MLS: Ranking all 24 Major League Soccer stadiums

ATLANTA, GA - DECEMBER 08: A wide view of the pitch from the stands of Mercedes Benz Stadium just prior to the start of the 2018 Audi MLS Cup Championship match between Atlanta United and the Portland Timbers at the Mercedes Benz Stadium on December 08, 2018 in Atlanta, GA. (Photo by Ira L. Black/Corbis via Getty Images) /

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27 September 2015: Sporting KC fans in the Blue Hell section cheer in a match between Sporting KC and Seattle Sounders Sporting Park in Kansas City. (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire) (Photo by Scott Winters/Icon Sportswire/Corbis via Getty Images) /

7. Sporting Kansas City – Children’s Mercy Park – Kansas City, KS

Capacity: 18,467

Opened: 2011

Pros: Atmosphere, sightlines, covered seating, soccer-specific, natural surface

Cons: Location

Located in the shadow of the Kansas Speedway is a venue that strikes fear into the hearts of those who enter. Despite the unassuming name of Children’s Mercy Park, make no mistake about it, this building is rocking at the worst of times and downright intimidating at the best. For years, SKC have been that team that you just don’t want to play, and the “Blue Hell” of Kansas is a big part of that. Like Red Bull Arena, however, its location lets it down. Located about a 20-minute drive from downtown Kansas City, Missouri, and surrounded by the speedway and the miles of cubic parking lot that it requires, Children’s Mercy Park can at times feel isolated. That’s until you enter into the cauldron of noise. The seats are covered, the sightlines are unobstructed and the surface is natural. This is how the game was meant to be played.

P.S. It already has the endorsement of Kansas City’s new king.

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