I've been touting for a few weeks now that soccer is rising in popularity in Kansas City.
ESPN knows it, which is why the sent camera crews to the Power & Light District during the World Cup. The Hunt family knows it, which is why they, along with the Wizards, pursued the Manchester United game. FIFA World Cup knows it, which is why Kansas City is a finalist for the 2018 or 2022 World Cup.
And Manchester United knows it, which is part of the reason they chose Kansas City on their tour of the States, a team rep told the Kansas City Star.
"We know that Kansas (City) is working very hard on being a destination city for these key games," Arnold said. "We worked very hard with Major League Soccer researching the cities that we go to."
Luckily for Kansas City, ticket sales are helping with the national perception that they're a soccer city. Last week, the Wizards announced they had sold 46,000 tickets for the game at Arrowhead Stadium today.
If you're a Chiefs fan, you know that number tops a few December games at Arrowhead last year.
Think about that for a second. There could be more soccer fans at Arrowhead than a December Chiefs game the last two years. That's crazy.
I gotta give some kudos to the Wizards and Chiefs for pushing soccer in Kansas City and pushing it at the right time. Momentum is flying right now coming off the World Cup and they capitalize with an event like this.
Add in that this game coincides with the Chiefs re-opening of Arrowhead Stadium and you've got some pretty darn smart marketing folks on board.