Fans in Kansas City have embraced the pro game in exhibition matchups, but several hurdles remain for permanent prospects.
Oct 13, 2010 - More than five years after ground was first broken and three years after opening its doors, Sprint Center remains without an anchor tenant. At the time of its opening, critics scoffed, unable to comprehend how the publicly financed facility would generate feasible revenue without the benefit of an NBA or NHL team calling it home.
Ever since, AEG, the company that manages Sprint Center's operations, has proved naysayers wrong. Back in July, Pollstar, the event industry trade publication, cited the arena as the 5th busiest facility in the country by first quarter event ticket sales. The four facilities above it host NBA or NHL teams (and in some cases, both), which means that Sprint Center can hold its own without an anchor tenant, despite the city's fascination with the NBA as evidenced by last week's exhibition game between the Miami Heat and Oklahoma City Thunder.
Several organizations, including the Seattle Sonics (now the Thunder), Pittsburgh Penguins, New York Islanders and Sacramento Kings have been mentioned in connection to Sprint Center due to unrest between team ownership and facility management. However, none of those conversations have led to serious consideration of relocation to the Kansas City area. Such a move would carry significant implications for the Sprint Center's bottom line.
One element is simple economics. If you play host to an NBA or NHL team, arena management is committing to 41 home dates, plus preseason and postseason dates at the opportunity cost of revenue lost by filling those dates with concerts and other performances. While fans would surely flock to Sprint Center for an NBA team in the early going, the honeymoon effect would taper off after two or three seasons - we're already starting to see an example of this with the Kauffman Stadium renovations.
One must also consider the economic climate. In the current down market, more than a quarter of the league's teams are making various efforts to sell their teams. You might say "KC should strike while the iron's hot," but it should also tell you about the dwindling value of an NBA team, especially with the possibility of a lockout next season.
Lastly, the market for basketball in the area is well-satisfied by KU, Kansas State and Missouri, three of the nation's top-flight programs. While big-name college programs haven't deterred NBA teams from settling in crowded college markets in recent years (Charlotte Bobcats, Oklahoma City Thunder), it would be tough for a team to consistently reel in TV viewers with that sort of competition in the winter months.
Due to a variety of factors, the time just isn't ripe for an NBA team to relocate to Kansas City. The league has experienced a rebirth of sorts over the past few years with tons of superstars and a full-fledged PR effort when it comes to cleaning up the game. The last thing the league needs is a lockout to squash that momentum along with the prospects of landing a team in Kansas City.
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Oh, REALLY.
This is purely an opinion piece, and if anyone with any decision making potential stumbles across it, I hope they disregard it as such.
The Royals average yearly attendance has ALWAYS been around 20k. It got a bump after the World Series win in 1985 and was closer to 30k until the strike in 1994, at which point it returned to around 20k.
There’s a “honeymoon effect” at Kauffman stadium? In 1976 they averaged 20,744 per game, 22,346 in 1984, 19,319 in 2000, 19,961 in 2007 and 19,942 this year.
This city has consistently put 20k butts per game in the seats of a ball team who hasn’t gone to the post season in twenty five years. Every time somebody like Grienke shows the faintest glimmer of hope, everyone goes nuts and drinks gallons of bright blue Royals kool-aid.
And don’t even get me started on the Chiefs. They go 3-0 and the entire city loses its mind. KC is so enthusiastic about its NFL team that despite them being lousy for the last 12 years, with only two post season appearances, the “12th man on the field” never falters. The Seahawks have to physically engineer a stadium that artificially makes as much noise as Kansas Citians. And yet, somehow the presence of K-State, KU and Mizzou football (all of which KC is also nuts for) doesn’t diminish Chiefs enthusiasm one bit.
My point is this. Kansas City is insanely enthusiastic about its sports teams (and about sports in general; see ESPN’s astonished coverage of World Cup fever in the P&L, or by your own admission, last week’s Heat/Thunder game). Disproportionately enthusiastic for the size of its market.
An NBA team would be extremely and permanently well received, it’s absurd to think otherwise. Especially the Kansas City Kings. I have no idea why anyone would want to discourage it.
by Duane Cunningham on Oct 13, 2010 6:24 PM CDT reply actions
Oh, and another thing.
Average NBA attendance last year ranged between 13k (Kings) and 20k (Bulls). Again, the Royals have been lousy for decades and have always averaged 20k. Think about this: the K is on the very edge of town, surrounded by nothing. The Sprint Center is nestled in the middle of downtown. It’s a short drive no matter where you are, and it’s surrounded by restaurants.
Seriously, this is nonsense. The Kansas City Kings would pack the Sprint Center’s 18k capacity for many years.
by Duane Cunningham on Oct 13, 2010 6:36 PM CDT reply actions
Thanks For Reading
Duane – The Royals are supported even in lean years because there is a history of success and the more popular teams draw well. It’s certainly a disgrace that the Rays had to give out 20,000 free tickets to get fans to come to their last series. As the Royals continue to grow their system, I’m sure you’ll see a rise back to 30,000 in the seats on a regular basis. Lord knows that’s what I’m hoping for.
As to your argument discounting the honeymoon effect, you seem to have conveniently ignored an important sample:
2007 (season before renovations started): 19,961
2008: 19,986
2009: 22,473 – a 12.4% spike from 2008, renovations were finished
2010: 20,191 – a drop of over 10% from 2009.
Sure, people are crazy about the Chiefs this year, but what about the seasons between 2007 and the current one, when there were threats of TV blackouts on multiple occasions?
Baseball, college football, and pro basketball are very different animals in terms of drawing power with varying demographics – you can’t compare apples to oranges. Average attendance during the Kings’ last season in KC was 6,400 per game.
People might go crazy for the NBA in Kansas City for exhibition games, and they surely would for the first couple seasons of a pro team’s hypothetical relocation, but what happens if they’re 7-41 at the All-Star break in their third season?
You also mention the location of the Sprint Center as a plus, but it’s not simply a matter of “if you build it, they will come.” If that were the case, why isn’t there a team in the house three years after the doors first opened? There are other factors involved which KC can’t control, such as the prospect of a lockout making ownership a difficult sell.
Nowhere in my article did I say that KC doesn’t deserve a team, or that a team wouldn’t be well-received. My argument was simply that there are many reasons why NBA relocation prospects are bleak in the current environment.
by Brian Goodman on Oct 13, 2010 11:08 PM CDT reply actions
KC NBA
Another thing to consider when discussing Royal and Chief attendance is the market area they actually draw from. Would an NBA team pull in people from places like Wichita-Omaha-Des Moines the way the other pro franchises do? In winter which would can be unpredictable? With KU all over the television?
If OKC can support an NBA team, it seems logical that KC could…but there are more moving parts to be considered when comparing an NBA teams drawing area to those of the Royals and Chiefs.
by CR Sox on Oct 28, 2010 3:06 PM CDT reply actions
Brian and Duane both make good points
KU basketball is king in the region and will be for the forseeable future. You cant base expectations over the heat/thunder game either. No matter where the heat team plays this year, they are going to sell out. People are going to that game to see the collection of stars, not just to see a NBA team. One thing I think we can rule out is a hockey team. I do not follow the NHL but teams seem to bounce around the map alot in that league. Plus, and I’m basing this soley on personal observation, hockey is a sport where people are hot or cold on. People love it or dont pay a lick of attention. Hockey will never be a mainstream sport in this country. You also can’t rule out the proximity to OKC which will divide the fanbase.
I personally would love to see a team in KC, lets hope it someday works out
by fizzle406 on Oct 28, 2010 5:52 PM CDT reply actions
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