Sporting Kansas City is going all in on the Lionel Messi hype train, moving its Major League Soccer home game against Inter Miami from its usual home to the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium.
Children’s Mercy Park, the home of Sporting KC, has a capacity of just over 18,000. Arrowhead Stadium, where Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes play home games, holds more than 76,000 people.
The majority of Major League Soccer franchises play in a metropolitan area which boasts a bigger stadium that could be used for a home game against Messi and Inter Miami.
The only one without that possibility, the Portland Timbers, aren’t currently a 2024 road fixture for Inter Miami.
Soccer fans across the US will flock to see World Cup winner Lionel Messi and Inter Miami
Sporting Kansas City moved its MLS contest vs Inter Miami to the Chiefs’ Arrowhead Stadium
Tickets for the game start at $65 and will go on sale at Noon on January 16.
Kansas City’s Arrowhead Stadium will also be used for matches during this summer’s Copa America, as well as the 2026 World Cup.
The game also represents Messi’s first professionally-sanctioned game in the Midwest. He has previously played in a charity match in Chicago.
‘This match has generated an unprecedented amount of interest since Major League Soccer released our schedule less than three weeks ago,’ said Sporting Kansas City President and CEO Jake Reid.
‘This match has generated an unprecedented amount of interest,’ Sporting KC revealed
The home stadium of Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes holds more than 76,000 people
No other team has yet made a move to a bigger venue to accommodate the Messi hype. But it is hard to believe Sporting Kansas City will be the last.
Six MLS venues on Inter Miami’s schedule have a similar capacity to Arrowhead Stadium.
The New England Revolution plays at Gillette Stadium, the Chicago Fire shares Solider Field with the Chicago Bears, and NYCFC plays at Yankee Stadium.
The home venues for Atlanta United, the Vancouver Whitecaps, and Charlotte FC also hold well over 50,000 fans.
