KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Just over 200 hundred years after French fur traders landed here via the Missouri River and settled in rough cabins along its banks, Kansas City Current owners Chris and Angie Long with other dignitaries and family arrived Thursday at the Berkley Riverfront by motorboat to embark in earnest on an unprecedented journey of their own.
Near the site that in 1821 commenced the establishment of what would become Kansas City, the Longs and co-owner Brittany Mahomes then broke ground in more ways than one:
Literally as they dug ceremonial shovels of dirt to launch construction on the 11,500-seat, approximately $117 million ultramodern stadium.
And figuratively in the sense that it’s the first of its kind to be built exclusively for a National Women’s Soccer League franchise — and certainly a rarity for any women’s professional team anywhere.
All at once, the moment harkened back to the essence of Kansas City’s rich history while heralding a barrier-breaking future.
One in which the rest of the world can again discover something here.
“Don’t you feel it?” Angie Long said. “How special and amazing this location is?”
She was speaking about how they came to be enamored of this being the place for this project in conjunction with the city and PortKC. That sensation came to them with a visit nearly as soon as they bought the franchise not even two years ago in the eye of the pandemic.
But you really could feel it in any number of ways on Thursday at the future home of the Current — a club that itself was transformed this season into a playoff team that will open postseason play in Houston on Oct. 16.
You could feel it standing in the breeze and watching the river flow and sensing the buzz of hundreds who attended the ceremony. And gazing over at the Christopher Bond Bridge just to the Northeast. Or turning around for a glorious view of the skyline of the city.
And by picturing thousands of people roaming the grounds not just for matches but for numerous year-round events (other sporting events, concerts and beyond) and daily entertainment possibilities in an outdoor pavilion area.
You could feel it imagining the gorgeous renderings of the project coming to fruition as an architectural marvel. One that will further catalyze the resurgence of the riverfront, which a year or so after the stadium opens in 2024 will be further connected to downtown by a streetcar stop.
“This is really the bookend of transforming the riverfront for the next 50-plus years,” said PortKC president and CEO Jon Stephens — who will forever appreciate the contrast with an area that had been in abject neglect before it had been reclaimed and reimagined in recent years.
It was easy, too, to feel this was a pillar and a connector of something quite more for the region at a time it’s radiating synergy.
The new airport is scheduled to open in March, and, of course, we’ll be a World Cup host in 2026 — an opportunity greatly enhanced both by this stadium and the training facility built by the Current that each could be used for international base camps. To say nothing of the prospect of the Royals building a downtown ballpark district, as CEO John Sherman calls it.
Maybe what you could feel most of all, though, is the galvanizing message this sends about women’s sports that’s still crucial 50 years after the passage of Title IX.
Yes, building this stadium is about controlling branding and the ability to schedule and concessions, etc.
But it’s also about telling these world-class athletes, and by extension those who might seek to emulate them, that this all is about you. And that you deserve nothing less than the sense of pride and ownership and opportunity that comes with that.
Take it from Patrick Mahomes, Brittany’s husband.
“They believe in those women to go out there and play at a high level,” he said Thursday. “They have a state-of-the-art facility, they’re building a brand-new stadium now (that is) letting them show that we believe in them. They do it the right way as an organization, and I think you can see that whenever they play on the field.”
So pardon Chris Long if he takes issue when he hears someone say “why can’t they just play in a men’s stadium?” Or “we already have enough venues in this region; why do we need another one?”
Because that’s not just the rejection of an innovative notion of revitalizing the riverfront and energizing the city.
It’s a fundamental misunderstanding of what this kind of investment and affirmation means for women’s sports.
“It’s such a powerful, powerful statement,” he said.
Particularly powerful coming from them. So much so that NWSL commissioner Jessica Berman smiled and said she’d like to take them on the road for “a couple meetings I could use them in.”
“They’re very compelling and unapologetic, which I really appreciate, in their demand for excellence,” she said.
Something that’s been evident to her since the first time she met the Longs, the ever-engaging couple who started an investment management firm, Palmer Square, that at the time of their purchase of the team held around $12 billion in assets.
“I don’t think you can have a conversation with Chris or Angie and not immediately conclude that they mean business,” Berman said. “They are like, ‘This league deserves the best, and we will deliver the best.’
“Not just in the NWSL but globally. Their benchmarking was not really within our league. They wanted to be recognized globally for delivering first-class experience for our athletes and make sure they were instilling the confidence in the fans, sponsors, media partners, that they were taking this seriously as an investment.
“And I think they have the credibility to do that not just because of the kind of people they are and who they are but because of their background. They have the ability to convince, I think, public and private stakeholders that they’re smart about business. They’ve been successful business people.
“So when they say it will be so, people pay attention and they listen.”
Berman made another important distinction about what’s at play here. The Longs are doing this not just because it’s the right thing to do but, she said, because they “know it has an opportunity for growth that far exceeds some other investments that you can make. And the Longs certainly have proved that they know how to grow businesses. …
“They’re doing this because they believe in the future of women’s soccer.”
Something you could feel in so many ways on Thursday.
Including in a snapshot of how the Longs forever seem to see possibilities where others of us might see only obstacles.
Speaking with a few of us from The Kansas City Star, no sooner had Angie asked if we’d seen their arrival by boat than Chris chimed in with another of their ideas.
“One of our visions is to activate this riverfront and have people attend the game via boat,” he said. “I see no reason why we can’t have a series of docks and or some level of ability for people to do that.”
Added Angie: “The infrastructure needs some more investment all along the river to really support that, but it’s starting to happen. And, again, we can be a catalyst to make that happen sooner. … How amazing (it would be) to arrive to a Kansas City game by boat.”
Catching himself somewhat, Chris smiled and said, “One thing at a time.”
Especially when it’s something this momentous and transformational. Something that both reminds us where we come from and points to where we can go.
