Sporting Kansas City–St. Louis City SC rivalry

Sporting Kansas City–St. Louis City SC rivalry
	Sporting Kansas City St. Louis City SC
Location	Midwestern United States
First meeting	May 20, 2023; MLS regular season; STL 4–0 SKC
Latest meeting	July 20, 2024; MLS regular season; STL 1–1 SKC
Next meeting	September 28, 2024; MLS regular season; SKC v STL
Statistics
Meetings total	7
Most wins	Sporting Kansas City (3)
Top scorer	João Klauss; (3 goals)
Largest victory	STL 4–0 SKC; MLS regular season; (May 20, 2023)
	St. Louis City SC Sporting Kansas City Location of the two teams' stadiums in Missouri & Kansas

The Sporting Kansas City–St. Louis City SC rivalry, is a soccer rivalry between the two Major League Soccer (MLS) clubs Sporting Kansas City and St. Louis City SC.

Background

The cities of St. Louis and Kansas City have a longstanding rivalry, being the two major metropolitan areas in the state of Missouri.^{[citation needed]} St. Louis's addition to MLS for the 2023 season created a new outlet for the inter-city rivalry.

Prior to the clubs' first meeting, Sporting Kansas City accused the Soccer Capitol Podcast, a St. Louis fan podcast, of infringing on the trademark “The Soccer Capital of America,” which was registered to Kansas Training Partners LLC, an affiliate company of Sporting Kansas City.^[1]^[2]^[3]

St. Louis City won the clubs' first meeting at CityPark in May 2023. Sporting KC won the second meeting at Children's Mercy Park in September of that year.^[4] The two teams played in their first postseason matchup in the 2023 MLS Cup Playoffs,^[5] with Sporting Kansas City (the #8 seed) upsetting the #1 seeded St. Louis in a best-of-three series.^[6]

Supporters, players, and staff of St. Louis City SC have referenced the fact that Sporting Kansas City, despite previously claiming to represent the state of Missouri in MLS, plays in Kansas City, Kansas, often referring to the club simply as "kansas".^[7]

Names for the rivalry include:

Soccer Capital Derby - A reference to the trademark dispute between Sporting Kansas City and the Soccer Capital Podcast, as well as both franchise's claim to their home city being "The Soccer Capital of America".^[8]
I-70 Derby - A reference to the I-70 Series of Major League Baseball, and the Interstate highway connecting the two cities.^{[citation needed]}
The Darbecue - A reference to the barbecue cultures of both St. Louis and Kansas City.^[7]
Heartland Derby^[8]
Cease & Desist Derby - Another reference to the trademark dispute.^[8]

Results

Summary

As of July 20, 2024

	Matches	STL wins	Draws	SKC wins	STL goals	SKC goals
MLS regular season	5	2	2	1	13	7
MLS Cup Playoffs	2	0	0	2	2	6
Total	7	2	2	3	15	13

Matches

Season	Date	Competition	Stadium	Home team	Result	Away team	Attendance	Series	Ref
2023	May 20	MLS	CityPark	St. Louis City SC	4–0	Sporting Kansas City	22,423	STL 1–0–0	[1]
	September 2	MLS	Children's Mercy Park	Sporting Kansas City	2–1	St. Louis City SC	21,650	Tied 1–1–0	[2]
	September 30	MLS	CityPark	St. Louis City SC	4–1	Sporting Kansas City	22,423	STL 2–1–0	[3]
	October 30	MLS Cup Playoffs	CityPark	St. Louis City SC	4–1	Sporting Kansas City	22,423	Tied 2–2–0	[4]
	November 5	MLS Cup Playoffs	Children's Mercy Park	Sporting Kansas City	2–1	St. Louis City SC	21,650	SKC 2–3–0	[5]
2024	April 20	MLS	Children's Mercy Park	Sporting Kansas City	3–3	St. Louis City SC	21,650	SKC 2–3–1	[6]
	July 20	MLS	Children's Mercy Park	Sporting Kansas City	1–1	St. Louis City SC	19,876	SKC 2–3–2	[7]
	September 28	MLS	CityPark	St. Louis City SC		Sporting Kansas City			[8]