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...and with just twenty cents per day, you can provide it with shoes and clean water. |
But, to spare you a complete history of the Sprint Center and its lack of relevance, or how it is a metaphor for Kansas City and the Midwest in general and all its inhabitants and their irrelevance to the human race, I will instead look at a fairly decent article by Pete Grathoff in today's Kansas City Star that actually interviews people (shocker!) on the current position of the Sprint Center in our world today. What other surprises are we in for? Perhaps those interviewed will actually give relevant information! Maybe this article will feature Stanley Cup winners, or Brett Favre, or neither! Or, maybe a former politician will recant on promises she once made just to drum up support and build name recognition for her eventual state representative run! A politician would never do that! Or would they? Read on....
Build it and they will come. That was the plan for the Sprint Center.
In 2004, when voters approved the $276 million arena, Tim Leiweke, president of Anschutz Entertainment Group, which operates the facility, was confident that either an NBA or an NHL franchise would one day play in Kansas City.
But four years after the arena opened, the wait continues. In fact, the Sprint Center has never seemed further from landing an anchor tenant.FM: This is true, it did seem as though the powers that be promised the citizens a Field of Dreams situation. Once it was built, someone would come. But nobody came...nobody....came....
“You have to have some kind of local buyer,” said Luc Robitaille, president of business operations for the Los Angeles Kings. “I don’t know to what level were the talks in Kansas City, but there were some rumblings from time to time. But you have to have a buyer. What happened with Winnipeg is they had this buyer who was willing to do whatever it took for that.”
If Robitaille’s name sounds familiar, it’s because in November 2006, Leiweke appointed Robitaille as point man in the search for an NHL team for the Sprint Center.FM: Ah, Lucky, I love ya and I would love ya more if you didn't bolt for Detroit to win your Cup. Raise a banner in Staples in the next few years, and all is good between us. But, he is right. True North wanted a team so bad it traveled across this great land, from shining desert to shining metropolis (Phoenix to Atlanta) to find one. They paid a $60 million relocation fee on top of the purchase price just to move the team. That is true drive, something no buyer in KC appears to possess.
Soon after Robitaille’s hiring, the Penguins said they might leave Pittsburgh, and venture capitalist William “Boots” Del Biaggio III announced his intention of owning an NHL franchise here. Talk of expansion also was in the air. The future seemed promising for Kansas City.
But the Penguins got a new arena in Pittsburgh, expansion never happened, and Del Biaggio was arrested for bilking investors and banks of millions of dollars after buying a stake of the Nashville Predators.
[...]
“No,” Robitaille said when asked if there were other interested parties. “Tim had talked to a bunch of local people. At the time, it just seemed to be one person.”
FM: Mario Lemieux: Big douche, but with enough business sense to know how to use leverage. Del Biaggio: Not much you can say about him. Those were different times, before Bernie Madoff was a household name. Expansion, now (although NHL commissioner Gary Bettman relentlessly talks about it), is a moot point. More owners are willing to move to better surroundings, and more rich people are less willing to get involved with team ownership (i.e. Kansas City's rich people).
Is someone else looking to bring a team to Kansas City? Leiweke declined to comment because he is on the NHL executive committee, which oversees team relocations.
Robitaille said it might be up to Brenda Tinnen, the general manager and senior vice president of the Sprint Center. But she said it is ultimately Leiweke’s responsibility.
“It’s come up from time to time,” Robitaille said. “I can’t tell you when and how. I’ve had discussions with Tim. … Kansas City is his baby, so he’s not going to let it go.”
FM: This last statement kind of makes Leiweke sound like a stubborn land owner refusing to sell or drop his investment out of sentimental reasons. My grandfather tried to explain this concept to me, so I will use it to explain what I feel Leiweke is doing. Let's say Timmy is sitting on 8 acres of land. There is nothing one can do with that land in the country. You cannot raise enough livestock to make a comfortable living, you cannot grow enough crops to sell or even support your family if there is a bad harvest. The land has no practical use. Much like the Sprint Center, although it does, but not in the sports fan sense. But, if he were to sell his land to some other owner who has much more land and resources to use, then Timmy's land may find use after all (again, from the perspective of a sports fan).
Not saying Leiweke should sell (hell, I love to see the Kings once a year in an arena not in St. Louis), but is he holding onto it out of the possibility something may come up, or he is just holding onto it just to have it so no one else can?
One thing Leiweke did promise — and deliver on — was that the arena would be successful with or without an anchor tenant.
Even without an NBA or NHL team in town, the city’s share of Sprint Center revenues last year was $1.8 million, thanks largely to a seemingly endless string of major entertainment events. Meanwhile, the most recent Forbes valuations showed that 33 of 60 NHL and NBA teams had negative operating profits.
And completion of the arena was a key component in keeping the Big 12 basketball tournament in town, not to mention attracting potential future NCAA events.FM: All this is true. No refuting it. That glass bowl is one popular ass arena for concerts, monster trucks, and ATV races. Plus, it comes without the stank the Royals and Chiefs have been emitting over the city for years! And don't forget, a team cannot lose money if no team exists! Economic can be fun.
All things considered, Kansas City mayor Sly James is fine without an NBA or NHL team at the Sprint Center. At a recent luncheon at the Kansas City Club, he said that if a mediocre basketball or hockey team became an anchor tenant there, the city would suffer.
“The trade-off is that teams won’t come to an arena and pay millions,” James said. “They want a sweetheart deal on their lease and locked-up dates.”FM: Eh, I'm not really buying SLLLLLYYY JAAAAMESSSS jazz on this one. The Penguins had a sweetheart deal, and all franchises after that knew they would be offered one as well. I can only imagine that deal is still on the table. Now, would that be viable for KC, maybe not in the long run. But, with healthy ownership, good things can happen.
But the Cordish Companies, which developed the Power & Light District, is not laughing. In the past, Cordish officials have been pointed in their criticism about the lack of an anchor tenant at the Sprint Center.
Tax revenues generated by the entertainment district have missed original projections, leaving a $10 million to $15 million shortfall.FM: Two sides to every story. It's not just sports fans pissing and moaning about not having the hockey or basketball team they were promised, it's that the Cordish Company and surrounding businesses were encouraged to be a part of this whole new downtown revitalization, including the Power and Light District, the Sprint Center, H&R Block Headquarters, the new Garment District, etc. etc... Now, the bars and restaurants of the frequently ridiculed Power and Light District are losing money because there is no consistent stream of revenue they hoped to see at least 40+ times per year with a major sports franchise, and since the new car smell has worn off for the locals who turn elsewhere for weekend entertainment.
If anyone else would have a gripe with AEG for failing to find an anchor tenant for the Sprint Center, you’d expect it to be former Kansas City mayor Kay Barnes. Getting the arena built is one of the legacies of her tenure as mayor from 1999-2007.
But, like James, she’s not concerned.
“Part of our understanding with AEG was that they would make every effort over time to bring the NHL or NBA,” Barnes said. “However, it was clear from the beginning that that might not happen quickly. As you may know, a few years before we even completed the Sprint Center, there had been an exhaustive study done by consultants brought in by the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission to evaluate whether a new arena could function profitably without an NBA or NHL franchise, and that study made it clear that, yes, it could.
“That was the basis on which we moved forward, knowing we were very likely to be in a win-win situation. Either with or without a franchise, the Sprint Center would be very successful, which obviously it’s proven to be extraordinarily successful.”FM: Sorry I had to block quote this whole thing, but I retroactively disagree with Mrs. Barnes. I understand the studies done to find out the arena's viability yada yada yada, but you did not sell the arena idea based on if LeAnn Rimes or Cirque du Soleil or Sesame Street Live would come to the arena. You blatantly lied to voters and taxpayers and said (paraphrasing), 'this wonderful sports facility will put KC on the map,' not, 'we build this so one day so, if Creed ever decided to get back together, they know they have a home here.' That has been the most annoying first world problem of this whole arena deal to me. It's successful, but not because of the reasons you said it would be, Mrs. Barnes. Luck is working in your favor.
Robitaille spoke last week of the exhibition game planned for this fall between the Kings, the organization for which he now works, and the Pittsburgh Penguins.
“I’m hoping we get a great crowd, a lot of excitement, a lot of buzz,” he said, “and it will send a message to everyone what kind of market we have in Kansas City.”FM: Hell yeah, I'll be there!!!! GO KINGS GO!!! Undefeated at the fish bowl! Please bring Kopi to this one, though.
Skepticism of Kansas City’s viability as a market for another major pro sports team might not be unfounded. A 2009 NHL exhibition game at the Sprint Center featuring the Kings and New York Islanders drew just 9,792 fans — though, to be fair, the low turnout was at least partially attributable to the absence of the Isles’ then-recent No. 1 overall draft pick, John Tavares. The year before, 11,603 attended a split-squad preseason game between the Kings and St. Louis Blues that included relatively few established players.
[...]
“A prospective owner or management group is going to look at the attendance potential, because ticket sales are so much more important in hockey than it is in other sports,” said Patrick Rishe, an economics professor at Webster University in St. Louis. “In other sports, ticket revenue is the second-leading source of revenue. Media is first. In hockey, ticket revenue is first, and media revenue is second.”FM: Mr. Rishe is right, but NHL exhibition games, much like NFL exhibition games, only tell part of the story. Remember when the NFL used to play an exhibition game in Mexico City? That was pretty pointless, but it was meant to expand the game to new areas, much like the regular season Wembley Stadium games now. You can't just play an exhibition game between two random teams in a random city and hope it sells out. Tavares wasn't the reason 8,000 more fans didn't show up, it was the fact that the New York Islanders (the worst team in hockey the previous year and among the bottom five in average attendance since the 2003-04 season) played the Los Angeles Kings (an improving team still in rebuilding mode) in the Midwest, a place where the two fan bases that have only been as close to KC as St. Louis, Denver, Minneapolis, and Dallas since the mid-1970s. It was completely random (a good game nonetheless), and the selection continues to be random when the Blues are not involved. Even then, the Blues are not KC's team because the city has no team. It is just a city that has struggled to identify with a team outside its borders. The Oklahoma City Thunder could be the closest NBA or NHL franchise KC identifies with, but they are fairly new so loyalties still lie elsewhere.
NBA commissioner David Stern told The Star in April that his league hasn’t ruled out Kansas City as a potential market. But while the New Orleans Hornets are often rumored to be a relocation candidate, Rishe has his doubts, even if LeBron James and the Heat sold out the Sprint Center for an exhibition game last fall.
“They have more revenue overall, but 17 of 30 teams are losing money,” Rishe said of the NBA. “… I think if you’re going to see anything in the NBA, it’s going to be contraction of two teams at some point in the next couple of years rather than seeing a relocation.”FM: Case and point from above. Stern has to say that, but NBA contraction may have to happen for the league to be successful and stay financially relevant. I don't know why this is, but just think about how many colleges and universities have basketball programs. A. Lot. Loyalties lie elsewhere. Maybe a warning as to why having the University of Kansas, K-State, and Mizzou nearby would not necessarily equal NBA success. Although, having no NCAA hockey nearby also means that the support is not palpable. It's a Catch-22. Too much of one thing and not enough of another, so far, have equaled no major tenants in the Sprint Center. (Although I encourage everyone to attend the Border War hockey game between the KU and MU club teams at the Independence Events Center. It's pretty or-some.)
“In Kansas City, where is your evidence that you will have some level of support?” Rishe said. “People can always say they’re going to support it, but people vote with their dollars.
“If you don’t have a team and haven’t had a team in a long time, it’s tough for investors and potential owners to have the guts to move a team somewhere it hasn’t been.”FM: I disagree a bit with the "level of support" statement. Although a much different example, an experiment is underway in the Independence suburb of Kansas City, where a small CHL team plays. The Missouri Mavericks minor league hockey team are a solid draw (and home to a freaky-ass mascot), but are also the only game in town. Is this city big enough for an anchor tenant in the Sprint Center and the Mavericks? Probably not, but the T-Bones and Sporting KC are doing okay for themselves despite the Royals and Chiefs soaking up the entertainment monies. But, mainly, that's what this whole thing boils down to: Not enough money, too big of a risk, no potential Jerry Jones-esque crazy billionaires running around for this to work. When did we lose our way America...?
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