Traveling to away games to cheer on your favorite team is not a new concept in world football. For supporters in England, it generally requires a short train ride or an hour (or less) drive to see your favorite team on the road. But for supporters in the Major League Soccer, traveling to away games is a bit more work. With 19 MLS teams spread across two countries, traveling to an away game requires time, effort and money.
So when viewers tune in to Saturday night’s match between FC Dallas and Sporting Kansas City, supporters around the country will be able to appreciate the 650 Sporting KC fans that will have taken over the southeast corner of FC Dallas Stadium.
Road trips for Kansas City road games are referred to as #roaddron's. And while the interest to see the team play on the road has always been there, the actual number of fans making the trips has grown exponentially over the years.
Sean Dane, a long-time Season Ticket Member and one of the Kansas City Cauldron leaders, is not surprised by this weekend’s turnout.
“Fans are traveling with this team like never before,” Dane told SportingKC.com. “The interest level to go on road trips is huge. While I love that we have 600-plus fans going to Dallas this weekend, I think the biggest story is that we have averaged more than 50 fans at every road game this year, excluding the Montreal match.”
It’s been nine years since Dane went on his first #roaddron. It was 2004 and Kansas City had a late-April match against the Dallas Burn at the Cotton Bowl. Despite 100-degree temperatures, approximately 25 fans made the trip down I-35 to cheer on the then-Wizards.
“The growth in what has become the #roaddron in the past few years has been phenomenal,” Dane said. “Six hundred is 10 times as many people that used to be in the section at home games. It’s inspiring to see people buying into the participation of the supporters group and have the passion to get on a bus, ride for eight hours and support their team.”
This weekend’s traveling party will leave from Sporting Park Friday night at midnight. They will arrive in Dallas around 10 a.m., tailgate with FC Dallas supporters, attend the match, spend the night in a hotel and return home Sunday morning. The level of support from the Kansas City faithful has not gone unnoticed by Sporting Kansas City’s front office.
“It’s mind-blowing to me to think we’ll have more fans in Dallas Saturday than we had season ticket holders in 2006 when we bought the team,” said Sporting Club CEO Robb Heineman. “But honestly, by now, nothing surprises me with how incredible our fans are. I love ‘em and where they go, I’ll follow."
