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Sporting KC Show Podcast: Roger Bennett and Dave Ficklin talk Women's World Cup and Gold Cup

The Sporting KC Show Podcast, dropping throughout the season on Sports Radio 810 WHB, is now available on Spotify and iTunes. With Nate Bukaty and Carter Augustine hosting the weekly program, Sporting fans now have a place to go to catch up on club storylines, player achievements, guest interviews and more.




Sporting Kansas City may not return to Children’s Mercy Park until July 3, but the next seven days remain an action-packed week for soccer supporters in the metropolitan area.


On Thursday, fans will flock to the Kansas City Live! Block in the Kansas City Power & Light District for the resumption of Women’s World Cup watch parties as the United States faces Sweden in a decisive group stage showdown. The U.S. WNT will then enter the single-elimination knockout stage on Monday.


Next Tuesday, English duo Roger Bennet and Michael Davies—collectively known as Men in Blazers—will host a soccer-centric, comedy-laced show at The Madrid Theatre in midtown Kansas City. A limited number of tickets for the event are available at Ticketmaster.com while supplies last.


And next Wednesday, June 26, the U.S. Men’s National Team will visit Children’s Mercy Park for their pivotal Concacaf Gold Cup Group D finale against rivals Panama at 8 p.m. CT. Tickets are on sale at SeatGeek.com.


The Panama fixture will serve as an opportunity for the Americans to finish top of the group and seal passage to the quarterfinals. It will also be Kansas City’s chance to show the country that it deserves to be a host city for the 2026 FIFA World Cup in seven years’ time.


The newest episode of The Sporting KC Show Podcast centered on precisely this: the Women’s World Cup, the Concacaf Gold Cup and the summertime excitement surrounding these international tournaments.


Hosts Nate Bukaty and Carter Augustine first welcomed the vibrant Roger Bennet of Men in Blazers, who spoke glowingly about Kansas City as a soccer town and shared his thoughts on why fans should be buzzing about both the U.S. men’s and women’s national teams.


Next up on the show was David Ficklin, the director of Kansas City’s 2026 FIFA World Cup bid. Ficklin oversees a committee that is dedicated to putting Kansas City’s best foot forward as a potential host for the 2026 tournament, with FIFA set to pick 10 American cities among its list of 17 sometime in late 2020.


Ficklin, who also helped orchestrate the development of Children’s Mercy Park and Pinnacle National Development Center, talked passionately about Kansas City’s status as a hub for youth soccer and unparalleled soccer facilities and encouraged all fans—regardless of age—to visit KC2026.com to sign the online petition to bring the World Cup to Kansas City in 2026.


Listen to the full podcast below.