KC Sports Magazine presents a new six-part series delving into the sports rivalry between Kansas City and St. Louis.

In America’s heartland, the cities of Kansas City and St. Louis are in a constant battle with each other. Separated by about 250 miles on Interstate 70, it is a quick commute between the Fountain City of Kansas City and the River City of St. Louis. KC boasts about the world’s greatest barbeque and its growing population. However, STL is the Gateway to the West and has some of its own unique cuisine, including toasted ravioli and St. Louis-style pizza.

The KC versus STL rivalry has been largely underdeveloped in the sports landscape. The cities have been matched up in all four major sports, though very little has come from it.

Baseball had its moment in the 1985 World Series, but the rivalry has been anything but contentious since. Football’s I-70 Series was infiltrated with preseason exhibitions until the Rams sailed west to Los Angeles in 2015 while hockey has played a very minuscule role in the I-70 rivalry. The sport with the most developed rivalry is soccer, which has had a constant indoor soccer presence since the early 1980s and now an MLS rivalry has developed fangs with the addition of St. Louis CITY SC.

Here is a quick table to provide some perspective on the successes both cities have celebrated.

TITLE	KANSAS CITY	ST. LOUIS
Soccer League Championships	5	0
Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cups	4	10
Indoor Soccer Titles	3	1
NCAA Soccer Championships	0	10
Super Bowls	3	1
World Series Titles	2	11
Negro League Titles	16	5
Stanley Cup Titles	0	1

As the table shows, both cities have tremendously succeeded in baseball and soccer. The bulk of Kansas City’s baseball success came from the Kansas City Monarchs’ 16 Negro League championships, aided by a pair of championships for the Royals. The Cardinals carry the load for St. Louis baseball, hauling in 11 World Series titles while the Negro League Stars won five titles.

I-70 Series Part II: Baseball’s I-70 Origins

Both cities have enjoyed different levels of soccer success. Kansas City’s success mostly spanned across the past three decades between the KC Comets/Attack, Sporting KC/Wizards and FC Kansas City, but KC’s first championship came when the Kansas City Spurs won the 1969 NASL championship. St. Louis enjoyed great success in the pre-MLS era with 10 U.S. Open Cup titles and St. Louis University men’s soccer program winning 10 NCAA national titles between 1959 and 1973.

Kansas City’s NHL team failed, but St. Louis has supported the Blues for over five decades and won their first Stanley Cup in 2019. Next up on the list of achievements for both cities is an NBA title, but it’s been nearly four decades since an NBA franchise called the Show-Me-State home.

Stars such as Patrick Mahomes, George Brett, Satchel Paige, Len Dawson and Preki have starred for Kansas City teams over the years. St. Louis had Preki first in addition to stars such as Stan Musial, Ozzie Smith, Albert Pujols, Cool Papa Bell and Kurt Warner.

Even without powerful Show-Me-State rivalries, both cities have had some extraordinary stars embrace their teams to bring championships back to their organizations.

Part I: The KC vs STL Overview — Released on Oct. 11

Part II: Baseball’s I-70 Origins — Released on Oct. 18

Part III: True Rivals Indoors — Released on Oct. 25

Part IV: Exhibiting the Rivalry in the NFL — Release on Nov. 1

Part V: Hockey’s Limited Action — Release on Nov. 8

Part VI: Soccer is the Past, Present and Future — Nov. 15