Kansas City biggest winner of NWSL Championship Weekend

KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - While the Orlando Pride took home the league Championship over the weekend, the biggest winner this week just might be the City of Kansas City.

“I’ll tell you, we’ve been blown away,” said Kate Johnson, sports and entertainment marketing director for Google. “What they’ve done here with the Current and the stadium and the facilities.”

By all accounts, the City’s been a great Championship game host.

“I literally couldn’t keep track of all the events happening this week,” said Angie Long part owner of the Kansas City Current.

And that was the goal, to make this an event - not just a soccer match.

“The League has done a great job of growing it from a Championship game and this year, a Championship Week,” Jim McCoy, sports marketer for Nationwide, noted. “Where the entire sports industry comes to town and celebrates the great season.”

Orlando Defender Haley McCutcheon is an Olathe East graduate who is proud of her hometown.

“That’s the thing to love about Kansas City too, you can’t come here without seeing teal,” McCutcheon told KCTV5. “And although I play for Orlando, it’s really cool to see people buy into the women’s team here.”

But it’s not just KC Current fans who have bought in, the world’s top tech companies also want a piece of the action.

“Women sports fans tend to be more tech-savvy, they tend to be earlier adopters of technology,” Johnson indicated. “So, it’s a really important audience for us to get in with, to integrate our products with.”

And of course, the gorgeous, new CPKC Stadium is the epicenter of it all. And to think, some people questioned the wisdom of building a stadium for a women’s team.

“Like the 40 banks who turned us down for the loan,” Long added.

“We had many sports owners, from men’s teams tell us it would work,” Long’s husband and Current co-owner Chris said. “So, it feels great to stand here today and have such a celebration of women’s sports.”

So, yes, Kansas City’s been a big winner.

“It feels like a place you have to be this week,” Long concluded.

But this is about more than just women’s soccer, this weekend will do nothing but enhance Kansas City’s efforts to attract a WNBA team in the years ahead.

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