Kansas City Current match delayed 3-plus hours by heat. Why was it scheduled?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Heat delay pushed KC Current vs. Orlando Pride match over three hours late.
- Game was set for national CBS slot despite forecasted heat advisory.
- Kickoff moved to 6:20 p.m.; fans endured extreme heat but were allowed reentry.
The Kansas City Current vs. Orlando Pride match scheduled for 3 p.m. on August 16 raised eyebrows from the moment the National Women’s Soccer League schedule came out in January.
Yet the game continued — well, that was the goal.
Both teams warmed up in anticipation of a 3:07 p.m. kickoff in Kansas City. The WNBA game on CBS pushed the start time back five minutes. But then a weather delay was announced just minutes before kickoff, with not a cloud in the sky.
The culprit? As expected, the heat, with temperatures in KC well over 90 degrees.
The match was postponed indefinitely until 4:48 p.m., when a kickoff time of 6:20 p.m. was announced. The club brought out star players Lo LaBonta, Temwa Chawinga and Debinha, with LaBonta addressing the crowd through the public address system.
While fans were asked to be patient and to be ready to bring energy when the game started, LaBonta acknowledged the fans’ boos and frustration that came just as the delay was announced.
“Nobody — including the players — is happy right now,” the KC Current captain said pregame.
The teams eventually played to a 0-0 draw, a disappointing conclusion to a much-anticipated matchup.
So how did we get here?
Why the Current match was scheduled — and delayed
The game — between the NWSL-leading KC Current and third-place Orlando, one of KC’s top rivals — was featured in a national TV window at 3 p.m. on CBS. Following the lengthy delay, the match was moved to CBSSports.com and NWSL+.
On Thursday, the National Weather Service issued a heat advisory for the Kansas City area, which, more than 48 hours in advance of kickoff, put the game under the league’s “Extreme Heat Policy.”
The policy states that the league will begin “Wet Bulb Globe Temperature” measurements 60 minutes prior to kickoff from the center of the field.
“If the WBGT temperature reads at or above 92.3 degrees Fahrenheit, the home club’s operations staff is required to alert the league,” the policy states, with the match going into a delay.
The delay began minutes before the scheduled kickoff of 3 p.m. and continued — as the WBGT readings were read aloud nearly every 15 minutes — until roughly 4:30 p.m.
Around 4:45 local time, the Current informed those who had stuck around that the match wouldn’t start until roughly 6:20 p.m. and that fans would be granted reentry.
After LaBonta addressed the crowd, fans of the sold-out match left en masse, many to their cars to escape the heat. Some fans had been in the stadium since 1 p.m. Central.
When the match kicked off, the crowd paled in comparison to the number of people who had been in the stands at the game’s originally scheduled start time.
This is the first and only time the Current had a scheduled home kickoff prior to 6:30 p.m. local since the end of May. KC also was held without a goal at CPKC Stadium for the first time.
The Current declined to comment and referred all requests to the NWSL. The Star requested a comment from the league and asked if any consideration had been given to the heat advisory issued days in advance.
“The league aims to play matches as scheduled whenever safely possible,” an NWSL spokesperson said in a statement obtained by The Star. “While forecasts guide planning, we primarily rely on real-time, on-site weather data to make informed decisions in accordance with our inclement weather policies and protocols. Based on those inputs, the league made the decision to delay today’s match.”
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.
This story was originally published August 16, 2025 at 6:49 PM.