On October 22, 2015, the team was officially announced as the
USL's 30th franchise, as were the Swope Park Rangers name, color scheme and logo. The Rangers replaced
Oklahoma City Energy FC as SKC's USL affiliate, and was named after a nickname for SKC reserve squad in 2008. The team is
Sporting Kansas City's third USL affiliate in the team's history, after previously having partnered with
Orlando City SC and
Oklahoma City Energy FC. Canadian
Marc Dos Santos, who led
Ottawa Fury FC to the
NASL Soccer Bowl in 2015, was named the first head coach of the Rangers on November 20, 2015. The Rangers finished their inaugural season in 2016 with a 14–10–6 record and finished fourth in the Western Conference. The side advanced to the 2016 USL Cup Final, becoming just the second team in USL history to do so in its inaugural season. The Rangers beat
LA Galaxy II,
Orange County SC and
Vancouver Whitecaps FC 2 en route to the final where the side eventually fell 5–1 to
New York Red Bulls II at
Red Bull Arena. Goalkeeper
Adrian Zendejas and winger
Tyler Pasher were each signed by parent club Sporting Kansas City at the end of the season. Following the conclusion of the 2016 season,
Marc Dos Santos departed to take over at newly founded
NASL club the
San Francisco Deltas. His assistant for the 2016 campaign, Nikola Popovic, took the reins ahead of the 2017 season. The side continued to have success as Popovic led the team to a 17–8–7 record in the West and another fourth-place finish. Sporting KC also signed four more players from SPR during 2017 in
Amer Didic,
James Musa,
Kharlton Belmar and
Kevin Oliveira. Popovic resigned as head coach on November 17, 2017, after leading Swope Park to their second consecutive conference championship. On September 30, 2019, the club announced that it would re-brand as Sporting Kansas City II ahead of the 2020 USL Championship season.
MLS Next Pro The club announced on December 6, 2021, that it was joining the inaugural 21-team
MLS Next Pro season starting in 2022. Former Sporting Kansas City player
Benny Feilhaber was named the team's head coach for the 2022 season. ==Location==