This articleneeds additional citations forverification. Please helpimprove this article byadding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. Find sources: "Sports in the Kansas City metropolitan area" – news ·newspapers ·books ·scholar ·JSTOR(September 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this message)

TheKansas City metropolitan area has a long history of sports, which has included national championship teams and championship title events.

Kansas City has had teams in all five of the major professional sports leagues; three major league teams remain today. The Kansas City Royals ofMajor League Baseball became the first American League expansion team to reach the playoffs (1976), to reach the World Series (1980), and to win the World Series (1985; against the state-rival St. Louis Cardinals in the "Show-Me Series").^{[citation needed]} They did not make the playoffs again until 2014, winning theAmerican League pennant before falling in aseven-game World Series to theSan Francisco Giants. The Royals would return to the World Series in2015, defeating theNew York Mets in five games, clinching the title with a 7–2 win in 12 innings.

Since moving to the city in 1963, the Kansas City Chiefs won theAFL title in 1966, ultimately losingSuper Bowl I to the Green Bay Packers, and again in 1969 as the last ever AFL champion, en route to their first Super Bowl win. They wonSuper Bowl IV against the Minnesota Vikings, 23–7. 50 years later, they would winSuper Bowl LIV 31–20 against theSan Francisco 49ers. In 2023, they won Super Bowl LVII over the Philadelphia Eagles with the score of 38-35, marking their second Super Bowl victory over the last four seasons and third Super Bowl title in franchise history.

Sporting Kansas City ofMajor League Soccer (MLS) plays its home games atChildren's Mercy Park, formerly named Livestrong Sporting Park and Sporting Park. Kansas City has won theMLS Cup twice — first in2000 by defeating the Chicago Fire 1–0, and next in2013 by beating Real Salt Lake at Sporting Park. Kansas City has won theLamar 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. Kansas City was previously represented by theKansas City Spurs in the top-levelNorth American Soccer League (NASL) from 1968 to 1970. The Spurs captured the NASL championship in1969, but were dissolved shortly after the 1970 NASL season.

The Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup is named forLamar 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 (NASL) and Major League Soccer (MLS).

In the three most prominent women's professional leagues (theWNBA, theNational Women's Soccer League, and theProfessional Women's Hockey League), Kansas City has had two teams, both in the NWSL.FC Kansas City was one of the league's eight inaugural teams in 2013, but management issues led to the team being folded after the 2017 season, with its playing-related assets transferred to the firstUtah Royals. That team ceased operations after the 2020 season, and its playing-related assets were transferred to a new Kansas City ownership group. The new Kansas City team played its first season in 2021 under the placeholder name Kansas City NWSL before adopting its permanent name ofKansas City Current the next season.

In 1926, the NFL added the Kansas City Blues and later renamed the club to theKansas City Cowboys (NFL) in 1926. The club folded in 1927.

In 1972, Kansas City gained anNBA franchise, when theKansas City-Omaha Kings – which had originated as theRochester Royals, before becoming theCincinnati Royals – relocated to the city fromCincinnati; the Kings split their home games between Kansas City andOmaha, Nebraska until 1975, when the team began playing its games exclusively in Kansas City, shortening its name to the Kansas City Kings. In 1985, the Kings relocated toSacramento, California, becoming theSacramento Kings.

In 1974, theNational Hockey League (NHL) added anexpansion team in Kansas City,^[2] when theKansas City Scouts began play. The team would suffer due to an economic downturn in the Midwest. For their second season, the Scouts sold just 2,000 of 8,000 season tickets and were almost $1 million in debt. Due to their various on- and off-ice disappointments, the franchise moved toDenver before settling on the East Coast as theNew Jersey Devils.

The Kansas Crusaders won the 1993 Women's Professional BasketballWBA Championship and the Kansas City Mustangs went undefeated in 1994.

• Kansas City is in Missouri. often the home of theBig 12 Basketball Tournaments. Themen's tournament is played atT-Mobile Center, while thewomen's tournament has often played atMunicipal Auditorium. Lately newer arenas inDallas andOklahoma City have hosted both tournaments.
• Arrowhead Stadium serves as the venue for various intercollegiate football games. Often it was the host of theBig 12 Football Title Game. On the last weekend in October, theFall Classic rivalry game betweenNorthwest Missouri State University andPittsburg State University takes place here. Usually, the Bearcats of Northwest and Gorillas of Pitt State are ranked one-two in theMIAA conference. In 2005, other games at Arrowhead includedArkansas State playing host toMissouri, andKansas hostingOklahoma. The stadium will be one of eleven venues in the US to host matches during the2026 FIFA World Cup.
• Kansas Speedway, located in Kansas City, Kansas, hosts manyauto racing events, including twoNASCAR race weekends with theCup Series andTruck Series in the spring and the Cup Series andXfinity Series in the fall. The track formerly hosted a race in theIndyCar Series.
• Kansas City has also hosted the1973 Major League Baseball All-Star Game and the2012 Major League Baseball All-Star Game at Kauffman Stadium as well as the2013 MLS All-Star Game at the venue now known as Children's Mercy Park. In 2006, Kansas City was awardedSuper Bowl XLIX, but a vote for a rolling roof to be put over Arrowhead and Kauffman Stadiums was voted down, eliminating that possibility.
• Children's Mercy Park hosted the2013 MLS Cup Final, withSporting KC defeatingReal Salt Lake inpenalty kicks
• Kansas City hosted the2023 NFL draft. The draft was held outside ofKansas City Union Station from April 27 to April 29, 2023.^[3] The event site was 3.1 million square feet.^[4]

Kansas City and nearbyOverland Park, Kansas were once the home of theNational Collegiate Athletic Association, and has hosted ten men's final fours, more than any other city. However, Kansas City will be unable to host an 11th Final Four due to the NCAA's requirement starting with the 1997 tournament that all Final Four venues have a minimum seating capacity of 30,000.

In recognition of Kansas City's ten final fours, theNational Association of Basketball Coaches are based in the city, and operates a full-time museum in the new Sprint Center, which opened in 2007 and is now known asT-Mobile Center.

Kansas City is home to theMid–America Intercollegiate Athletics Association, anNCAA Division II conference of 14 schools in Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Oklahoma. TheNational Association of Intercollegiate Athletics was formed in Kansas City. The NAIA national men's basketball tournament takes place each year in Kansas City's Municipal Auditorium.

TheNegro Leagues Baseball Museum is located in the18th and Vine district.

• Sports in the Kansas City metropolitan area

• Articles with short description
• Short description is different from Wikidata
• Articles needing additional references from September 2015
• All articles needing additional references
• All articles with unsourced statements
• Articles with unsourced statements from November 2014