Sporting KC’s excited about these big (screen) upgrades at Children’s Mercy Park
Sporting Kansas City, which plays its Major League Soccer home opener on Saturday night, is touting some significant offseason upgrades at Children’s Mercy Park.
Many of them should be readily visible to fans during this weekend’s match against Philadelphia.
Sporting KC has renovated and expanded the scoreboard above the south stand, the stadium’s largest screen. The Daktronics display is now 126 feet wide and 35 feet tall at its highest point, angling down to 20 feet tall on the top left side of the video board.
The ribbon video board above the east stand was also enlarged, and a video screen was added to the facing of the members’ club on the east side of The Cauldron. The new video board measures 14.5 feet high, 24 feet wide.
In addition to the beefed-up screens, hundreds of the stadium’s light fixtures — which had remained virtually untouched since the venue opened in 2011 — were replaced with LED models in various colors.
All of these upgrades bring Children’s Mercy Park more in line with some of the league’s newer venues, including those built in just the past couple of years.
“People want to come to a venue that is state of the art, that has all the latest and greatest,” Sporting KC president and CEO Jake Reid said. “This kind of puts us back in place with all the new venues that you’ve seen come online over the last couple of years.”
Relative league newcomer Austin FC is well known for turning its stadium green after the home team scores a goal. And St. Louis City SC produced goosebumps with its pre-match environment last season, with special lighting around the stadium building into the teams’ walkout and the playing of the anthems.
Reid said the new LED lights at Children’s Mercy Park will enable Sporting KC to create its own signature moments throughout a match. The blue lights will be used for Sporting KC’s games, but with the U.S. National Teams, or even KU football, they could bring out the red.
Reid stopped short of complimenting his own club’s nearest and fiercest rivals but acknowledged the allure of what essentially becomes an immersive match-day atmosphere.
“We want to continue to be the leader in all things stadium experience,” he said. “If you’re gonna do that, you must invest and ensure you’ve got the latest and greatest. Lights and scoreboards are a big part of that.”
Not all of CMP’s lighting upgrades will be fully online this weekend. Reid said the club will build toward using the new systems at their fullest capabilities as the season progresses.
Non-invasive security screening
Sporting KC is also rolling out a new screening and detection system at entry gates around Children’s Mercy Park.
The club believes its new Evolv Technology system — touted as a non-invasive screening process — will make fans’ entry to the stadium both safer and more streamlined.
“The days of having to stop, take things out ... it’s a seamless walkthrough, at this point,” Reid said. “We’re excited to roll that out starting Saturday.”
This story was originally published February 29, 2024 at 6:00 AM.