Sporting Kansas City: moving in the right direction
by Steve Davis on Feb 18, 2011 12:11 PM EST
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PHOENIX, Ariz. – I have a difficult time pegging where I think newly renamed Sporting Kansas City will go this year in MLS.
I have a less difficult time pegging where Sporting Kansas City will go in the longer run.
Basically, I really like the properly directed commitment ownership is showing. The local group in charge is spending, and spending prudently – and that’s such a great starting point. Results are bound to follow.
As to whether that will happen this year or sometime in the future, that’s tough to say. Honestly, the Eastern Conference is a crapshoot this year. I really think it’s New York on top, then an old fashioned schoolyard scramble after that.
I like a couple of New England’s additions. D.C. seems better grounded than in the past (assuming they can get hold of their goalkeeper situation). Houston may be getting its groove back. Philly’s young team is growing. Everyone around Toronto is happier than Lindsay Lohan when the security cameras are turned off. Hell, even Columbus may be stronger than I alluded to earlier this week. (A couple of smart guys around MLS talked me in off the ledge on that one.) So, where Kansas City fits in the mix, I can only guess along with everyone else. But I really like the organization’s basic direction.
I’ll hold back some of the details here, because I plan to write more extensively about it for SI.com in the coming weeks. But here’s the ground floor of the piece:
First, Sporting Kansas City has the right approach to its re-branding, that it’s a starting point, not a punctuation mark. The brand needs definition, and I think they get that. (Love the logo, by the way. Seriously, may be the best in MLS now.)
Second, everyone who gets a taste of that new stadium (check out the construction web cam) comes away impressed. And why shouldn’t they? Ownership hasn’t balked at any opportunity to put another little flourish on things. The price tag is now up to about $180 million, from what I picked up around the team's practice the other day.
Further, they have four assistants, plus a strength and conditioning coach. Most MLS sides are one or two shy of that number. That certainly should ensure that all the bases are covered.
It all starts at the top. You can’t spend willy-nilly, but you have to spend, and I think the OnGoal, LLC, a local consortium, is getting the balance just about right.
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Agree except for the logo
To me, their new logo unspeakably plain. Nothing about it says…well, anything, really. What it says to me is “We are Sporting Kansas City, and our colors are two shades of blue.” That’s it. Plus, it looks an awful lot like the Eastern Conference logo (which has always seemed lame to me as well).
Other than that, they’re on the right path. They know they have to emphasize their youth program because most big stars are uninterested in living in KC.
As for the East, at the moment I think you’re mostly right about the crapshoot. New York will be above the scramble, and it looks to me like Chicago and the Crew will be left in the dust (I thought your article about Columbus was actually somewhat generous; I don’t see them finishing ahead of anyone save the expansion sides at this point). The other six teams all have some obvious strengths and some glaring weaknesses.
