KCRag Forum

shinatoo wrote:Flipping through all these tournaments the last two days. Sprint Center is the only full arena.

Not for long! Bye Kansas!

beautyfromashes wrote:

shinatoo wrote:Flipping through all these tournaments the last two days. Sprint Center is the only full arena.

Not for long! Bye Kansas!

Iowa State, surprisingly, always seems to be the team that really packs them in.

I was working out of coffee shops/public spaces throughout the day downtown today and did see more Cyclone fans than anything else, maybe even more than KU. Though KU fans maybe just went straight to arena with not as many hanging out around downtown.

KU being out will make the tournament even more vibrant.

kboish wrote:We better hope the state doesn't pass some bathroom bill because if they do, the tournament will certainly be gone.

Texas might also pass a bathroom bill

kboish wrote:We better hope the state doesn't pass some bathroom bill because if they do, the tournament will certainly be gone.

To where? You are talking about a conference made up exclusively of reactionary, right wing states and Iowa, where no one will go.

brewcrew1000 wrote: Wichita might be the only city that could be successful but its pretty boring city.

chingon wrote:

kboish wrote:We better hope the state doesn't pass some bathroom bill because if they do, the tournament will certainly be gone.

To where? You are talking about a conference made up exclusively of reactionary, right wing states and Iowa, where no one will go.

It is true that our only saving grace might be that all the other states in the conference could pass similar legislation, but the commissioner stated today that if such legislation were passed it would be taken into consideration for future site determinations.

http://kcur.org/post/big-12-organizers- ... s#stream/0

kboish wrote:We better hope the state doesn't pass some bathroom bill because if they do, the tournament will certainly be gone.

Where would they move it to? The open-minded states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, or West Virginia? Heck, even Iowa is a red state now. I guess they could move it to Colorado or Nevada since it doesn't matter if the hosting state has a conference school or not.

shinatoo wrote:Flipping through all these tournaments the last two days. Sprint Center is the only full arena.

There's probably 2, maybe 3, reasons for this.

1. Because there are only 10 teams, it's a shorter tournament than the other conferences. So while the other conferences still have their weaker teams playing on day 2, the Big 12 has their best teams playing on day 2.

2. The prices are usually cheaper than other conferences... at least more often than not, it seems. So on day 2, you get the see the Big 12's best teams play at prices that are usually cheaper than what you'd pay to see the weaker teams in other conferences play.

3. KC is just awesome and knows how to support this thing. It would take KU, K-State, and Iowa State all being knocked out before attendance dipped. Even then, I wouldn't be surprised to see a near sell out for a championship game between say, Texas Tech and TCU or West Virginia just because it would still be decent basketball at a decent price for the average basketball fan.

AllThingsKC wrote:

kboish wrote:We better hope the state doesn't pass some bathroom bill because if they do, the tournament will certainly be gone.

Where would they move it to? The open-minded states of Texas, Oklahoma, Kansas, or West Virginia? Heck, even Iowa is a red state now. I guess they could move it to Colorado or Nevada since it doesn't matter if the hosting state has a conference school or not.

shinatoo wrote:Flipping through all these tournaments the last two days. Sprint Center is the only full arena.

There's probably 2, maybe 3, reasons for this.

1. Because there are only 10 teams, it's a shorter tournament than the other conferences. So while the other conferences still have their weaker teams playing on day 2, the Big 12 has their best teams playing on day 2.

2. The prices are usually cheaper than other conferences... at least more often than not, it seems. So on day 2, you get the see the Big 12's best teams play at prices that are usually cheaper than what you'd pay to see the weaker teams in other conferences play.

3. KC is just awesome and knows how to support this thing. It would take KU, K-State, and Iowa State all being knocked out before attendance dipped. Even then, I wouldn't be surprised to see a near sell out for a championship game between say, Texas Tech and TCU or West Virginia just because it would still be decent basketball at a decent price for the average basketball fan.

Most of the other tournaments have a history of moving around. The long history (with a few exceptions) of this tournament in KC has given it an advantage over the others. If the SEC sticks in Nashville, they may have a chance to build some of that same culture. But the SEC would have to start caring about basketball outside the state of Kentucky for that to happen.

That, and ISU always brings the entire state down - even when their team isn't all that good. It's impressive.

Not that it would ever be comparable, but I watched some of the 'Roos game last night (versus a team I had to look up - UTRGV). The tourny was in the Orleans Arena in Vegas. It looked like it was literally the teams' families, the women's team from each school and the bands. No one else was there. You'd think a degenerate gambler or someone would have wandered in, but I couldn't see anyone on TV.

'Roos won in OT, by the way. They were a bit better this year. Hoping they can be competitive in the WAC for a few years.

^I don't get why some of these smaller conferences even bother with these Conference tournaments. The Schools or the Conference have got to be losing money on those events.

brewcrew1000 wrote:^I don't get why some of these smaller conferences even bother with these Conference tournaments. The Schools or the Conference have got to be losing money on those events.

Recruiting and marketing. It's the same reason they have sports at all, which are usually a money loser. MIAA is a good example.

brewcrew1000 wrote:^I don't get why some of these smaller conferences even bother with these Conference tournaments. The Schools or the Conference have got to be losing money on those events.

The winner of the conference tourneys get an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament, which brings dollars back to the schools in the NCAA tournament and usually some additional funds are divided between the other schools in the conference based on NCAA tourney performance.

kboish wrote:

chingon wrote:

kboish wrote:We better hope the state doesn't pass some bathroom bill because if they do, the tournament will certainly be gone.

To where? You are talking about a conference made up exclusively of reactionary, right wing states and Iowa, where no one will go.

It is true that our only saving grace might be that all the other states in the conference could pass similar legislation, but the commissioner stated today that if such legislation were passed it would be taken into consideration for future site determinations.

http://kcur.org/post/big-12-organizers- ... s#stream/0

Oh god, never thought this would be an issue.

It's too bad the state university that represents Kansas City is not in the tournament.

Are the fans using the streetcar system? KC has changed a lot, even in the past year, I would have to think that the city has to be coming off quite well to the fans.

The streetcar is really taking things to a new level. Quite happy to see.

Highlander wrote:It's too bad the state university that represents Kansas City is not in the tournament.

Why? At this point, none of KC's 3 local universities are playing, but the tournament will still have great attendance, so I don't think KC is missing much.

Highlander wrote:Are the fans using the streetcar system? KC has changed a lot, even in the past year, I would have to think that the city has to be coming off quite well to the fans

Yes, the street car has been popular among the visitors. The overall fan experience in KC is unmatched in other cities like Dallas or OKC. So I do think KC is coming off quite well. But, wait a minute... HOW CAN THESE FANS HAVE A FAVORABLE IMPRESSION OF KC WHEN "IT'S TOO BAD THE STATE UNIVERSITY THAT REPRESENTS KANSAS CITY IS NOT IN THE TOURNAMENT?" I guess KC needs that state university to make the tournament a success. The biggest complaint I get from visitors is that Mizzou isn't participating in this tournament. The visiting fans say they would enjoy the Big 12 Tournament so much more if "the state university that represents Kansas City" was in the tournament.

But seriously, while I hear a lot of praise from visitors about the street car and other amenities, the #1 complaint I get from visitors is the lack of fast food options downtown. Not that we want a bunch of chains, but visitors like to see places they know with menus they're familiar with and prices cheaper than anything at P&L. You cannot take the streetcar to a McDonald's or Taco Bell. Visitors seem really shocked that a big city like KC doesn't have more fast food options downtown. Chipotle and the BK Whopper Bar are nice, but can be expensive for a family staying the weekend. The 2nd biggest complaint is downtown shopping, which surprises me a bit. I've had several people ask where the nearest Walgreens was. They either don't want to go to CVS or don't know there is a CVS downtown. But, people are quite pleased with KC overall.

Highlander wrote:
It's too bad the state university that represents Kansas City is not in the tournament.

They were, they just lost to TCU in the first game.

AllThingsKC wrote:

Highlander wrote:It's too bad the state university that represents Kansas City is not in the tournament.

You cannot take the streetcar to a McDonald's or Taco Bell. Visitors seem really shocked that a big city like KC doesn't have more fast food options downtown. Chipotle and the BK Whopper Bar are nice, but can be expensive for a family staying the weekend. The 2nd biggest complaint is downtown shopping, which surprises me a bit. I've had several people ask where the nearest Walgreens was. They either don't want to go to CVS or don't know there is a CVS downtown. But, people are quite pleased with KC overall.

The irony is that KC metro seems to be more obsessed with chains than other large cities. The City Center Sq food court used to have a McDonalds. Does makes sense to have a McDs and Taco Bell in that food court but Chipotle and a nice BK are still options. Denver has their chains along 16th street, which I think are mostly standalone but foodcourts would be good locations and City Cntr Sq is perfect for those. I saw a Domino's just opened in that building and there's also a doable Tex Mex counter, much cheaper than Chipotle. I'd rather see more cheap indie counter eats along the streetcar line rather than cater to those who want chains, but a McDs is a basic standard that downtown should probably have. Even locatarian purist Portland has a McD's in middle of downtown.

As far as shopping, is time for downtown orgs to start targeting more retail as DT population is getting close to 25K now and should hit 30K within a few years. The streetcar alone should be filling up 'The Garment District' in P&L. I think I saw a stat that Target wants to see 35K downtown pops for an urban Target, so might be a while.

"But seriously, while I hear a lot of praise from visitors about the street car and other amenities, the #1 complaint I get from visitors is the lack of fast food options downtown. Not that we want a bunch of chains, but visitors like to see places they know with menus they're familiar with and prices cheaper than anything at P&L. You cannot take the streetcar to a McDonald's or Taco Bell. Visitors seem really shocked that a big city like KC doesn't have more fast food options downtown. Chipotle and the BK Whopper Bar are nice, but can be expensive for a family staying the weekend"

When traveling with kids especially you don't want to eat the "expensive" stuff three times a day for three days. Something quick, in-and-out, especially for lunch would be what many families would want. Even for the locals during the week a fast food chain would be a welcome break for lunch or dinner.

aknowledgeableperson wrote:"But seriously, while I hear a lot of praise from visitors about the street car and other amenities, the #1 complaint I get from visitors is the lack of fast food options downtown. Not that we want a bunch of chains, but visitors like to see places they know with menus they're familiar with and prices cheaper than anything at P&L. You cannot take the streetcar to a McDonald's or Taco Bell. Visitors seem really shocked that a big city like KC doesn't have more fast food options downtown. Chipotle and the BK Whopper Bar are nice, but can be expensive for a family staying the weekend"

When traveling with kids especially you don't want to eat the "expensive" stuff three times a day for three days. Something quick, in-and-out, especially for lunch would be what many families would want. Even for the locals during the week a fast food chain would be a welcome break for lunch or dinner.

Frankly, I think Midwestern sports fans and college sports fans in particular, just like fast food. That said, it is a little weird that downtown has so few fast food establishments. I suspect potential franchise owners don't think the DT demographic is really one that would be seeking fast food on a regular basis.