LIVESTRONG Sporting Park will host the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final, U.S. Soccer announced on Friday, if Sporting Kansas City advances past the Philadelphia Union in next week’s semifinal round.
Sporting Kansas City takes on the Union at 6:30 p.m. CT on Wednesday, July 11 at PPL Park in Philadelphia with a berth in the final at stake.
Should Sporting Kansas City reach the final, the match would be held on August 7 or 8 at state-of-the-art LIVESTRONG Sporting Park versus the winner of Wednesday’s second semifinal between Chivas USA and Seattle Sounders FC.
In the event LSP hosts the championship match, all current Sporting Kansas City Season Ticket Members will have right of first refusal for their seat locations and will have access to an exclusive pre-sale, which will begin at 10 a.m. CT on Thursday, July 12. Additional ticket information for the potential final at LSP will be released next week.
The United States Soccer Federation determined the possible hosts for the 2012 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final on Friday as conducted through a sealed bid process. The four potential pairings, championship sites and match dates are as follows:
- Seattle Sounders FC at Sporting KC; August 8 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
- Chivas USA at Sporting KC; August 7 or 8 at LIVESTRONG Sporting Park
- Philadelphia Union at Seattle Sounders FC; August 8 at CenturyLink Field
- Chivas USA at Philadelphia Union; August 7 or 8 at PPL Park
Sporting Kansas City has reached the semifinal stage for the third time in club history with home victories over Orlando City SC (USL PRO), Colorado Rapids (MLS) and Dayton Dutch Lions (USL PRO) previously in the tournament.
The U.S. Open Cup is the oldest annual team tournament in American sports history with origins in 1914 and is named after Lamar Hunt, the original founder of Sporting Kansas City. The tournament celebrates its 99th annual edition in 2012 with the largest field in tournament history, consisting of 32 amateur teams and 32 professional clubs.
Sporting Kansas City won the Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup in 2004, defeating the Chicago Fire 1-0 on a golden goal by striker Igor Simutenkov at Arrowhead Stadium.
