Program: Dan Lolli, Chief Operating Officer with Sporting KC will be the featured speaker.

Dan Lolli is entering his 17th season working in Major League Soccer, currently serving as Chief Operating Officer for Sporting Kansas City. During his successful tenure, Lolli has played an instrumental role helping the sport expand and evolve through the development of world-class sporting properties, innovative business ventures, and a push to elevate the United States as a premier soccer destination.
Lolli began his professional career in Major League Soccer with the Columbus Crew, where he managed the first soccer-specific stadium in the country, organized concert and ancillary events and oversaw security. He joined Sporting Kansas City in the spring of 2016—a major point in the organization’s drive toward creating the premier soccer training facilities in the United States.
Lolli served as Vice President of Operations at Sporting KC from 2016-2020, during which time the club opened two state-of-the-art facilities in Compass Minerals Sporting Fields and Compass Minerals National Performance Center while also hosting numerous high-caliber events at Children’s Mercy Park. 
Lolli returned to his native Ohio in early 2020 to join FC Cincinnati in its transition to the new TQL Stadium, which opened in May 2021. As the stadium’s general manager, Lolli played an instrumental leadership role in the design, construction, and opening of the $250-million-dollar facility that was later named Best Venue of 2022 by The World Football Summit. 
After two years as Vice President, Facilities & Stadium General Manager at FC Cincinnati, Lolli returned to Sporting for a leading front-office role as Chief Operating Officer. Since then, he has been a driving force in Kansas City’s preparations to host FIFA World Cup 2026, assuming a key leadership role for the organization’s World Cup committee and visiting several national team delegations across Europe with the intention of hosting 2026 World Cup base camps at our own Compass Minerals National Performance Center. His reintegration was quick and seamless, setting the stage for the organization to earn formal recognition from Major League Soccer. Sporting was named the 2022 MLS Security Team of the Year due to continued innovation and strategic planning from Lolli and our security team at Children’s Mercy Park, including the installation of drone detection equipment, quality assurance programs and the creation of new security protocols in the post-Covid era. The 2022 calendar year was also momentous for our city, as Kansas City was named a host for FIFA World Cup 2026, thanks in large part to the exceptional soccer facilities Lolli had helped bring to life.