Kansas City has a long history of professional sports, including national championship teams and hosting some of the biggest championship title events.  Kansas City currently is home to three major league teams.

The Kansas City Chiefs were founded in 1960 as the Dallas Texans by businessman Lamar Hunt and was a charter member of the American Football League (AFL). In 1963, the team made the great move to Kansas City and assumed the current name.  The Chiefs would then join the NFL as a result of the merger in 1970.  The Chiefs have won three AFL championships, in 1962, 1966, and 1969.  They became the second AFL team (after the New York Jets) to defeat an NFL team in an AFL–NFL World Championship Game, when they defeated the Minnesota Vikings in Super Bowl IV. The team’s victory on January 11, 1970, was the final such competition before the leagues’ merger went into full effect. The Chiefs were also the second team (after the Green Bay Packers) to appear in more than one Super Bowl (and the first AFL team to do so) and the first to appear in the championship game in two different decades. Despite post-season success early in the franchise’s history, winning five of their first six postseason games, the team struggled to find success in the playoffs for many years, including losing 10 of 11 playoff games from 1993 to 2017, which included an 8-game losing streak. Since then, the Chiefs have won 4 of their last 5 playoff games, including Super Bowl LIV in 2020, which earned the franchise their first championship in 50 years.

The Kansas City Royals of Major League Baseball became the first American League expansion team to reach the playoffs in 1976, to reach the World Series in 1980, and to win the World Series in 1985.  The world series against state-rival St. Louis Cardinals was especially notable and is still known today as the “Show-Me Series.”  In 2014, the Royals won the American League pennant before falling in a heavily competitive seven-game World Series to the San Francisco Giants. The Royals would return to greatness in the 2015 World Series.  In just 5 games, the Kansas City Royals would become World Champions by defeating the New York Mets, clinching the title in game 5 with a 7–2 win in 12 innings.

Sporting Kansas City of Major League Soccer (MLS) plays its home games at Children’s Mercy Park, formerly named Livestrong Sporting Park and Sporting Park. Kansas City has won the MLS Cup twice — first in 2000 by defeating the Chicago Fire 1–0, and next in 2013 by beating Real Salt Lake at Sporting Park. Kansas City has won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup four times — first in 2004 by beating the Chicago Fire, next in 2012 by beating the Seattle Sounders at Sporting Park, again in 2015 by beating the Philadelphia Union, and most recently in 2017 by beating the New York Red Bulls. The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is named for Lamar Hunt; while he was best known as the founding owner of the Chiefs, he was also a principal founder of both the original North American Soccer League and MLS.

Kansas City Current is an American professional women’s soccer team playing in Kansas City, Kansas. It was founded as an expansion team by Angie and Chris Long in the National Women’s Soccer League in 2021. Brittany Mahomes, wife of NFL quarterback Patrick Mahomes, a former college soccer player at University of Texas at Tyler and fitness trainer, purchased a stake in the team as well. In January 2023, Patrick became a member of the ownership group as well. The franchise played their first season as Kansas City NWSL, playing their home matches at Legends Field in Kansas City, Kansas. In 2022, Matt Potter became manager and Allison Howard became the team’s first team president. Kansas City unveiled their new team branding as Kansas City Current for the 2022 season, and relocated their home matches to the nearby Children’s Mercy Park, in Kansas City, Kansas. In 2022 the ownership group announced plans for their future stadium in downtown Kansas City, Missouri. The Current had a 13-match unbeaten streak in the middle of their 2022 campaign, propelling the team to their first playoff appearance in the 2022 NWSL Playoffs, and an eventual matchup and unfortunately a close loss against the Portland Thorns in the NWSL Championship.

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