Sporting Kansas City–St. Louis City SC rivalry

Sporting Kansas City–St. Louis City SC rivalry
	Sporting Kansas City St. Louis City SC
Other names	Heartland derby, I-70 derby
Location	Midwestern United States
First meeting	May 20, 2023; MLS regular season; STL 4–0 SKC
Latest meeting	April 5, 2025; MLS regular season; SKC 2–0 STL
Next meeting	May 14, 2025; MLS regular season; STL v SKC
Statistics
Meetings total	9
Most wins	SKC (4)
Top scorer	João Klauss ; Alan Pulido; (3 goals each)
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. 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]^[4]

St. Louis City won the first meeting at CityPark in May 2023, but Sporting KC won the second meeting, which took place at Children's Mercy Park the following September.^[5] The two teams played in their first postseason matchup in the 2023 MLS Cup playoffs,^[6] with Sporting Kansas City (the #8 seed) upsetting the #1 seeded St. Louis in a best-of-three series.^[7]

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".^[8]

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".^[9]
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.^[8]
Heartland Derby^[9]
Cease & Desist Derby - Another reference to the trademark dispute.^[9]

Results

Summary

As of April 5, 2025

Competition	Matches	SKC wins	Draws	STL wins	SKC goals	STL goals
MLS regular season	7	2	2	3	10	16
MLS Cup playoffs	2	2	0	0	6	2
Total	9	4	2	3	16	18

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		Children's Mercy Park	Sporting Kansas City	2–1	St. Louis City SC	21,650	Tied 1–1–0	[2]
	September 30		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 3–2–0	[5]
2024	April 20	MLS	Children's Mercy Park	Sporting Kansas City	3–3	St. Louis City SC	21,650	SKC 3–2–1	[6]
	July 20		Children's Mercy Park	Sporting Kansas City	1–1	St. Louis City SC	19,876	SKC 3–2–2	[7]
	September 28		CityPark	St. Louis City SC	3–1	Sporting Kansas City	22,423	Tied 3–3–2	[8]
2025	April 5	MLS	Children's Mercy Park	Sporting Kansas City	2–0	St. Louis City SC	18,116	SKC 4–3–2	[9]
2025	May 14	MLS	Energizer Park	St. Louis City SC		Sporting Kansas City

Western Conference standings finishes

Teams above red line qualified for the MLS Cup playoffs.
SKC STL

P.	2023	2024
1	1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8	8
9
10
11
12		12
13		13
14
15

• Total: STL with 2 higher finishes, SKC with 0.

All goalscorers

As of April 5, 2025

Position	Nation	Player	Team	Goals
1	BRA	João Klauss	St. Louis City SC	3
1	MEX	Alan Pulido	Sporting Kansas City	3
3	USA	Samuel Adeniran	St. Louis City SC	2
	NGA	William Agada	Sporting Kansas City
	SRB	Dejan Joveljić	Sporting Kansas City
	GER	Eduard Löwen	St. Louis City SC
	BEL	Logan Ndenbe	Sporting Kansas City
	BRA	Célio Pompeu	St. Louis City SC
	HUN	Dániel Sallói	Sporting Kansas City
	USA	Indiana Vassilev	St. Louis City SC

References

^ Cisneros, Juan (October 13, 2022). "Sporting KC, St. Louis City bring I-70 rivalry to MLS". Fox4kc.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved November 6, 2022.
^ "Preseason mailbag, Part 2: St. Louis-Sporting KC rivalry, Atlanta's teardown & more". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
^ City, Sporting Kansas. "MLS to bolster longtime rivalry between Kansas City and St. Louis". Sporting Kansas City. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
^ "Sporting KC, St. Louis City bring I-70 rivalry to MLS". FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV. October 13, 2022. Archived from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2023.
^ City, Sporting Kansas. "SKCvsSTL 09-02-2023". Sporting Kansas City. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2023.
^ Butler, Dylan (October 26, 2023). "Sporting KC book rivalry date with St. Louis CITY: "This is crazy"". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.
^ Headlee, Peyton (November 5, 2023). "Sporting KC upsets number one seed St. Louis City SC in MLS Cup Playoffs". kmbc.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.
^ ^a ^b Hochman, Benjamin (April 18, 2024). "St. Louis' soccer rivalry is now next-level with Kansas City". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved May 14, 2024.
^ ^a ^b ^c "Sporting KC vs. St. Louis City SC: 'Soccer capitals' to meet in inaugural 'Heartland Derby'". KSHB 41 Kansas City News. May 15, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2024.

[Cisneros-1] Cisneros, Juan (October 13, 2022). "Sporting KC, St. Louis City bring I-70 rivalry to MLS". Fox4kc.com. Archived from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved November 6, 2022.

[2] "Preseason mailbag, Part 2: St. Louis-Sporting KC rivalry, Atlanta's teardown & more". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on March 12, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.

[3] City, Sporting Kansas. "MLS to bolster longtime rivalry between Kansas City and St. Louis". Sporting Kansas City. Archived from the original on January 19, 2023. Retrieved February 20, 2023.

[4] "Sporting KC, St. Louis City bring I-70 rivalry to MLS". FOX 4 Kansas City WDAF-TV. October 13, 2022. Archived from the original on November 7, 2022. Retrieved February 20, 2023.

[5] City, Sporting Kansas. "SKCvsSTL 09-02-2023". Sporting Kansas City. Archived from the original on September 3, 2023. Retrieved September 3, 2023.

[6] Butler, Dylan (October 26, 2023). "Sporting KC book rivalry date with St. Louis CITY: "This is crazy"". Major League Soccer. Archived from the original on October 27, 2023. Retrieved October 26, 2023.

[7] Headlee, Peyton (November 5, 2023). "Sporting KC upsets number one seed St. Louis City SC in MLS Cup Playoffs". kmbc.com. Archived from the original on November 6, 2023. Retrieved November 5, 2023.

[:0-8] Hochman, Benjamin (April 18, 2024). "St. Louis' soccer rivalry is now next-level with Kansas City". Columbia Missourian. Retrieved May 14, 2024.

[:1-9] "Sporting KC vs. St. Louis City SC: 'Soccer capitals' to meet in inaugural 'Heartland Derby'". KSHB 41 Kansas City News. May 15, 2023. Retrieved May 14, 2024.

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