‘I hope we can learn from this.’ Union head laments recent KC Current heat fiasco

You could see Saturday’s weather fiasco at CPKC Stadium coming when the National Women’s Soccer League schedule was released in late January.

Playing a mid-August game at 3 p.m. in Kansas City was always going to be a dubious proposition, and the Current and Orlando Pride (not to mention a host of fans) endured a weather delay of nearly three and a half hours before the teams could battle to a scoreless draw.

The University of Kansas Health System provides game-day medical resources on-site at CPKC Stadium. Sources tell The Star that 16 people were treated for heat-related issues Saturday; one person was taken by ambulance to a nearby hospital.

The most obvious reason for not moving the match’s start time sooner was the national broadcast window on CBS. The game was eventually shown for free on CBSSports.com and the NWSL+ streaming service.

Once the game began, CBS viewers in the New York, L.A. and San Diego markets were instead shown preseason football. On X and Bluesky, users in other markets reported seeing reruns of “FBI’s Most Wanted.”

KC Current forward Haley Hopkins, president of the NWSL Players Association, told The Star that she hopes that all parties involved can learn from how things played out Saturday.

Like Current teammates Izzy Rodriguez and Ellie Wheeler, Hopkins said proper decisions were made in the moment with player safety in mind.

“There was obviously some frustration about the delay itself,” Hopkins acknowledged, “but that’s not something we can control, and our medical team made 100% the right decision to prioritize player safety.”

What is the precedent here?

According to a report from The Athletic, Jessica Berman, commissioner of the NWSL, threatened to fine the Current after a disagreement about extreme-heat procedures.

In addition to raising concerns when the schedule was first released, the report said, the Current and Pride approached the league nearly six hours before kickoff, asking to postpone the match until later in the day.

And the league had precedent for being more proactive in moving back the game’s kickoff time due to extreme heat.

At 9 p.m. Central Time the night before kickoff of a May 24 Houston Dash home match against Bay FC, the NWSL moved kickoff back from 4 p.m. local time to 7 p.m. The league cited “high temperatures anticipated throughout the afternoon” as its reason.

“The decision was made by the NWSL in consultation with both teams,” the NWSL said then. “While the forecast remains safe for spectators, the schedule was adjusted to ensure the well-being of all players and officials.”

The forecast and temperatures in Houston were similar to those Kansas City faced over the weekend.

Notably, that Houston game was not scheduled for national broadcast. It was originally planned for broadcast on NWSL+ or Paramount+.

The extreme heat policy

The NWSLPA fought to include a heat threshold of 92.3 Fahrenheit in its most recent collective-bargaining agreement with the league.

It should reasonably have been anticipated that this would be a problem for Saturday’s match.

The National Weather Service had issued an extreme heat advisory for KC more than 48 hours before the Current’s scheduled game time. That could have prompted a league response similar to the one employed in Houston.

Hopkins said she knew Saturday’s conditions were going to be a problem during pre-game warmups.

“That heat was pretty unbearable,” she said. “It was a seemingly obvious choice in that regard, to know that that wasn’t the best situation to put players in — especially when you’re exhausting all of your energy in virtually everything that you’re doing.

“A situation like Saturday is exactly why the (union) has it in our CBA and fought for specific guidelines as to what that threshold exactly is,” Hopkins added. “You’re not only protecting the players, but the fans in the stands, anybody working game-day operations. It just poses that much of a higher risk for something serious happening.”

The oppressive heat certainly affected spectators and stadium staff. The Current had misting fans and extra ice on hand throughout the venue. But the heat still posed a serious risk.

Hopkins hopes that everyone involved learns from what unfolded last weekend.

“All you can do in reflecting and moving forward from that game and entire situation is learning from this situation,” she said, “and making sure you have every safeguard possible not to repeat those events.”

Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.

This story was originally published August 21, 2025 at 3:20 PM.