Sporting KC hits the road this weekend to face first place FC Dallas at FC Dallas Stadium on Saturday. The match is set to kick off at 7:30 p.m. CT and will be the lone meeting between the clubs during the 2013 MLS regular season.
More than 650 Sporting Kansas City fans will be making the trip to Dallas to support the team on the road. The match will be broadcast live on KSMO TV and can be heard on La Gran D 1340 AM.
SPORTING KC PLAYERS IN THE INTERNATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
Sporting Kansas City winger Graham Zusi and center back Matt Besler were integral in the United States Men's National Team's 1-0 victory over Honduras in World Cup qualifying on Tuesday. The U.S. MNT now has 13 points in six matches and sits in first place in the final round of CONCACAF World Cup qualifying.
Sporting KC rookie midfielder Mikey Lopez was named to the U.S. U-20 Men's National Team roster for the upcoming FIFA U-20 World Cup. The Under-20's earned a 3-1 victory over the Portugal U-20's in the team's final prep match before their opening game in Turkey on Friday. Lopez and the U-20's open with Spain at 1 p.m. CT on Friday in Istanbul, live on ESPN2 and Univision Deportes.
SIX SPORTING KC PLAYERS ON BALLOT FOR MLS ALL-STAR VOTING
Six Sporting Kansas City nominees are among the 115 players who were nominated for the 2013 AT&T MLS All-Star Game fan ballot by a panel of media members. Sporting Kansas City's representatives are defender Matt Besler, forward Claudio Bieler, defender Aurelien Collin, goalkeeper Jimmy Nielsen, midfielder Oriol Rosell and midfielder Graham Zusi.
Fan voting will continue through July 2 online at MLSSoccer.com and via text, by messaging the player's last name to 22442. Beginning Thursday at 11 a.m. CT, fans may vote for the players on Twitter by using the hashtag #MLSAllStar and the player's full name or Twitter handle.
MLS ALL-STARS TO HOST AS ROMA IN 2013 AT&T MLS ALL-STAR GAME
This year, Major League Soccer will play Italian giants AS Roma in the 2013 AT&T MLS All-Star Game. The marquee match will be played Wednesday, July 31 at Sporting Park. The annual summer showcase will be broadcast live on ESPN2, UniMás, and in Canada on TSN and RDS starting at 8 p.m. CT.
In conjunction with the game will be five days of festivities featuring KC landmarks including a free concert featuring the Silversun Pickups in the Power and Light District on Tuesday, July 30.
THE SPORTING KC SHOW AIRS ON SPORTS RADIO 810 WHB
Haus Kansas City welcomed Sports Radio 810 WHB and the Sporting KC Show with hosts Callum Williams and Andy Edwards on Tuesday. Sporting KC forward Teal Bunbury and FC Dallas forward Kenny Cooper joined the conversation to preview this weekend's contest. Listen to the full show here.
MLS: 36 EPISODE WITH AURELIEN COLLIN AND MATT BESLER AIRS ON SUNDAY
Sporting Kansas City central defenders Aurelien Collin and Matt Besler star in the latest edition of MLS: 36, which will air on Sunday at 8:30 p.m. CT on the NBC Sports Network. The episode will air following Sunday's nationally televised match between the Portland Timbers and the Colorado Rapids.
Collin and Besler welcomed NBC Sports for a behind-the-scenes look before, during and after Sporting KC's April 27 match against the Portland Timbers.
TEAM OFFICES NOW OPEN IN LOWE & CAMPBELL HISTORIC BUILDING IN DOWNTOWN KANSAS CITY
Sporting Kansas City's team offices are now open in the Lowe & Campbell historic building at 1511 Baltimore Avenue in Kansas City, MO. Located at the intersection of Baltimore Avenue and Truman Road, the offices are conveniently located in the iconic Crossroads Arts District and within walking distance of the popular Power & Light District.
JIMMY NIELSEN BOOK EVENT AT THE PLAZA BRANCH OF THE KANSAS CITY PUBLIC LIBRARY ON THURSDAY
On Thursday, Jimmy Nielsen will be at the Plaza Branch of The Kansas City Public Library (4801 Main St., Kansas City, MO) to discuss his new book, Welcome to Blue Hell. Nielsen will be joined by Paolo Bandini, sportswriter and co-author of the book. The event and reception are free to the public, with the reception starting at 6 p.m. CT and the program beginning at 6:30 p.m. CT. Seating is limited and RSVPs are encouraged by calling (816) 701-3407.
SPORTING KC DRAWN INTO GROUP 2 OF CONCACAF CHAMPIONS LEAGUE
Sporting Kansas City was drawn into Group 2 of the 2013-14 CONCACAF Champions League at the official draw in Miami. Sporting KC will face C.D. Olimpia of Honduras and Real Estelí FC of Nicaragua in a home-and-away series with the group winner advancing to the quarterfinal round.
TICKETS ON SALE FOR ALL SPORTING KC HOME MATCHES IN 2013
Sporting KC announced that individual tickets for the final eight MLS home matches are on sale now. Tickets are available at Ticketmaster.com or at the Sporting Park box offices.
SPORTING KC IN THE COMMUNITY
Two Sporting KC players will appear at local Price Chopper locations this weekend. Both appearances will take place in Overland Park, Kansas. On Saturday, defender Kyle Miller will be at the store at 7201 W. 151st St. from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. CT. On Sunday, a Sporting KC player will be at the store at 11700 W. 135th St. from 11 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. CT. Visit mypricechopper.com for more details.
SINGLE-DAY TICKETS ON SALE NOW FOR FLATLANDS FESTIVAL
Single-day tickets for the Flatlands Country Music Festival at Sporting Park from Sept. 12-14 are on sale to the general public, starting as low as $59 each. The new country music and camping festival, presented by Marquee Events and Sporting Club, will feature performances from several of the most popular artists in country music over three days.
Luke Bryan, Darius Rucker, Rodney Atkins, Thompson Square and Kevin Fowler will perform on Friday, Sept. 13. Toby Keith, Miranda Lambert, Kellie Pickler, Love and Theft, and JT Hodges will then take the stage on Sat., Sept. 14.
The 24,000 expected to be in attendance will have the opportunity to camp in nearby areas and enjoy all amenities associated with the state-of-the-art venue. For more information visit flatlandsfestival.com or call 800-493-3378.
SPORTING KC SEASON TICKETS SOLD OUT FOR 2013 SEASON
Sporting Kansas City announced that the club's allotment of 14,000 season tickets for the 2013 season at Sporting Park are sold out. Prospective Season Ticket Members may join the club's Season Ticket Member waiting list by placing a $50 non-refundable deposit per season ticket request.
Sporting Kansas City currently leads all MLS teams in the total number of new Season Ticket Members for 2013 and have averaged over a 90% Season Ticket Member renewal rate for the last three seasons.
Sporting Kansas City are also selling five-game 'Pick Plans.' All plans include the team's match on July 3 against the Vancouver Whitecaps FC as well as four additional Sporting KC matches of the buyer's choice, including U.S. Open Cup, CONCACAF Champions League or any of the remaining MLS regular season games.
SPORTING PARK TO HOST U.S. MNT IN WORLD CUP QUALIFIER
Sporting Park will host the U.S. Men's National Team on Oct. 11 in the team's final home qualifying match for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The United States returns to Sporting Park to play Jamaica, live on the ESPN family, WatchESPN and UniMas at 8 p.m. CT. Ticket information will be released at a later date.
Sporting Park, home to Major League Soccer's Sporting Kansas City, will host the U.S. Men's National Team for the third time since opening in June 2011. The state-of-the-art, $200+ million venue will also host the 2013 MLS All-Star Game on July 31.
AWAY TICKETS AVAILABLE NOW
Reserve your free away ticket to Sporting Kansas City's July 7 match at the Chicago Fire at Toyota Park, July 20 at Real Salt Lake at Rio Tinto Stadium, July 27 at Montreal Impact at Stade Saputo and August 18 at San Jose Earthquakes at Buck Shaw Stadium by clicking here.
VOTE SPORTING IN #SOCIALMADNESS
Sporting Kansas City recently advanced to round two of the Kansas City Business Journal #SocialMadness challenge.
The KC Business Journal #SocialMadness competition is broken into three segments divided by a company's collective social following. Sporting KC is in the large grouping with their 53,731 followers on Twitter, 72,818 likes on Facebook and 176,517 +1's on Google+.
The seven companies that join Sporting KC in the large grouping are the Kansas City Renaissance Festival, Sprint, Indigo Wild, Hitch Fit Online Personal Training, Legends Outlets Kansas City, Gallagher North America and the Kansas City Symphony. For this round Sporting KC is up head-to-head against Legends Outlets Kansas City. The winner of the head-to-head pairing will be announced on June 24.
In total, Sporting KC will have to make it through four rounds of voting for a chance to be crowned overall winners on July 9.
FOLLOW SPORTING KC ONLINE
Sporting Kansas City fans looking to keep up with the club on the worldwide web now have a place to go. The social media page on SportingKC.com features Twitter account information for the club, its players as well as many staff members. Additionally, fans may take advantage of the Media Recap page for all the latest independent news coverage available online.
Also, Sporting Kansas City's 2013 media guide is now available online and fans can find all the latest information for Sporting Kansas City matches at SportingKC.com/GameOn.
