KC has the arena, but no major sports teamBY ANTHONY RIEBER |
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January 16, 2009
If you built it, will they come?
That's what the city of Kansas City is asking about its less than 2-year-old arena, which sits without a functioning professional sports team to call its own.
Is that where the Islanders come in?
"We're not looking to take anybody's team," said Paul McGannon, head of NHL21, a local group trying to bring a team to Kansas City. "But if for whatever reason things don't work out on the Island, we would gladly accept a four-time Stanley Cup champion."
The 18,000-seat Sprint Center opened on Oct. 10, 2007, without an anchor tenant. The only professional sports team that plays there is the Arena Football League's Kansas City Brigade - and that league recently canceled its upcoming season because of the economy.
The exhibition game between the Islanders and Los Angeles Kings that was announced yesterday will be the second in arena history. Los Angeles played the St. Louis Blues in front of 11,603 fans last Sept. 22.
The inclusion of the Kings in both games is no surprise because the Sprint Center is managed by international sports conglomerate Anschutz Entertainment Group; its CEO, Tim Leiweke, is the president of the Kings and a powerful member of the NHL's Board of Governors. The former Kansas City resident has been a longtime proponent of bringing the NHL to Kansas City.
Kansas Citians remember that Leiweke promised in 2004, when the arena project was approved, to have a major-league team "playing here the day you open your doors." Leiweke could not be reached for comment yesterday.
The glittering arena has six NHL-ready locker rooms, but for now has to accept being mostly a concert and entertainment venue. Garth Brooks did nine sold-out nights in 2008; Britney Spears brings her "Circus" tour there April 2.
The NCAA men's basketball tournament will hold first- and second-round action at the Sprint Center in March. Other than that, the only other scheduled sporting event is professional bull riding.
Kansas City once had an NHL team, of course. The Kansas City Scouts played there for two seasons, from 1974-76, before becoming the Colorado Rockies and then the Devils.
The city has failed in recent years to lure the Pittsburgh Penguins and Nashville Predators. The Penguins seriously flirted before an agreement was reached to build a new arena. The Predators got a new lease and new ownership group.
"We're tired of being the bridesmaids," McGannon said. "We're serious."
It's unclear if the NHL truly wants to tap into this market or is just using the empty new arena as a bargaining ploy to stare down recalcitrant municipalities. And it's unclear if this market is really drooling over the NHL.
Kansas Citians care about the Chiefs and college basketball and the Royals, said Kansas City Star sports editor Holly Lawton. Hockey? Not so much.
Said Lawton, "I think it's very safe to say there has not been a groundswell of excitement in bringing a hockey team here yet."
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