A man sitting on a gold barstool with a dark blue background, wearing a navy blue jacket, a cap, gray pants, and white sneakers, smiling.

I'm Nate Saathoff. For nearly a decade I've served as the creative engine behind Sporting Kansas City — building the department, leading the team, and shaping the visual identity of a club. What drives me is a belief that the best sports creative is never decorative. It's connective. It earns a place in the culture of a city, not just the timeline of a feed.

I lead a department of 10 creatives specializing in design, video, and photography. I work directly with ownership and the C-suite on brand strategy. I manage agency and vendor relationships with partners including Two Circles and adidas. And after all of it, I still design — because the moment a creative director stops making things, they stop understanding what it takes to make them well.

The Philosophy

I believe great sports creative lives at the intersection of three things: a system that scales, a story that resonates, and a strategy that earns its budget. Pull any one of those out and the work suffers. A beautiful campaign with no system behind it falls apart by week three of the season. A tight brand system with no story feels like a style guide, not a brand. And creative that can't connect to a business outcome doesn't survive the next budget cycle.

My job as a Creative Director is to hold all three at once — and to build teams and processes that do the same. That's the philosophy behind everything I've built at Sporting KC, from our font system and Victory Gold color introduction to the 18th & Vine Kit that CBS Sports ranked the best in MLS.

The Leadership

When I joined Sporting KC in 2016, the in-house creative function was early-stage. Over ten years I built it into a full-service department of 10 — designers, videographers, and photographers working in concert across every brand touchpoint the club touches. Building that team is the work I'm most proud of, because great creative at scale is a people problem before it's a design problem.

I've mentored creatives into senior roles, led multi-partner productions with agencies and global brands, and brought creative strategy directly into executive conversations about brand direction, kit roadmaps, and long-term identity. The best creative directors I've learned from never hid in the studio. I don't either.

Group of people at a production shoot, one man in the center with hand over mouth, wearing a white shirt and cap, others standing around in a dimly lit setting.
A group of seven young adults with sports gear and water bottles in a room with a black wall, sitting and standing around an open suitcase, with a soccer ball on the floor.
Group of soccer team and staff standing on a field at a stadium, holding a jersey with the name 'PAXTON' and the number 24, smiling for a photo.

SKC Creative Team celebrating former Designer Max Paxton joining Iowa State Football as their Assistant Director of Graphic Design.

Systems that scale

Brand architecture built for flexibility across every touchpoint — digital, broadcast, apparel, stadium, and OOH — without losing coherence.

Areas of Importance

Stories that resonate

Creative rooted in the culture of a city, not just the calendar of a season. Work that earns attention because it means something to real people.

Strategy that earns

Creative that can be connected to outcomes — engagement, merchandise, brand equity, press coverage — and defended in any boardroom.

Areas of Expertise

  • Brand architecture & design systems

  • Creative team leadership & mentorship

  • Cultural storytelling & community creative

  • Multichannel campaign direction

  • Data-informed creative strategy

  • Jersey and apparel design

  • Agency and vendor management

  • Executive creative partnership

The most interesting creative problems I've encountered weren't solved alone. The FIFA bid worked because a city came together. The 18th & Vine Kit worked because an in-house team, an agency, and a global brand found a shared vision. The best work almost always comes from that kind of collision.

I'm always open to conversations with people who care about building brands that mean something. Whether that's a project, a partnership, or just an exchange of ideas — reach out.

natesaathoff@gmail.com