of excellence in American sports. They would go on to win again in 2019.
2022: The USWNT achieved equal pay
The USWNT renegotiated contracts to be paid under the same structure as the USMNT, ending a decades-long battle for pay equity and equality. Moving forward, the national teams will be paid under the same contract structures, and the women’s team will be held to the same standard of treatment that the men’s teams have for the first time ever.
A new day in Kansas City
The Current is not the first women’s team that has called Kansas City home.
FC Kansas City was one of the eight founding clubs of the NWSL, and quickly found success, winning back-to-back championships in 2014 and 2015. But it’s journey was emblematic of the early years of the league; at times, FC Kansas City played games on a high-school football field, its home stadium seated less than 4,000, and just two years after winning its second title, the team was shuttered by the league amidst ownership troubles. The league then transferred FC Kansas City’s players to the Utah Royals, who launched their inaugural season in 2018, but the league shuttered the Royals in 2020 after controversy surrounding then-owner Dell Loy Hansen, an avid businessman, sports team owner and racist.
The NWSL then transferred the players back to Kansas City, where fresh faces were ready to take women’s soccer in the area to the next level. In 2021, the Kansas City Current were born. (Notably, the Royals re-emerged as an expansion team this year. Yes, it’s complicated.)
The new club sports the shiny co-ownership of Patrick and Brittany Mahomes, paired with bonafide finance power-couple Angie and Chris Long. The group has shown a commitment to investing in the team long-term, and CPKC Stadium is a physical manifestation of that. For the league, a privately owned facility means simplicity with logistics like scheduling. For the women who will use it, it means safe and comfortable spaces to train, take advantage of childcare resources and play the sport they love.
“I think our collective bargaining agreement that was ratified in 2022 was a pivotal moment in history,” said Meghann Burke, the president of the NWSL Players’ Association and a former player. “It put us on a trajectory to start making forward progress. And so we're now finally seeing what forward progress looks like.
“We're finally pushing forward into the future instead of living backward. And on a personal level, as someone who's lived in this game and throughout the game, it's really gratifying.”
The youth movement
As the Kansas City Current took to the pitch for the first time on Saturday afternoon, the players held hands with a select 22 tiny humans. Their bitty counterparts were girls of the local YMCA.
The vested interest of the KC Current’s ownership remains growing the game, and CPKC Stadium is far from the only measure being taken. The team is also partnered with the YMCA of Greater Kansas City, which offers soccer programming for girls ages 3-5 years old and in elementary school. They are currently working with the Current on their goal of expanding that programming to middle school and high school students. The team offers significant financial support to this programming, and the athletes share their time with the children on game days.
“I think it'll be a big thing for girls to see they don't just have to play in the men's sporting complex.”
“I think it'll be a big thing for girls to see they don't just have to play in the men's sporting complex,” said Kayson Matthews, the YMCA’s Senior Sports Director. “I think that'll help girls understand it's not just a male thing to play soccer or play any other sport.”
Growing up in Kansas City, Boardroom reporter Vinciane Ngomsi remembers her upbringing as a young athlete.
“I feel like we had access to a fair amount of things because we're in the Midwest and a lot of things move through Kansas City, but I do believe that our lack of access to stability in terms of women's sports sort of hindered the amount of commitment.” I asked Ngomsi if that had a say in her committing her love of sport to journalism. She said: “Yes. Absolutely. Telling stories is what I want to be doing … but it shifted my mindset on what I wanted to cover.”
Breaking down the barriers to entry is one of the Y’s core missions, and in the last few years since the Current has been in town, the hundreds of children that participate in their programming have begun to skew female. Julienne Johnson, 10, is one of those girls.
“I feel like it's really cool that it's happening in my city and I live here and it's not happening anywhere else,” Julienne said. “So it's pretty special. If it was happening somewhere else, I think it would still be special but it's happening here, where I lived my whole life. It's just a bit more special to me.”
Added Matthews: “Soccer is so huge here. It is all over the place. Everywhere you drive, you will see a soccer field painted. So I think (CPKC Stadium) is only gonna help just the growth of female soccer.”
Lexi Ryan has lived in the riverfront area, where the stadium is located, for several years. As a former youth player herself, she’s seen the stadium’s progress since the team broke ground.
“I think this just gives some like people another chance to be obsessed about sports in the city,” she said.
The response so far has been outstanding: Season tickets sold out in December.
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Kata, this piece is so good! Thank you for this reporting.