Kansas City Wizards owner seeks to resolve stadium issue

Lamar Hunt, president of the Hunt Sports Group (HSG) and owner/operator of the Major League Soccer (MLS) club, has claimed the team may have to stay in Kansas City for another season without its own stadium unless a decision is reached on its future within the next three months. “As a general rule, the end of the season is a deadline for when the Wizards’ future is determined,” he said. “That’s when the league sets its schedule and things like that. The pattern of recent years is that the time of the championship game is when people focus on next year.” HSG has been in negotiations with a local ownership group for several months but the review of a feasibility study into constructing a 20,000 with Johnson County officials is ongoing. Hunt insists that a soccer specific stadium is needed in Kansas City to make it profitable for the team to remain there. “I’m not part of that process of trying to get a stadium built,” he explained. “But I still think things are proceeding well at this point. I can’t criticize the prospective owners for wanting to be thorough in making certain a soccer specific stadium makes sense.”