Sporting KC fans feel downtrodden amid rebuild. The new owner agrees
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Sporting KC has one win in seven matches under first-year head coach Raphael Wicky.
- Sporting KC has allowed 17 goals and scored seven, the most conceded in the West.
- Owner Peter Mallouk engaged with fans on social media and vowed to turn results around.
It’s been a rocky start to Sporting KC’s 2026 season.
The MLS squad has one win in its first seven league matches under first-year head coach Raphael Wicky. A new controlling ownership and front office regime has promised better results but emphasized it would take time.
The season is early, but there’s been an apparent lack of defensive progress. Sporting has allowed 17 goals and only scored seven in league play. SKC is one of the youngest squads in the league and has allowed the most goals in the Western Conference, where it sits in last place.
Sporting KC fans understand all this but are also clamoring for signs of progress. Sporting’s latest loss — in the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup — didn’t give them much of that.
SKC was shut out Tuesday 3-0 by USL Championship side Colorado Springs Switchback FC in the Round of 32 of the tournament (SKC’s first match in it). The second-division Switchbacks were free-flowing in their attack with 2025 SKC third-round pick Sadam Masereka notching a goal and an assist for them.
Fans have been vocal on social media about their disappointment in the team’s start. When Sporting KC’s team account posts score graphics after losses, fans flood the comments and quote the posts with jokes and melancholy responses.
The supporters group, the KC Cauldron, is highly vocal, penning letters in the past pleading for the team to return to its trophy-winning glory of the 2010s.
Since buying controlling interest of the club, Overland Park billionaire Peter Mallouk has been vocal about spending money to make the club better, even chirping in some fan social media comments.
He continued that practice after Tuesday’s loss.
Carrie Robinson, a longtime supporter, sent out a simple, humorous message during the Open Cup loss.
“Peter Mallouk are you suffering with us right now,” she said on X.
Mallouk let her know he’s right there with the fans.
“Very much so. We will get this turned around,” Mallouk commented on her post the next day.
Robinson was certainly not expecting a response. She took a screenshot of his post.
“okay you weren’t actually supposed to see this,” Robinson said.
Sporting returns to MLS play Friday, April 17, facing the top Western Conference squad Vancouver Whitecaps at 9:30 p.m. Central.
