Early years (1996–1999) The Kansas City MLS franchise was founded by
Lamar Hunt, who was also the founder of the
American Football League, the
Kansas City Chiefs, the
United Soccer Association (which merged with the NPSL to form the
North American Soccer League, or NASL), and
Major League Soccer. The
Kansas City Wiz played their first game on April 13, 1996, defeating the
Colorado Rapids at
Arrowhead Stadium with a score of 3–0. The Wiz players included
Preki,
Mo Johnston,
Digital Takawira, and were coached by
Ron Newman. The team finished third in the Western Conference (fifth overall) in the
1996 regular season with a 17–15 record, qualifying for the
first-ever MLS Playoffs. In the 1996 conference semi-finals, the Wiz beat the
Dallas Burn in three games, won the final game in a shootout, and lost the conference final to the
LA Galaxy. Following the 1996 season, the Wiz changed names, becoming the "Wizards," following legal action from the now-defunct electronics retailer
The Wiz. For the
1997 MLS season, their record was 21–11, sufficient for the Western Conference regular season championship.
Preki was named 1997
MLS MVP. In the first round of the playoffs, the Wizards lost to the last-seeded Colorado Rapids. The Wizards had losing records for the
1998 and
1999 seasons, finishing last in the Western Conference both years. The Wizards fired Ron Newman early during the 1999 season, and replaced him with
Bob Gansler. The Wizards finished the 1999 season with a record of 8–24, which put them in last place in the Western Conference once again.
Supporters' Shield and MLS Cup (2000) In
2000, their first full season under
Bob Gansler, the Wizards opened the season on a 12-game unbeaten streak. Goalkeeper
Tony Meola recorded an MLS record shutout streak at 681 minutes and 16 shutouts and won MLS Goalkeeper of the Year and
MLS MVP.
Peter Vermes was named 2000
MLS Defender of the Year. The Wizards finished the 2000 regular season 16–7–9, the best record in the league, winning the
MLS Supporters' Shield. In the 2000 playoffs, they fell behind 4 to 1 to the LA Galaxy, but
Miklos Molnar scored a penalty kick in game three to send the series into a tiebreaker, where he scored again to send the Wizards to their first
MLS Cup. At
RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., the Wizards, with the league's best defense, faced the team with the league's best offense, the
Chicago Fire. The Wizards took the lead on an 11th-minute goal by
Miklos Molnar. The Fire put ten shots on goal, but Tony Meola and the defense held, and the Wizards claimed their first MLS Cup Championship. Tony Meola was named 2000 MLS Cup MVP. played with Kansas City from 2003 to 2010. In the first round of the 2004 playoffs, the Wizards lost the first game to the
San Jose Earthquakes, 2–0. In the second game, however, the Wizards scored 2 goals before
Jack Jewsbury scored in stoppage time to move KC onto the conference final. In the conference final, the Wizards held off the Los Angeles Galaxy to reach their second
MLS Cup. In the 2004 MLS Cup final, the Wizards went up against
D.C. United at the
Home Depot Center in
Carson, California. The Wizards'
Jose Burciaga scored in the sixth minute, but D.C. United replied with three goals in the first half. KC was given a lifeline in the 58th minute as
Josh Wolff scored the first penalty kick in MLS Cup history, but KC lost the 2004 MLS Cup final 3–2.
Move east (2005–2010) Following MLS expansion, the Wizards moved to the Eastern Conference in
2005. By the end of the 2005 season, despite the solid play of 2005 MLS Defender of the Year
Jimmy Conrad, the Wizards found themselves outside the playoffs with a record of 11–9–12. After the season, the team's veteran leader,
Preki, announced his retirement. In the
2006 season, the Wizards just missed out on a playoff berth with a loss to the
New York Red Bulls on the final day of the regular season, finishing with a 10–14–8 record.
Lamar Hunt sold the club in August 2006 to
OnGoal, LLC, a six-man ownership group led by
Cerner Corporation co-founders
Neal Patterson and Cliff Illig, a local group committed to keeping the Wizards in
Kansas City. The club dedicated its
2007 season to Lamar Hunt, who had died in December 2006. A good start earned them four wins in the first seven weeks of the season. The club picked up goalkeeper
Kevin Hartman from the LA Galaxy to help with that position. Despite winning just four games after the All-Star break, Kansas City managed to finish fifth in the East at 11–12–7 and qualify for the playoffs. The club shifted over to the West as a result of a playoff format change; the Wizards played against
Chivas USA. With the Wizards
Davy Arnaud's goal in the first game to win the series, the defense and
Kevin Hartman did the rest and kept Chivas USA off the scoreboard. In the conference final, the Wizards came up short to the
Houston Dynamo, 2–0. In
2008, the Wizards played their home games at
CommunityAmerica Ballpark in Kansas and ended a four-year playoff drought by posting an 11–10–9 record, good enough for fourth place in the Eastern Conference. Facing the
Columbus Crew, the Wizards earned a 1–1 tie in Game 1 of the first-round series, but with a 2–0 loss in Game 2, the Wizards lost the aggregate series 3–1. In the
2009 season, the Wizards remained at CommunityAmerica Ballpark but struggled to score. They went 426 minutes without scoring a goal, the longest streak of the season. In August 2009, with the team holding a 5–7–6 record, KC fired Head Coach
Curt Onalfo and named general manager
Peter Vermes the head coach. The Wizards finished with the worst home record in the league and, at 8–13–9, were third to last in the league standings. Top players were
Claudio López (8 goals & 7 assists) and
Josh Wolff (11 goals), who sparked the Wizards offense. in July 2010 at Arrowhead Stadium. This match was considered a turning point in the franchise's history, as their attendance would rapidly grow once the Sporting KC rebrand was announced, and upon the opening of their own stadium the following year. The Wizards hosted
Manchester United F.C. in a
friendly on July 25, 2010, and won the match by a score of 2–1. The announced attendance of 52,342 was a record for a professional soccer match in
the Kansas City area. In the
2010 regular season, the Wizards finished third in the Eastern Conference and narrowly missed qualifying for the playoffs.
Sporting rebrand (2011–2012) With the rebranding (of Wizards to Sporting), the team followed a recent trend in MLS of adopting European-style names, such as
Toronto FC,
D.C. United, and
Real Salt Lake. The title "Sporting" has its origins in Iberia, where it is used only by multi-sports clubs with a history of having multiple departments fielding teams across different sports, the most notable being Portugal's
Sporting CP. At the rebrand announcement, Kansas City's president announced they had planned to add a rugby club and lacrosse club. Since then, a partnership with the
Kansas City Blues Rugby Club has been announced, but the two sides are not part of one "Sporting Club," and no lacrosse team has been established. The rebranding was met with a mixture of both excitement and disdain by fans when originally announced. With the opening of the new
Sporting Park in Kansas City, Kansas, Sporting became the first major-league team to have played in stadiums on both sides of the state line in Kansas City, while Kansas City became the only U.S. metropolitan area other than New York City to have major professional sports teams playing in different states. Because Sporting Park was not ready for the beginning of the
2011 season, Sporting Kansas City played its first ten games on the road, only winning one game. Once the road trip was over, the team found more success and ended the regular season with the most points of any Eastern Conference team. After defeating the Colorado Rapids on a 4–0 aggregate in the Eastern Conference semifinals, Sporting lost to the Houston Dynamo 2–0 in the Eastern Conference finals. KC began the
2012 season with seven consecutive wins, in the process setting an MLS record for 335 minutes without allowing a shot on goal. The team finished the regular season first in the East with an 18–7–9 record. KC was led by
Graham Zusi, who delivered a league-leading 15 assists and was a named finalist for the 2012
MLS MVP;
Jimmy Nielsen, who notched a league-leading 15 shutouts and was named the 2012
MLS Goalkeeper of the Year; and
Matt Besler, who was named
MLS Defender of the Year. KC lost to the Houston Dynamo in the conference semifinals. KC won the
2012 U.S. Open Cup, defeating
Seattle Sounders FC in the finals, to qualify for the
2013–14 CONCACAF Champions League.
MLS Cup champions (2013) honored the team and their victory in the
MLS Cup 2013 in the East Room of the White House. In
2013, Kansas City took advantage of MLS's newly created retention funds to renew contracts with U.S. national team players
Graham Zusi and
Matt Besler. Sporting had finished second in the Eastern Conference and overall with 17 wins, 10 losses, and 7 ties in the regular season. In the 2013 MLS Playoffs, Sporting KC defeated
NE Revolution in the conference semifinals and
Houston Dynamo in the conference finals, advancing to
MLS Cup 2013. SKC defeated
Real Salt Lake on penalties (7–6) after the match was tied 1–1 in regulation and overtime. It was the coldest MLS Cup game on record.
Return west (2014–present) ,
Johnny Russell, and
Roger Espinoza in
2021. In the
2014 MLS Cup Playoffs, Sporting was eliminated in the East Knockout Round by the
New York Red Bulls. On October 27, 2014, the league announced that Sporting, along with the Houston Dynamo, would move from the Eastern Conference to the Western Conference when two teams from
East Coast states,
New York City FC and
Orlando City SC, joined the league in 2015. Sporting finished sixth in the Western Conference that year, again qualifying for postseason play due to the expanded twelve-club field in the
2015 MLS Cup Playoffs. They were eliminated in the Western Knockout Round by the
Portland Timbers, 6–7 in a
penalty shootout. Sporting's co-owner Neal Patterson died due to soft tissue cancer in July 2017. Kansas City unveiled wordmarks on the team's jerseys and on Sporting Park to commemorate their late owner. Later that month, the club traded Dom Dwyer to Orlando City in exchange for $1.6 million (in general and targeted allocation money with additional incentives), setting the record for the most expensive internal trade in league history. The team won the
2017 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup, defeating the
New York Red Bulls 2–1 in the final. The win gave Sporting their fourth Open Cup title and their third in the last six years. The victory extended head coach Peter Vermes's record to 4–0 in cup finals and championship games with the club. In Open Cup history, Kansas City became just the second franchise in the single-elimination tournament to have won four Open Cup finals in the same number of appearances. Pat Curran, one of the club's ownership partners, died in October 2024. Peter Vermes ended his 15-year tenure as the team's head coach in March 2025 after a winless start to the season. ==Colors and badge==