Sophie Cunningham enjoyed her team’s strong performance against the Chicago Sky, but the Indiana Fever guard admitted that Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs left her frustrated on what should have been a perfect night.
The Fever secured a decisive 97-77 victory over Chicago in their opening game of the season, but Cunningham‘s attention was divided as she kept one eye on what was unfolding in Sao Paulo, Brazil.
From a suite at Wintrust Arena, she was watching football from her phone, streaming the Chiefs‘ season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers but the 28-year-old found herself highly frustrated.
“You know what else is not spicy is our freaking Kansas City Chiefs losing in their first game. What the hell,” Cunningham said on her Show Me Something podcast after the Chiefs fell 27-21. “Yeah, dude. I watched every second of it.
“I was pi**ed… Our team was also playing. We were winning, we were playing Chicago.
“We were winning by like, 20. So, I was watching that, but I also had (the football game) on my phone. I was in the suite. So, I wasn’t on the bench watching.”
The evening, she admitted, became a mix of celebration and annoyance as while Indiana‘s players walked away with a strong start to their season, Mahomes and the Chiefs provided what Sophie called the spoiler to her otherwise enjoyable night.
Cunningham, a lifelong Chiefs supporter, is expected to keep following the NFL franchise closely as they prepare to face the reigning Super Bowl champions, the Philadelphia Eagles, on Sunday, September 14.
For her, the loss to Los Angeles was particularly tough, as it clashed with what could have been a purely positive night celebrating the Fever‘s victory.
Her passion for Kansas City football is well known. She has frequently voiced her loyalty, emphasizing that she has been a Chiefs fan “since I was born.”
Within the Fever locker room, she has company in her devotion: as Caitlin Clark also supports the team, and even attended Chiefs games last season; one of which placed her next to Taylor Swift, now engaged to Travis Kelce.
That shared fandom has strengthened camaraderie inside the Fever camp, where discussions about both basketball and football are common, and only likely to pick up as the NFL season begins.
When do the WNBA Playoffs begin?
The 2025 WNBA Playoffs are set to begin on Sunday, September 14, just days after the regular season wraps up on September 11 with eight teams qualifying based on their season standings.
The opening round will follow a best-of-three format, with the semifinals extending to best-of-five, and for the first time in league history, the WNBA Finals will be contested in a best-of-seven series.
The New York Liberty, who captured their first championship last year in a 3-2 victory over the Minnesota Lynx, return as reigning champions. This season, however, they trail the Atlanta Dream in the Eastern Conference.
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