Livestrong Sporting Park
Kansas City, Kansas
Project Type: New Construction
Seat Count: 18,467
Opening: 2011
Construction Cost: $180 million
Architect: Populous
AD Scope: Sound Reinforcement, Acoustics
Video Production, Broadcast Infrastructure,
Scoring & Timing Systems, IPTV
Livestrong Sporting Park is the new home stadium for Major League Soccer's Sporting KC. The largest field in MLS, this soccer-specific stadium is considered one of the most technologically advanced soccer stadiums in the world with a capacity of 18,467 for soccer and 25,000 for concerts. The largest HD video board is currently the largest in Major League Soccer and there are 36 suites and 5 clubs.
Acoustic Dimensions provided design of audio, IPTV, cabling infrastructure, video displays, scoreboards, timing/scoring, production control and acoustics consulting. It was crucial that the design aesthetic of the stadium, with an asymmetrical swirl-shaped roof providing an interesting challenge to integrating the tech systems. AD Project Manager, Brian Elwell, explains that "All of the systems' components are important to each respective aspect of the stadium's AV, but it was the coordination between them that was the real story. The stadium's systems were extensively modeled IN 3D, and it's fair to say that just about every component – every speaker, every light fixture, every piece of steel – had to be moved to some extent or another, up, down, left or right, to make everything fit perfectly and not interrupt the esthetic look of the stadium.
The end zones of the 342,000-square-foot arena are bookended by Panasonic video displays, an 84 X 24-foot at the south end of the field and a 42 X 12-foot display at the opposite end, both comprised of Panasonic 16-mm JL16 LED modules. The field is wrapped on 3 sides by 3-foot-high Panasonic LED ribbon boards, calculated to keep the advertising content always on camera. Based on that, the stadium bills itself as the first MLS arena to have lighting specifically designed for HDTV. The stadium's sound system is based on the EAW AX and MX series enclosures.
