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Sports
Sharon Pruitt-Young, NPR

Kansas City team plans to build the first stadium created for women's league soccer

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An artist's rendering of what the new women's soccer stadium in Kansas City, Mo., will look like.
An artist's rendering of what the new women's soccer stadium in Kansas City, Mo., will look like.
Kansas City NWSL

Kansas City, Mo., may just be on its way toward becoming the capital of women's soccer.

The owners of the Kansas City NWSL, the city's resident women's soccer team, announced on Tuesday their intention to build the first stadium created specifically for a National Women's Soccer League team. The new stadium is expected to cost around $70 million — provided by the owners — and will be built on a 7-acre plot of land in the Berkley Riverfront area in Kansas City, Mo., according to the release.

Currently, there are a dozen soccer stadiums that NWSL teams use, but none of them were built specifically for the women's teams. The new KC stadium is expected to seat 11,000 and is slated to open sometime in 2024, according to The Kansas City Star.

"From the beginning, our vision has been to create a player-first experience, and facilities for our team that match not only the elite level of these incredible athletes, but also the passionate support of the Kansas City metro and our fans," Chris Long, one of the founders and owners of the KC NWSL franchise, said in Tuesday's news release. "We believe this significant investment and commitment will shape a stronger future for our entire region and our athletes."

The owners bought the team less than a year ago, during which time they have ushered in numerous changes, team officials said during a news conference this week. One such big move was their announcement last month to build a $15 million training facility, with two soccer fields in it, in Riverside, Mo.

The new stadium is more than just a building; it represents the city's commitment to supporting its women's soccer team, co-owner and co-founder Angie Long explained during Tuesday's press conference.

"This transformation goes just beyond this building and this project," Long said. "It's really a statement of how much we believe in Kansas City and it's how much we believe in these athletes."

Copyright 2021 NPR. To see more, visit https://www.npr.org.