[10] Originally, Sporting Club, the team's ownership group, planned to move to southeast Kansas City, Missouri on land previously occupied by Bannister Mall.

However, the city was unwilling to provide the desired financing, leading the developer to seek a new site across the state line.

[13] On December 17, Sporting KC president, Robb Heineman provided an update on the stadium situation published on team official website and blog,[14][15] basically putting the Kansas City, Kansas location as final, pending the signature of the final agreements.

[19] The opening match took place on June 9, 2011, as Sporting played the Chicago Fire to a scoreless draw in front of an over-capacity crowd of 19,925.

[20] The first goal would come days later during the 2011 CONCACAF Gold Cup when Dwayne De Rosario converted a penalty kick for Canada against Panama.

That year, Sporting KC made it to the playoffs but lost to the Houston Dynamo in the conference semifinals, and won the US Open Cup by defeating the Seattle Sounders.

Also in 2013, it was announced that the 2014 through 2018 NCAA Division II Football Championships would be played at Children's Mercy Park, moving from Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Alabama.

Children's Mercy Park played host to the semifinals and final of the 2012 CONCACAF Men's Olympic Qualifying Tournament.

[43] One week later, Sporting set a new attendance record in a loss against New York Red Bulls on August 3 with 21,304 people.

[44] On November 23, 2013, Sporting set the record once again, reaching a fire-code[45] capacity crowd of 21,650 in the Eastern Conference Final win against the Houston Dynamo.

[10] Two weeks later, on December 7, the team tied the record in a penalty kick win against Real Salt Lake in the MLS Cup 2013.

[46] On June 6, 2015, Sporting set a record for regular season attendance at 21,505 in a 1–0 win over Seattle Sounders FC.