O’Melveny Guides KC NWSL in $US15-Million Training Facility Project

NEW YORK—September 24, 2021—O’Melveny advised KC NWSL, Kansas City’s professional women’s soccer team, in negotiations to bring a new US$15-million training facility to Riverside, Missouri.

The project was announced on September 17.

The training facility will be exclusively privately-funded by team owners and is part of the team’s aspiration to set the standard for the future of professional sports. The complex will include two grass pitches and more than 17,000 square feet. The layout includes comprehensive team training features such as a world-class locker room, elite weight and cardio rooms, and multiple outdoor and gathering spaces. The complex will also house the team’s front office activities and includes spacious areas focused on nutrition and wellness.

Completion is expected in 2022.

O’Melveny has represented KC NWSL since it inception in 2020, serving as a key advisor to an ownership group led by wife and husband team Angie and Chris Long in their successful bid to bring a National Women’s Soccer League team to Kansas City.

The O’Melveny team working on the training facility project was led by partner and Entertainment, Sports and Media co-head Irwin Raij and associate Paige Minteer.

O’Melveny’s Sports Industry Group handles many of the legal matters that draw coverage in sports pages everywhere—billion-dollar acquisitions and dispositions of professional sports teams; cutting-edge media and licensing arrangements; stadium development, financings and naming rights; sponsorships and endorsements; strategic joint ventures; and high profile litigation and other disputes.

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Kansas City NWSL issued the following press release:

KANSAS CITY NWSL ANNOUNCES PLANS FOR NEW TRAINING FACILITY

$15 Million Project will be purpose-built for professional women’s team

KANSAS CITY (Sept. 17, 2021) – Kansas City NWSL unveiled plans today for the team’s new $15-million training facility in Riverside, Mo.

The training facility, exclusively privately-funded by team owners, will be located just off I-635 and Horizons Parkway and is part of the team’s aspiration to set the standard for the future of professional sports.

The complex will include two grass pitches and more than 17,000 square feet. Meticulously designed, the layout includes comprehensive team training features such as a world-class locker room, elite weight and cardio rooms, and multiple outdoor and gathering spaces. Finally, the complex will house the team’s front office activities and includes spacious areas focused on nutrition and wellness.

With ground broken only nine months after Kansas City was awarded the club, the team’s new facility will also create iconic outward-facing moments and visuals that are sure to become a branding cornerstone not only for the team, but for the entire community.

“The training facility gives a tangible sign of the three driving forces for our club: our players, our community and our passion to create the future of women’s sports,” said Co-Founder and Co-Owner Angie Long, “Our team will spend more time together here than anywhere so it’s thrilling for us to bring it to life so quickly.”

In choosing the location for the facility, Co-Founder and Co-Owner Chris Long noted that it was important to connect to the history, attitudes and attributes that have shaped the metro. “This location is a perfect representation of both the history of the area and our bright future. Riverside sits on the very river that formed and shaped Kansas City with incredible views of downtown. We are grateful to Mayor Kathy Rose, the Board of Aldermen, and the entire city staff; from moment one, they have shared our vision for an even brighter tomorrow, and an appreciation for the way our team can connect the broader KC community.”

“As our community began to envision how Horizons could look, the idea of an active, inviting, and engaging development serving people from around the region became our goal. We’ve had many successes over the past ten years, but this is certainly a crowning achievement,” said Rose. “These owners, this team, and this project will be a wonderful addition to Riverside. I am so excited to work with Angie, Brittany, and Chris to help their team be a great success and model for young women everywhere.”

KC NWSL has Generator Studio and Monarch Build as its primary design and construction partners for the project, which is expected to be completed in 2022.

The team is in its first season of play, led by Owners Angie and Chris Long and Brittany Matthews, and will be in action next on Sept. 26 at the Washington Spirit before returning home to take on the Houston Dash on Oct. 2 at Legends Field. Tickets are available at KCWoSo.com.