KANSAS CITY, Kan. — Inter Miami met Sporting Kansas City on the frozen tundra of Children’s Mercy Park Wednesday night.
The CONCACAF Champions Cup match was originally set for Tuesday, but it was rescheduled to Wednesday due to Tuesday’s snow.
CONCACAF stands for the Confederation of North America, Central America, and the Caribbean. It’s one of six governing bodies for FIFA. Sporting Kansas City has its first Major League Soccer (MLS) match of the season Saturday night and therein lies the difference.
“Major League Soccer has a policy that no games can be played within a 48 hour window leading up to that game, so Thursday and Friday were not options for rescheduling,” Sporting KC Senior Director of Communications Kurt Austin told FOX4 Wednesday.
Crews had to remove the tarp from the field of Children’s Mercy Park on Wednesday afternoon instead of Thursday or Friday. Inter Miami didn’t get into town until Wednesday morning.
“I will tell you Sporting Kansas City was out in Palm Springs, California for our second leg of preseason for ten days here at the beginning of the month,” Austin continued. “We stepped off the plane last Wednesday, and it wasn’t nearly this cold, but still a shock to the system after being in 80-degree weather out in California.”
The chance to see one of the greatest soccer players of all time in Lionel Messi got metro resident Mary Delgado thinking.
“These tickets were given to me from a coworker,” Delgado said.
“She has season tickets, and she was just going back and forth whether her and her family were going to go just due to the inclement weather that we were having, and she shared in our group chat like, ‘Hey I have tickets.’ I mean it’s not known yet if Messi’s going to pay or not, so, I immediately turned to my boyfriend. I’m like, ‘Should we go?’”
The answer was yes. She’s planning on bringing her brother too.
“I’m actually googling what layers I should put on to get ready for this cold weather and just kind of prepping mentally and physically for what’s to come tonight.”
Sporting KC recommends fans have a base layer on to keep their skin dry, a second layer to keep their body heat in, and then a third layer to get the wind off of them. They add that a Supporters Stand ticket is the cheapest one in the house, but it gives you access to the Budweiser Brew House, where you can catch the game inside a heated area.
“Not necessarily,” Delgado said when asked if she was scared to come to Wednesday night’s match.
“I think my excitement is kind of surpassing everything that I’m kind of feeling in terms of with the weather and everything. That’s why I’m like googling because I want to make sure I don’t get frostbite either, ya know?”
The official attendance of Wednesday night’s matchup was said to be 15,178. Sporting KC’s Patrik Bergabo shared that, as of 9:20 p.m., there was only one incident related to the weather from a fan. That fan was treated at first aid and returned for the rest of the match.
Sporting Kansas City will play Inter Miami in Fort Lauderdale on Tuesday night, February 25.
