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Sporting Kansas City is an American professional soccer club based in Kansas City, Missouri, playing its home games in Kansas City, Kansas. The club competes as a member of the Western Conference in MLS. Sporting KC began play in 1996 as one of the ten charter teams in the league as the Kansas City Wiz. The team was founded by Lamar Hunt in 1995. Since moving across the state line, they have been the only major professional sports league franchise to play their home games in Kansas.
For the majority of their existence, the franchise were known as the Kansas City Wizards. The team rebranded in November 2010, coinciding with its move to their home stadium, now known as Children's Mercy Park. The franchise has won the MLS Cup twice (2000, 2013), the Supporters' Shield in 2000, and the U.S. Open Cup in 2004, 2012 and 2015.
The club also has a reserve team, Swope Park Rangers, that plays in the third-tier United Soccer League. Sporting is also affiliated with the separately owned FC Kansas City of the National Women's Soccer League, with the latter team using Sporting's facilities for practices and home games.