KC is preparing for some extraordinary events

The sports future of Kansas City is bright.

Local teams are bursting with excitement and the city is hosting some of the biggest sports events in the world for the first time ever.

Kansas City’s Union Station will host the 88th annual NFL Draft in April of 2023. The next stars of the NFL will have their dreams reach an important milestone by getting drafted at Union Station.

On the global stage, a renovated Arrowhead Stadium will draw the eyes of millions when the stadium hosts games at the largest-ever World Cup in 2026. Some of the world’s greatest players will be playing the biggest games of their lives at Arrowhead.

Kansas City’s professional sports teams are thriving as well.

Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes have pushed the Chiefs to become a consistent AFC power. Mahomes has teamed up with Travis Kelce to create an unstoppable offensive combination. The Chiefs have won every AFC West title since 2016 and won Super Bowl LIV in 2020.

Sporting KC has been one of the most consistent teams in MLS since 2011, but 2022 was a season to forget plagued with injuries to star players. SKC added a pair of offensive signings that provided hope for a promising season in 2023.

The newest addition to the Kansas City pro sports community is the Current. After a last-place finish in 2021, the Current made the NWSL championship in 2022. With a stadium set to open in 2024, the Current are building a lot of energy for a move to their own place.

While the Royals aren’t finding a ton of success on the field, rookie prospects like Bobbie Whitt Jr have brought some hope for the future. New manager Matt Quatraro will be hoping to get the Royals to playoff contention. The Royals are also planning to venture away from Kauffman Stadium. The team has proposed a $2 billion development to build a downtown stadium.

Inside Cable Dahmer Arena, the Kansas City Comets are fighting for championships in the Major Arena Soccer League. The Comets made it to back-to-back semifinal appearances and are looking to get over the hump in 2023. The Mavericks are in new territory as they enter their first season as an affiliate of NHL’s Seattle Kraken and have gotten off to a good start in 2022-23 with an 8-5 record as of Nov. 27, 2022.

Since the T-Bones rebranded to the Monarchs in 2021, they have been tough to beat. After winning the league championship in 2021, they had a league-leading 65-35 record in 2022 but fell short of the championship series. Expectations are high for 2023.

Each of Kansas City’s professional sports teams has a reason for optimism.