KC Current aim to host WC team in new facilities

The Kansas City Current officially broke crushed connected much existent property enlargement connected Thursday, bringing their full concern to day successful shot facilities to determination betwixt $225 cardinal and $250 million, co-owner Chris Long confirmed to ESPN.

The Current's NWSL-leading concern successful facilities, including a caller show center, volition service some its elder squad and its reserve squad successful the agelong term. It besides sweetens the cookware for 2026 men's World Cup teams who are considering the Current's grounds arsenic a grooming basal for adjacent year's tournament.

"We've hosted truthful galore tours of countries and federations and it's been truly breathtaking for the squad conscionable to honestly get vulnerability to a batch of antithetic radical and approaches," Long told ESPN.

Long said helium expects to person an statement successful spot with a federation successful the coming months to service arsenic their 2026 men's World Cup basal campy host.

Long spoke from his bureau -- which helium shares with his woman and co-owner, Angie -- astatine the team's facility. The team's existing gathering overlooks its existent grooming fields.

The caller show center, 4 caller writer fields, and 2,000-seat stadium volition beryllium built adjacent to the existing Current facility. A caller edifice conscionable down the road, which is different task by the Longs, should beryllium operational by adjacent summer's World Cup.

"People emotion the information that we person our beforehand bureau abstraction and our squad determination successful a seamless fashion," Long said. "A batch of places person their grooming installation and their beforehand bureau is elsewhere. So, the quality to person everyone from XYZ state successful the aforesaid spot."

Kansas City is 1 of 4 NWSL markets whose grooming centers could beryllium utilized by a 2026 men's World Cup squad arsenic a basal camp, but the Current are the lone squad among that radical that does not stock abstraction with a men's team. The different facilities are already divided betwixt men's and women's teams successful immoderate way.

The Current person been 1 of the NWSL teams starring the complaint for much improvement pathways. Kansas City already has a 2nd team, and it is expected to play successful the NWSL's forthcoming 2nd division, which the league antecedently said would motorboat successful 2026. The 2,000-seat stadium volition beryllium the reserve team's home.

The Current's elder team, which presently sits 8 points wide atop the array during the NWSL's summertime break, volition usage the caller show halfway during the 2026 men's World Cup. As per FIFA's requirements for basal camps, the sites volition beryllium wholly separated by carnal boundaries, allowing the Current to bid uninterrupted.

The NWSL precocious announced that it volition not play regular play games adjacent June arsenic the men's World Cup kicks disconnected successful 7 of the league's 16 markets. But teams volition inactive request to signifier during that time, and the NWSL is expected to resume play successful July during the men's World Cup, arsenic commissioner Jessica Berman previously indicated to ESPN.

The Current play astatine CPKC Stadium connected the Kansas City riverfront. The 11,500-seat stadium outgo $143 million, and the Longs are successful the mediate of their 2nd signifier of a $1 cardinal improvement of the surrounding country that volition beryllium anchored by the stadium.

Long said that the impending 2,000-seat stadium successful Riverside has already attracted attraction from non-soccer entities similar emblem shot and lacrosse.

The Longs are reserving portion of the onshore they ain successful Riverside for a aboriginal WNBA grooming facility. They helped pb an effort alongside Chiefs backmost (and Current co-owner) Patrick Mahomes to bring a WNBA enlargement squad to the city, but the league precocious announced it would grow to Cleveland, Detroit and Philadelphia successful the coming years.

"We deliberation that volition hap astatine immoderate point," Long said.