Sporting KC & Saint Luke’s announce new partnership. Is stadium name change next?
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sporting KC and Saint Luke’s form a healthcare and sponsorship pact through 2031.
- Saint Luke’s is team care provider in 2026; kit sleeve patch is immediate.
- Children’s Mercy Park naming rights lapse, leaving stadium name available to buyers.
Things will look a little different around Sporting KC next season.
Kansas City’s Major League Soccer team announced Friday that Saint Luke’s Health will serve as its official healthcare and team-care provider beginning with the 2026 season.
In addition, Saint Luke’s takes over the front-of-shirt sponsorship for Sporting KC’s training gear, as well as a shoulder advertisement on all kits this season.
“Our two organizations have deep roots in Kansas City, and we are excited to join together to make a difference in local communities across the area through this partnership,” said Jake Reid, Sporting KC president and CEO. “We look forward to teaming up on impactful initiatives that will support Saint Luke’s patients and staff as well as Sporting Kansas City players and fans as we approach an incredibly exciting year for our sport and our region in 2026.”
New deal follows previous 10-year pact
The partnership with Saint Luke’s replaces a 10-year agreement with Children’s Mercy that expired this year.
The new arrangement with Saint Luke’s runs through 2031, according to the Kansas City Business Journal.
“As Kansas City’s health care provider for nearly 150 years, Saint Luke’s is deeply committed to supporting our community,” said Saint Luke’s president Julie Quirin. ”This partnership reflects that commitment, uniting us in a shared mission to champion health, wellness and pride across Kansas City.
“From the pitch to the stadium to every corner of our community, Saint Luke’s and Sporting Kansas City represent the great history of this area and the exciting future ahead.”
Reid said that while the sponsorship with Children’s Mercy goes away, the relationship will not.
“We’ll continue to do stuff with Children’s Mercy within the community,” Reid said. “They’re such a great partner.”
As for the club’s past partnership with Children’s Mercy, and its future, the two sides simply had different directions in mind.
“We had very transparent conversations with them about this,” Reid said. “So this was mutually agreed upon, and we can’t thank them enough.”
The new partnership with Saint Luke’s differs in a few ways from the previous one with Children’s Mercy. One involves the first team’s health care. While the team’s full-time medical staff won’t change, players will now have a single point of contact.
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Children’s Mercy’s treats primary-care patients up to 21 years of age. That left the team to outsource player care through a variety of means.
New name for Children’s Mercy Park
Children’s Mercy Park will be renamed — but to what remains a mystery.
Here’s why: Sporting KC’s sponsorship arrangement with Children’s Mercy included stadium naming rights, but the new partnership with Saint Luke’s does not.
That means Sporting KC is on the hunt for a new stadium-name sponsor. Built in 2011, the venue in Kansas City, Kansas had been known as Children’s Mercy Park since 2015. Before that, it was known as Livestrong Sporting Park.
The clock is ticking for the club to unveil its next stadium sponsor — and new stadium name — as Sporting KC’s first game of the 2026 MLS season is slated for Feb. 28.
“I hope I have another press conference in the short term,” Reid said. “We’re working on a couple of things, and I think we’ll have some good news in anticipation of the World Cup.”
Daniel Sperry covers soccer for The Star. He can be reached at sperry.danielkc@gmail.com.