Social
Give it up for #SKCNation, now more than 100,000 strong on Sporting Kansas City's official Google+ page. The club's followers on the platform moved into six digits today and to commemorate the occasion, we're launching our official Google+ Community and hosting a Google+ Hangout with Sporting Club CEO Robb Heineman at 4:30 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Submit your questions for @RobbHeineman by becoming a member of the Sporting KC Google+ Community and joining the conversation ahead of Tuesday's Google+ Hangout.
Sporting Kansas City's social media presence continues to reach new levels with approximately 300,000 users engaged with the team across all social platforms. The leading four social channels?
- Google+: 100,000
- Facebook: 71,500
- Twitter: 52,000
- Foursquare: 17,500
Find more metrics below for the club's growing popularity on Facebook, Twitter and Foursquare:
- Averaging 4-5% growth on Twitter month-over-month with more than 4,000 retweets, 2,000 favorites, 1,300 at replys and 5,500 mentions on average per month.
- Averaging 2-3% growth on Facebook month-over-month with more than 36,000 likes, 1,800 comments and 1,700 shares on average per month.
- Sporting KC boasted highest engagement on Facebook among all MLS clubs in April at 52%.
- Seventy-five percent of all Sporting KC Facebook followers are between the ages of 13-34.
- Averaging 1-2% growth on Foursquare month-over-month with nearly 150 likes on tips and/or checkins.
Check out SportingKC.com/social-media for links to all the club's official social outlets, including YouTube, Instagram, Tumblr, Flickr and Pinterest.
Sporting KC's 1-0 victory at BBVA Compass Stadium on May 12th provided a great example for how to make a goal line clearance.
The WRONG way to make a goal line clearance.
The RIGHT way to make a goal line clearance.
Goalkeepers writing books is becoming a bit of a trend in Kansas City. Jimmy Nielsen recently released "Welcome To The Blue Heaven: Don't Bet Against the Goalkeeper" but he wasn't the first Kansas City goalkeeper to do so. Back in 2008, Kevin Hartman released a children's book entitled "Boots Saves The Day."
Hartman must have been foreshadowing Nielsen's arrival in Kansas City. The front cover of his book looks eerily similar to Nielsen making a diving save in goal.
Be sure to join Nielsen in the Shield Club after Sunday's match against the Houston Dynamo to get your copy of "Welcome to the Blue Heaven" signed by the goalkeeper himself.
Update: We were pretty nervous to see the Nation's response to this week's caption contest, because even we had trouble coming up with appropriate verbage for Ike Opara after the utter disappointment following his overruled goal. Luckily, Christopher Rohan helped us out, Ike got robbed...
Ike Opara reacts in disbelief after a controversial offside call disallowed his goal in the 30th minute versus D.C. United on Sunday. The game resulted in a 1-1 draw, placing Sporting Kansas City in second place in the Eastern Conference. Opara’s devastation is apparent in his expression and there is no doubt we all shared his emotional turmoil after the referee indicated his decision.
So, this should be easy! Let us know what Ike and the rest of #SKCNation were thinking after the goal was called back for your chance to win an autographed 8x12 print of your favorite player. All entries must be submitted by 5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday. Good luck!
It's not every day you get invited to sit in the Victory Suite at Sporting Park. So when eight-year-old Joseph -- a local soccer player diagnosed with leukemia in December -- was the Victory Suite's special guest last week for Sporting Kansas City's match against the Seattle Sounders, he made the most of his moment.
Check out Joseph showing off for the cameras during his pre-game recognition on the videoboard...
Visit VictoryKC.org for more information on The Victory Project, a new community-driven foundation to impact children with cancer in the Kansas City region. Follow @VictoryKC and @SportingCares on Twitter.
Fifteen years ago today, Digital Takawira scored one of the most impressive hat tricks in MLS history. The striker scored three goals in a nine-minute span to lead Kansas City to a 3-1 victory over the New England Revolution.
Digital stopped by Sporting Park earlier this year and reminisced on the feat, saying, "It was like boom, boom, boom!" Enjoy today's Throwback Thursday featuring his signature "Digital Crawl" celebration.
Update: We had it all wrong. The offseason addition to Sporting Kansas City wasn't giving his veteran counter part answers, rather a sheer expression of emotion signifying their quickly cemented brotherly bond. Congratulations to Abbey Rhea for directing our attention to a dramatic passage from the 2008 science fiction novel, The Hunger Games.
Aurelien Collin scored the game-winning goal against Eastern Conference rivals the Houston Dynamo at BBVA Compass Stadium last weekend. Collin's central back PIC (partner in crime) on Sunday, Ike Opara put forth an exceptional performance to help Sporting Kansas City secure the club's seventh shutout of the season.
It looks like our man Aurelien has a question or two, but lucky for him Ike seems to be on top of things. Paint the scene for us - submit your best caption in the comment section of this post by 5:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday for your chance to win an 8x10 signed photo of your favorite Sporting KC player. Best of luck!
On Saturday, Roger Espinoza will be aiming for his second cup in consecutive seasons. Espinoza was a part of the 2012 Sporting Kansas City side that won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup and is currently playing for Wigan, who faces Manchester City in the FA Cup final tomorrow (watch live on FOX at 11am CT). He scored his first EPL goal for Wigan on Tuesday and the GIF below shows that wasn't the first time he's used his left foot to beat a keeper near post. You've been warned, Joe Hart.
