Sporting Kansas City vs. Los Angeles FC
2024 MLS Regular Season | Match 33
Saturday, Oct. 5 | 7:30 p.m. CT (7:40 kickoff)
Children's Mercy Park | Kansas City, Kansas
Broadcast Schedule:
Apple TV | MLS Season Pass
English Radio | ESPN 94.5 FM & 1510 AM
Spanish Radio | La Grande 1340 AM
Tickets | 5 Things | By the Numbers | Tune In on Apple TV | Watch Party | Pub Partners | SKC App | MatchCenter
Sporting Kansas City will host Los Angeles FC at 7:30 p.m. CT on Saturday on Fan Appreciation Night at Children's Mercy Park in the club's final home match of the season.
Tickets for the rematch of last week's U.S. Open Cup Final are available on SeatGeek, including standing room only tickets, and ticket holders can take advantage of the following Fan Appreciation offers:
- Free popcorn from 6-7:30 p.m. at Brat n Brau, Kickin' Chicken, Price Chopper Market and State Line Burger concessions as well as the Budweiser Brew House (limit two per transaction)
- Complimentary $10 balance on Sporting Pay from 6-7:30 p.m. to spend on food, drink or retail items
- 50% off value menu items (hot dogs, nachos, pretzels, popcorn) and $2 off all canned beer
- 50% off primary jerseys and 25% off Wizards gear (excluding third kit)
- Postgame team poster giveaway presented by UMKC
Saturday's showdown comes 10 days after the two sides met in the 2024 Lamar Hunt U.S. Open Cup Final. Sporting midfielder Erik Thommy scored a superb equalizer in the second half to force extra time -- giving the German playmaker three goals in his last three matches across all competitions -- however Sporting succumbed to a 3-1 loss at BMO Stadium in Los Angeles.
LAFC will now travel to Children's Mercy Park, where Sporting Kansas City is unbeaten in 14 straight October home matches (11-0-3) since 2015. Club captain Johnny Russell has scored 11 career regular season goals in October, which ranks first in club history, second among active MLS players and fifth all-time in Major League Soccer. The Scottish skipper is tied with Dom Dwyer for second on the club's career scoring chart with 67 goals in all competitions and he leads Sporting with nine assists this season in all competitions.
Saturday will mark a milestone moment for Manager Peter Vermes as the Sporting Legend coaches his 600th match for Sporting Kansas City -- becoming the first individual in MLS history to do so with one club -- across MLS (532), U.S. Open Cup (41) and international (27) matches.
Longest Tenured Active First Division Managers Worldwide
1. Frank Schmidt, FC Heidenheim (GER) since Sept. 2007
2. Gurban Gurbanov, Qarabag FK (AZE) since Aug. 2008
3. Peter Vermes, Sporting KC (USA) since Aug. 2009
Longest Tenured Active Head Coaches in U.S. Big 5 Leagues
1. Gregg Popovich, San Antonio Spurs (NBA) since Dec. 1996
2. Mike Tomlin, Pittsburgh Steelers (NFL) since Jan. 2007
3. John Harbaugh, Baltimore Ravens (NFL) since Jan. 2008
4. Erik Spoelstra, Miami Heat (NBA) since April 2008
5. Peter Vermes, Sporting KC (MLS) since Aug. 2009
Vermes played the final three seasons of his playing career in Kansas City from 2000-2002 and first joined the technical staff in November 2006 as the technical director before becoming manager in August 2009. His 21 seasons with the club are one more than LAFC head coach Steve Cherundolo spent at German club Hannover 96, where he played the entirety of his pro career (1999-2014) and started his coaching career (2014-2018).
Cherundolo is now in charge of an LAFC squad that can clinch a top-four finish in the Western Conference -- and home-field advantage in the Round One Best-of-3 Series in the upcoming MLS Cup Playoffs -- with a win on Saturday for a team in pursuit of a third straight Western Conference championship in the manager's first three seasons.
Reigning MLS Golden Boot winner Denis Bouanga leads LAFC with 26 goals in all competitions in 2024, while Mateusz Bogusz is second on the team with 18 goals this season. On the opposite end of the field, 37-year-old goalkeeper Hugo Lloris leads MLS with 11 shutouts in his first season stateside. Lloris started in each of the last two FIFA World Cup finals, winning the 2018 edition of the competition alongside LAFC summer signing Olivier Giroud.
The visitors also recently added former MLS MVP Carlos Vela - whose last match was MLS Cup 2023 - and Saturday will see a pair of former Sporting players return to Children's Mercy Park. LAFC midfielder Ilie Sanchez began his MLS career with Sporting, making 171 appearances for the club from 2017-2021, while forward Kei Kamara -- who ranks second in MLS history with 147 regular season goals -- also played five seasons in KC from 2009-2013 with 126 appearances for the club.
SKCvLAFC will be available to watch on Apple TV for MLS Season Pass subscribers. Pub partners in the Sporting Pub Network will also show all of the action, including a watch party at No Other Pub in the KC Power & Light District. In addition, radio coverage will air locally on ESPN Kansas City 94.5 FM and 1510 AM as well as La Grande 1340 AM with live audio streams in the Sporting KC App.
After Sporting Kansas City and LAFC meet on Saturday, Sporting KC II will host LAFC 2 at 3 p.m. CT on Sunday at Swope Soccer Village in Kansas City, Missouri on the final day of the 2024 MLS NEXT Pro regular season. Tickets area available on SeatGeek for just $10 and the Western Conference clash will stream live on MLS Season Pass on Apple TV.
