Sporting KC dare you to not support them with Livestrong stadium

One way to make it nearly impossible for people to not support your sports team is to give your new stadium's naming rights and a cut of your earnings to a cancer charity for free. And that's exactly what the rebranded Sporting KC (formerly the Kansas City Wizards) did on Tuesday.

In a historic deal with the Lance Armstrong Foundation that results in the club's new $200 million stadium being named Livestrong Sporting Park, Sporting KC will also go so far as to give a cut of the money spent by every fan in the 18,500-seat stadium (25,000 seats for concerts) to the charity. Which is the kind of generosity that only follows a visit from three ghosts in a Charles Dickens novel.

From Sporting KC's official website:

Professional sports provide a powerful vehicle to affect positive change in the world. LIVESTRONGs partnership with Sporting Club gives us an innovative opportunity to advance the cancer fight in this region and we are eager to get started, [said Lance Armstrong].

Through this unique partnership, fans will join the fight against cancer every time they support their teams or enjoy memorable performances at the venue.

For the duration of the agreement, a portion of all stadium revenues, including ticket sales and concessions, will fund the foundations advocacy work. The partnership will also help launch the development of local cancer survivorship services for Kansas City residents.

In an age when stadium naming rights are so valuable, it's an amazing (and very costly) gesture from the club that takes Barcelona's UNICEF shirt sponsorship deal one giant step further. For a point of reference, the Philadelphia Union sold their new stadium's naming rights to energy supplier PPL last year for $20 million over 10 years -- important money for a club in a developing league.

According to Sporting KC CEO Robb Heineman, the club hopes to raise $8-10 million for the fight against cancer over the course of the deal. And judging by the early artwork (above), it appears both the club and the charity are making it clear that if you don't support Livestrong Sporting Park and all it contains, you're pretty much supporting cancer.