Kansas City Current
Opening Day Scarf
The Kansas City Current’s commemorative Opening Day scarf unified venue geeks and futbol fanatics alike by celebrating the National Women’s Soccer League team’s new stadium with a blueprint design sketch woven into the teal and blue retail item.
The design showcased the historic CPKC Stadium, a $117 million project and which became the first purpose-built facility for a women’s pro sports team in the U.S. when it opened in mid-March.
As a result, VenuesNow felt it was appropriate to recognize the scarf — which represents the strongest brand affiliation among soccer teams apart from jersey kits — with the first edition of the Best Retail Item as part of our Excellence in Concessions platform.
The scarf, priced at $30, also contains the phrase “History Made.”
The Current sold all 2,000 of the scarves produced for the landmark occasion after coming up with something special they felt would be coveted by the team’s fan base, said Jocelyn Monroe, the Current’s vice president and head of marketing.
“What’s more special than trying to bring the actual venue to life on a scarf and what it means at this point in history?” Monroe said. “We did an initial run of 1,800 and then made a few more because we had such demand for it.”
In soccer, team-branded scarves are a key piece of the sport’s culture for the fans that wear them to matches and proudly display the garments high above their heads during key moments in the contest.
They also come in handy to keep warm during cold weather games in the heart of the Midwest.
Graphic designers Kyra Gross and Collin Baker with the team’s marketing department came up with the idea of integrating the blueprint sketch into the scarf design, inspired by an early drawing of the building by Generator Studio, the stadium architect.
Ruffneck Scarves, a company that works with many soccer teams, produces all Current scarves. The Opening Day version was made with a thick, premium weave to make the blueprint sketch stand out and add greater value to the item, Monroe said.
The opening day item is among a half-dozen scarves the Current will roll out this season, marking events such as Pride Night and other tentpole moments during the 2024 campaign. Most likely, a new edition will roll out for the winter holidays, Monroe said.
It helps that the Current have their own team store connected to CPKC Stadium, which measures 2,500 square feet, and they now have ample space for a wall display with multiple scarves to better market those items, Morgan said.
Previously, the Current set up portable carts to sell merchandise at Children’s Mercy Park, where they played the past two seasons at the MLS stadium in Kansas City, Kansas.
Apart from the team store, the Current has a teal-colored merchandise truck that looks like the old vehicles that delivered milk back in the day that travels around the region selling scarves, hats, T-shirts and jerseys.
At this point in the 2024 season, NWSL officials have not released sales rankings, but Monroe said the Current stand in the top half among the league’s 14 teams, boosted by Kansas City’s on-field performance. As of early August, the Current were in second place behind Orlando. The regular season ends in early November.
“As a new operator of our retail, both brick and mortar and online, we’re ratcheting up our merchandise and level of inventory,” she said. “Our colors are vibrant and as we lean into our (primary color) teal hard, it gives us an opportunity to stand out in Kansas City.”
