NWSL K.C. Current co-owner Chris Long said that the Netherlands choosing to stay at the team’s dedicated training facilities for the World Cup “validates the training center in a way that words can’t,” according to Vahe Gregorian of the K.C. STAR. Long added, “Their actions speak so loudly when you have this top men’s team select a women’s facility that’s leading the way globally in sports for its investment.” Monday was day one of the Current’s training facility being turned over to The Royal Dutch Football Association. Also basing their operations in the area are Algeria (in Lawrence), England and Argentina. While the Current was not formed until after the World Cup bid was engaged and catalyzed, “no doubt the club became” what Long called “another piece of the puzzle” in earning a major role in the event -- and “reinforcing Kansas City’s oft-stated self-image as the soccer capital of America.” As such, it is also a “vital part of the potential takeaway for visitors” -- as well as what Kansas City “might hope will endure from this summer of soccer.” Particularly in terms of “how it could help further reset the expectation of what a proper facility for a women’s team should be,” it is “just one of the ways the Current’s ventures could inform any impressionable visitor’s mindset about the framework” of K.C itself as a “progressive city on the move” (K.C. STAR, 6/3).
SUMMER OF SOCCER: ADWEEK’s Bill Bradley wrote the NWSL’s “Summer of Soccer” initiative will serve as “an opportunity to get partners involved.” In addition to e.l.f. and Ally sponsoring the Challenge Cup and Rivalry Week, respectively, “Tylenol and YETI have also partnered for the ‘Summer of Soccer’ tour, with additional announcements on the way,” according to the NWSL. The league’s new CMO Rachel Epstein said that the campaign is a “powerful device” for partners to “create connectivity with fans and players” (ADWEEK, 6/3).
