Kansas City Comets (1979–1991)

In 1979 the Major Indoor Soccer League placed an expansion franchise in Detroit, Michigan.

The team, then known as the Detroit Lightning, failed to make the playoffs, and at the end of the season were purchased by entrepreneur David Schoenstadt, later the founder of Discovery Zone.

They again failed to make the playoffs in the 1980–1981 season, and Schoenstadt moved the team once more, this time to Kansas City, Missouri, rebranding them the Kansas City Comets.

They had enjoyed a strong attendance in their early years, but ticket sales declined later in their run, dropping from an average high of 15,786 in the 1983–1984 season to a low of 7,103 in the 1990–1991 season.

Stars and fan favorites included Enzo Di Pede, Billy Gazonas, Gino Schiraldi, Greg Makowski, Victor Petroni, Jan Goossens, Damir Haramina, Kia, Dale Mitchell, Alan Mayer, Zoran Savic, Jim Schwab, Gordon Hill, Tasso Koutsoukos, Manny Schwartz, David Doyle, Barry Wallace, Tim Clark, Elson Seale, Yilmaz Orhan, and Ty Keough as well as coaches Pat McBride and Rick Benben.