When you drop the team name, you're referring to a city/club which is singular
Yeah, I addressed that and called it "slavish devotion to grade school grammar." Conceptually, it makes more sense (IMO) to treat subjects as singular or plural based on a more erudite perspective. I'll stick to the supposed "rules" of American English for professional purposes, but I do believe the English have the better of the argument as it relates to subject-verb agreement. What is the difference between "Kansas City is ..." versus "the Chiefs are ..." when referring to what a 54-man roster are doing?