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Sporting hires a New York agency to capitalize on expected exposure from the World Cup, hoping to find sponsorships for the team's strongest assets, such as its stadium, uniforms and kit patches.
Sporting Kansas City hired a New York marketing agency to help capitalize on the 2026 World Cup’s potential to kick up national and global interest in the club — as well as revenue.
Although Sporting Kansas City always has handled marketing in-house, the MLS club brought on Team Playmaker, a global sales and marketing agency that was founded this year. Its leader is Matt Grandis, former chief commercial officer for Wasserman, which previously was known as CSM Sport & Entertainment. The agency specializes in sports, entertainment and media.
Team Playmaker will build the sales pipeline for Sporting Kansas City’s biggest assets, such as its jersey sponsorship, kit patches and stadium sponsorships. It also will focus on creating opportunities that resonate with fans and help build Sporting as a soccer stronghold throughout the Midwest.
“They’ll help us bridge the gap from the amazing support we’ve had here locally from soccer fandom to more of a national appeal while Kansas City is in the global spotlight from the World Cup,” Sporting Chief Revenue Officer Gregg Allen said. “It’s perfect timing for us to match up with a group of really true professionals who have had tremendous success throughout the industry and deliver the most value back to Kansas City.”
Kansas City is one of 15 host cities for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. It will host four games during the tournament’s group stage on June 16, 20, 25 and 27. It will host one match in the knockout round on July 3, and GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium also will have a coveted World Cup quarterfinal match on July 11. FIFA estimates that the Kansas City area will host about 650,000 visitors during the World Cup.
Sporting’s status as the area’s men’s major-league soccer team surely will gain it some extra attention as soccer fans from around the world converge on the metro.
“Team Playmaker has a network and relationships not just nationally, but globally, to take advantage of the eyeballs that will be on Kansas City and Sporting,” Allen said. “But this isn’t just designed specifically for World Cup. They will be sourcing prospects, filling a pipeline and developing commercial strategies with us that really make sense for our team. They’ll help maximize our opportunities.”
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