Kansas City Current urging fans to #ShowUpKC for Friday night match against Angel City
The Kansas City Current professional soccer team is building momentum both on and off the field.
And not just in terms of that current (pardon the pun) 10-match unbeaten streak.
As the Current prepare to play host to L.A.’s Angel City team at Children’s Mercy Park on Friday, the local National Women’s Soccer League organization is also pushing toward 2024, when it will open a new, privately funded 11,500-seat stadium along the Missouri River near downtown KC.
Earlier this week, the Current launched an informational website — kccurrentstadium.com — where fans will soon be able to secure season tickets at the new stadium. Starting Sept. 13, fans may place deposits for seats at the as-yet-unbuilt venue through the new site.
The club’s efforts to fill the new stadium’s seats — a campaign it’s dubbed #ShowUpKC” — will be prominent Friday night at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kan., where the Current and Angel City will play at 7 p.m.
Angel City is an NWSL expansion team, new for 2022, but it’s averaging nearly 18,000 per home match in year one. The Current’s goal is to hit 10,000 in attendance Friday, which would be a record for the second-year club in Kansas City.
Current president Allison Howard noted the importance of the 10,000 mark in relation to the new riverfront stadium’s planned capacity.
“We want to give the players a feel for what that (capacity) is going to be,” Howard said. “The players really feel the change in the energy at the stadium when we have more fans there.
“As somebody that’s walking around, before I get the halftime numbers of people in the building, I can tell if we’re 500 more or 500 less than the last game. Even as a spectator, you can feel it.”
The Current’s record for attendance at Children’s Mercy Park is 7,954, set June 4 against the San Diego Wave. Club officials confirmed that ticket sales for Friday night’s match have already surpassed that mark and are on track to top 10,000.
“We want to see fans in the seats,” Current coach Matt Potter said. “We’re obviously in a good moment in terms of our product on the field, and long may it continue.”
The Current have not lost since May 25. During their ongoing streak, they’ve allowed just eight goals while producing four clean sheets. Seven of those 10 matches have ended in wins, and now they’re in the mix for second place in the NWSL, just three points out of first.
Potter said that the Current’s mindset has been to “not accept in victory what we wouldn’t in defeat.”
“We gave up three goals (last weekend against the NC Courage) that we feel we should have done better both individually and collectively,” the coach said. “There are lessons to learn there. We also feel we left goals out there, so there are lessons to be learned there, too.”
