American Royal leaders propose tearing down Kemper

[aknowledgeableperson]

Everything I've read indicates that Kemper is a far inferior event venue that SC. I wonder if sticking an NHL/NBA team in SC would cause some high profile tours to skip KC entirely. I can't see the Jay-Z/Kanye West level of tour settling for a date at Kemper.

I can't imagine SC would have that kind of booking problem. For acts that big, surely the date would be closed for the sports team. C'mon, there are several arenas in the country that host both an NBA team AND an NHL team AND land Kanye/JayZ

Due to rigging requirements and a few other items Kemper has outlived its usefulness for many top flight concerts that currently tour.
One item that favors the KC market with regards to the SC is that it does not have to accommodate a hockey or basketball team. In other words KC can be quite flexible in providing dates to a concert tour, or any other event tour, when a tour is scheduled.
True, there are open dates in the SC schedule but for a market this size the SC does quite well filling its dates. KC is not usually a prime concert market, with or without the SC. What has made the SC a successful arena for concerts as been its availability of dates. The KC marketplace is not comparable to LA, NY, Chic, Den and a few others.

[KCMax]

True, there are open dates in the SC schedule but for a market this size the SC does quite well filling its dates. KC is not usually a prime concert market, with or without the SC. What has made the SC a successful arena for concerts as been its availability of dates. The KC marketplace is not comparable to LA, NY, Chic, Den and a few others.

Apparently its not even comparable to Milwaukee, St. Louis, Sacramento, Cleveland, Indianapolis, or Oklahoma City, all of which have winter sports tenants.

[aknowledgeableperson]

The initial statement said "host both an NBA team AND an NHL team". The markets you listed host only one of those teams. Big difference.

Give the markets you list and see how many concerts those arenas host and compare that number to the concerts in SC. Another item to look at would be to compare the number of event dates (non NBA/NHL) between those arenas and SC. And, if possible, compare the financial performance of those various arenas to the SC.

[KCMax]

The initial statement said "host both an NBA team AND an NHL team". The markets you listed host only one of those teams. Big difference.
.

No it doesn't.

http://forum.kcrag.com/viewtopic.php?p=506487#p506487

Sprint Center is pretty much already 100% booked. This is because AEG realized after the first year of operating SC that it makes more money to host 100's of large events/concerts, than an NBA or NHL team.

I'm not going to get greedy enough to suggest SC should have an NBA AND an NHL club (I doubt KC could support that). But one? Yea, SC could do that and still host concerts. All of these excuses by AEG are complete and utter BS.

[im2kull]

All of these excuses by AEG are complete and utter BS.

I agree.

[longviewmo]

Who would own the team?

[KCMax]

Who would own the team?

A rich guy.

[longviewmo]

Who would own the team?

A rich guy.

It just seems weird to blame AEG for the lack of a buyer in the area.

[KCMax]

Who would own the team?

A rich guy.

It just seems weird to blame AEG for the lack of a buyer in the area.

I'm not blaming for them for not landing a team. I'm blaming them for the weak CYA excuses they make. If they were to say "we need an owner, that's the big obstacle" then that's fine. But the keep trotting this nonsense of "we don't want a team anyway!" which is ridiculous.

[aknowledgeableperson]

The initial statement said "host both an NBA team AND an NHL team". The markets you listed host only one of those teams. Big difference.
.

No it doesn't.


I'm not going to get greedy enough to suggest SC should have an NBA AND an NHL club (I doubt KC could support that). But one? Yea, SC could do that and still host concerts. All of these excuses by AEG are complete and utter BS.

Was referring to the second list of cities, not the first.

Yes, SC could have a team and concerts but it is very likely the number of concerts hosted by SC would decrease, as well as a few other events. And less money to AEG and likely overall to the city.

[KCMax]

Yes, SC could have a team and concerts but it is very likely the number of concerts hosted by SC would decrease, as well as a few other events. And less money to AEG and likely overall to the city.

Pretty big assumption considering how black the SC schedule is currently, and how other cities our size seem to accommodate winter sports tenants.

And why do I care how much money AEG gets? If they didn't think they could make enough profit with a winter sports team, they should have never agreed to run SC.

[aknowledgeableperson]

In Kemper's heyday its event days totaled round 150 to 165 with both NBA/CHL or MISL/Ice shows/Circus/truck pulls/Amer Royal/concerts/NAIA/Big 8. Even with that schedule June, July, August would be 90 to 95% dark.
Number of concerts per year were around 25 to 30. Could have hosted a few more but conflicts with those other events prohibited the booking of the concerts. Even when the Kings left the number of concerts did not increase - it was just the market. And that was when no other large arena existed between St. Louis and Denver, Minneapolis to Dallas.

Money to AEG is a concern. Without a profit by AEG there is no share of profits payment to the city.
AEG did not promise a team but said it would try. I think they knew the odds of getting a team were very, very long.

[KCMax]

In Kemper's heyday its event days totaled round 150 to 165 with both NBA/CHL or MISL/Ice shows/Circus/truck pulls/Amer Royal/concerts/NAIA/Big 8. Even with that schedule June, July, August would be 90 to 95% dark.
Number of concerts per year were around 25 to 30. Could have hosted a few more but conflicts with those other events prohibited the booking of the concerts. Even when the Kings left the number of concerts did not increase - it was just the market. And that was when no other large arena existed between St. Louis and Denver, Minneapolis to Dallas.

Money to AEG is a concern. Without a profit by AEG there is no share of profits payment to the city.
AEG did not promise a team but said it would try. I think they knew the odds of getting a team were very, very long.

I never doubted it would be hard. Tell us its hard. Don't tell us you don't want one now.

[im2kull]

Who would own the team?

A rich guy.

It just seems weird to blame AEG for the lack of a buyer in the area.

You do know that AEG has massive ownership stakes in many, many professional teams..including ones in the NBA and NHL..right?

Then again, I'm not blaming AEG for not finding a buyer. I'm blaming them for failing to make good on their promise of "If you build it, we will bring them". They've discovered that concerts are more profitable, so they have no reason to market our arena.

[longviewmo]

Yes, one in the NBA and NHL each. Both in LA, and one of them is only half the Lakers. I see AEG as about the least stable type of owner.

[flyingember]

They've discovered that concerts are more profitable, so they have no reason to market our arena.

that decision has been good for KC too. It's not like the arena is dead. it's one of the busiest in the US after all.

I've always said KC can be a good regional destination if done right. having a huge variety of events in KC helps draw people from hours away to come to downtown. this means more people coming to KC to see what the city has to offer and different demographics for the different events

[kboish]

that decision has been good for KC too. It's not like the arena is dead. it's one of the busiest in the US after all.

Not to mention the variety and number of events/concerts came at a good time to help reintroduce a diverse crowd throughout the metro to the revamped DT.

Had it just been a sports team, the demographic going there would be much more narrow in scope.

That being said, I still wish we had or could get a team DT. It will never happen, though IMO, until a local owner group steps up. I don't see that happening.

[TheSmokinPun]

that decision has been good for KC too. It's not like the arena is dead. it's one of the busiest in the US after all.

Not to mention the variety and number of events/concerts came at a good time to help reintroduce a diverse crowd throughout the metro to the revamped DT.

Had it just been a sports team, the demographic going there would be much more narrow in scope.

That being said, I still wish we had or could get a team DT. It will never happen, though IMO, until a local owner group steps up. I don't see that happening.

Or whoever buys AEG decides that SC can still get all those concerts and have an anchor. You think too small for the potential growth. Go big or go home at this point.

[kboish]

Go big or go home at this point.

But I am at home - sitting in my specially made development guru armchair ! How else do you think I made all these KC developments happen?

[im2kull]

They've discovered that concerts are more profitable, so they have no reason to market our arena.

that decision has been good for KC too. It's not like the arena is dead. it's one of the busiest in the US after all.

I've always said KC can be a good regional destination if done right. having a huge variety of events in KC helps draw people from hours away to come to downtown. this means more people coming to KC to see what the city has to offer and different demographics for the different events

I completely agree. NBA or NHL does almost nothing for our city.

But, this is the exact same reason that the city shouldn't have given management contracts to AEG for Kemper. They ran Kemper into the ground, and a large part of that has to do with the mandatory $10 Million annual fine/operating costs they are paying the city for failing to obtain a host NBA or NHL franchise for the Sprint Center.