CPKC Stadium: Kansas City Current vs Racing Louisville
To be honest, CPKC was the crown jewel stadium I've wanted to visit since it was first announced a couple years back. It opened for the 2024 season and I really wanted to be at the first game versus the Portland Thorns but didn't end up making the trip.
In a way, this stadium is part of why we did this project, because I was looking for reviews of what the grounds were like and what the atmosphere felt like and didn't see any beyond promotional stuff from the KC Current team themselves.
Let's be clear: this is the very first dedicated, purpose built pro women's sports stadium ever constructed in the world, ever. That's a huge milestone and my hope was that the actual structure and vibes and overall execution would be worthy of such an accolade. Coming along after a decade of the NWSL, I knew the people behind the stadium were going to put a lot of good ideas together to build it.
After visiting KC for a game, I have to say they've met and exceeded almost every expectation we had for the project. It's in a fantastic location along the river with beautiful views out one side of the stadium. There's a great walking/bike path leading to the stadium from downtown, and free shuttles and buses for fans. The stadium was high end, built without public money and definitely reminded me of the Bay FC's PayPal Park from earlier this month.
The atmosphere was out of this world and felt almost exactly like seeing a Portland home game at Providence Park. It had crazy loud fans, a massive supporters section with drums and trumpets, people chanting songs all through the match and when KC scores, the whole place goes bonkers. Here's a video I shot of a penalty kick going in from Lo'eau LaBonta:
Yep, that's a train horn and fireworks and lighting displays after every goal
Most everything at CPKC Stadium was done well and the few less than stellar aspects were only due to over popularity, which is a good problem to have (and something they can work on solving in the coming years).
The night I attended was the fifth home game and fifth straight sell-out crowd. Every single seat in the new stadium is sold out for every game. I had to grab mine from a scalper on SeatGeek for about $100. So they need to make the park even bigger somehow.
Anyway, here's a gallery from one hell of a long weird game that ended in a tie in the 113th minute, well past when the game should have been called.
