FRISCO, Texas — FC Dallas welcomed in Sporting KC to Toyota Stadium with nothing on the line ... other than pride, at least.
Both teams were eliminated from playoff contention before the match, but also trying to end their seasons on a high note. FC Dallas accomplished that in front of a 19,096 sellout crowd, snagging their 11th win of the season on Decision Day.
Petar Musa opened up the scoring in the 15th minute, scoring his 16th goal of the season, a team high. FC Dallas would double their lead 25 minutes later just before halftime when a chipped cross by Sebastian Lletget was headed in by a Sporting KC defender for an own goal.
Sporting KC took one back late in the match in the 89th minute after Willy Agada finished a rebound off of FC Dallas goalkeeper Jimmy Maurer.
With the 2-1 win on the final day, FC Dallas finished 2024 11th spot in the Western Conference, two spots out of the playoffs. The club had one of the best home records in the conference (10-5-2), but had one of the worst records on the road (1-10-6).
What's next? A look at the offseason
First and foremost, the club will need to hire a new full-time coach.
Peter Luccin was named the interim head coach after the club parted ways with Nico Estevez in the middle of the season. FC Dallas was performing historically bad at that point, and experienced the semblance of a "new manager bump" for a handful of games.
The offense looked renewed, refreshed and more exciting than they had played all season long. Part of that was also due to the return of key players who spent the year on the injury report. Still, from the onset of the Luccin era, FC Dallas won three of their next five games under the new coach.
FC Dallas won only XX of the last 10 matches, though, and finished the year toward the bottom of the Western Conference.
This team has a plethora of players who are on the final year of their contracts, too. Here is a list of the players whose contracts expire after this season, per Spotrac:
- Asier Illarramendi
- Ruan Gregório Teixeira
- Patrickson Delgado
- Jimmy Maurer
Here are the players who have a club option next season:
- Eugene Ansah
- Liam Fraser
- Sam Junqua
- Omar Gonzalez
- Tsiki Ntsabeleng
- Sebastien Ibeagha
- Ema Twumasi
- Nkosi Tafari
- Dante Sealy
- Isiah Parker
- Herbert Endeley
- Logan Farrington
- Amet Korca
Here are the players with two years left on their deal:
- Jesus Ferreira
- Paul Arriola
- Alan Velasco
- Marco Farfan
- Maarten Paes
- Nolan Norris
- Bernard Kamungo
- Tarik Scott
- Carl Sainte
- Alejandro Urzua
- Tomas Pondeca
Here are the players with three or more years left on their deal:
- Sebastian Lletget (3)
- Geovane Jesus (3)
- Petar Musa (4)
- Enes Sali (4)
Toyota Stadium upgrades: $182 million renovations begin in 2025
Hunt Sports Group, which owns the Major League Soccer team, intends to complete a $182 million renovation of the city-owned Toyota Stadium that will include canopies to add shade, more seating and improved amenities.
After the renovations, Hunt plans to develop more than 1 million square feet of office space, a 200-room hotel and a 200-unit multifamily tower around the stadium. The project carries an estimated total cost between $1.1 billion and $1.3 billion.
The city will also provide an economic incentives package to Hunt, including a $25 million qualified infrastructure grant from the FEDC, for the mixed-use portion of the project.
Hunt's planned upgrades at Toyota Stadium will increase the 20,500-seat venue's capacity by almost 17% by adding 3,400 seats to the underutilized north end.
Frisco approves $182 million Toyota Stadium renovations
Hunt expects construction to begin on the east side of stadium in the first quarter of 2025. The east side would reopen in summer 2026 while construction begins on the west side. That should be finished in the first quarter of 2028.
Hunt said the stadium will have a capacity for 11,000 to 11,500 fans while each side is closed, and it will continue to host high school football games and other events throughout the renovation.
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