KC Sports Commission touts ‘huge win’ as Big 12 expresses desire to keep tournament in KC
KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) - The Big 12 basketball championship is looking to stay at the T-Mobile Center until 2031.
On Tuesday, Commissioner Brett Yormark announced that while this isn’t final, “we are excited by the prospect of calling Kansas City home for years to come.”
Yormark said they hope to finalize this by the start of the basketball championships in the Spring of 2024. Kathy Nelson, president and CEO of KC Sports Commission and Visit KC, said this is a huge win and one that’s been in the works for a while.
“We let them know our hearts and let them know that we wanted to keep them here,” Nelson said. But Nelson said it was a bit nerve-racking when more teams started ing the conference. “All those new schools and institutions come with cities, like an Orlando, like a Cincinnati, like a Salt Lake that certainly have a high interest to bring the championship to their community,” Nelson said.
Nelson said she’s proud of the work her team did, showing that Kansas City is the best location.
“It was really critical for us these last few months to make sure that the conference felt that way and these new schools knew our ion for hosting Big 12 basketball,” Nelson said. As for what this means for the local economy, Nelson said the championship brings in a boost of around $20 million, saying she expects that number to grow. “The crazy thing to think about is that in 2024, not only are they expanding with a number of teams, but we are also expanding the number of weeks,” Nelson said. “So, the women, for the first time ever, will play at the T-Mobile Center the week before the men.”
READ MORE: Kansas ranked No. 1 in the preseason men’s AP Top 25; K-State, Mizzou receive votes
Joe Mayers, store manager at International Tap House, said this is going to be huge for business.
“I’m always inviting that, always excited about that, always welcoming more folk to come into our city is great,” Mayers said, adding that during the week of the Big 12 Championship, they see around a 25% increase in sales.
“We are very capable of accommodating a lot of different fan bases,” Mayers said. “The thing that I would say is very special about Kansas City: during that Big 12 tournament, we’ll have ers of 10 different teams in this bar, and they all get along with each other.”
As for the new fans, Nelson said she’s excited to show them what KC is all about.
“I think for us, when those new schools come into Kansas City, we want them to really understand and appreciate that we show up, our community shows up,” Nelson said. “We wear our hearts everywhere; we are welcoming to people, making sure they have a good time.”
Copyright 2023 KCTV. All rights reserved.
