LIVESTRONG Sporting Park certainly provides a nice home for the beloved soccer fans that reside in Kansas City, a group who have made quite the name for themselves amongst visiting opponents.
The Cauldron, which was started by Sam Pierron in October of 1995 in conjunction with the Kansas City Wizards, did not always harbor this reputation. Kansas City has constantly had a large number of soccer lovers, but like many Major League Soccer teams struggled to find a soccer-specific venue throughout the early years.
Bouncing between an American football ground in Arrowhead Stadium and the minor league baseball facility CommunityAmerica Ballpark, the professional soccer team in KC hardly had a fortress to call their own. However, August 2006 began a transformation only the most loyal supporters could have conjured up in their dreams.
OnGoal, LLC -- a six-man ownership group -- purchased the club from Lamar Hunt in an effort to keep the Wizards in Kansas City. OnGoal, who is well known as the only local ownership group for a professional sports team in Kansas City, carefully crafted a rebrand for the club which included a new moniker as well as a $200+ million stadium.
After 15 years, the faithful supporters were finally seeing dividends when the state-of-the-art LIVESTRONG Sporting Park was unveiled. The Cauldron and the rest of the supporter groups grew exponentially after the rebrand. Despite opening the 2012 season with an away game at D.C. United, nearly 500 fans packed the official watch party at the LSP Member’s Club. But maybe more impressive was the hype dedicated to the first meeting this season against local rivals Chicago Fire.
Let us first dissect the term local in the previous sentence. Chicago is a nine and a half hour bus ride from Kansas City. So when it was initially rumored that over 300 fans were making their way to Chi-town via bus, impressed was an understatement. The numbers continued to grow and grow until reaching the 500 marker.
I wanted in on the action. So I bought my round trip ticket from the Kansas City Cauldron’s website and was in it for the long haul. The Cauldron, or should I say #roaddron, were nothing but welcoming the entire weekend long after an initial greeting of “Who let this girl on the bus?," which we’ll chalk up to sarcasm, right guys?
Sporting KC videogapher Abner Aceves got the whole thing on film and put together this tribute to show the club's appreciation and acknowledgment that Kansas City has the best fans in MLS. Check out the video and make sure you get your ticket for Colorado. The bus leaves at midnight!
