Wichita loses out on NCAA site again

[ShockerFever]

IBA was doomed to fail at NCAA hosting before the first scoop of dirt was moved. It is too small. Epic fail AGAIN by City/County leaders.

--'85.

Agreed that the design was horrible and dimensions were way off. Total fail by the County, especially for the amount of money put into it. BOK Center is much larger and built for much less. Go figure.

Providence hosted last year and their 30-year old crap barn seats 12,000. Spokanne's arena isn't that big and they're hosting. Tucson hosted in 2011 and their venue only seats a hair under 12,000.

[Kung Wu]

Not sure what your first part of the post means exactly, apparently in the past I've been a vocal supporter of the NCAA?

No I was saying you are a big WSU fan, and all of us want the NCAA tournament here. It's just that adding 2k-3k seats (if that would really make a difference) would cost a lot more than the current design, for an event that we aren't going to get very often.

Not sure what is wrong with having NCAA as a goal. How would having a 2-3K more seats affect the concerts, shows they get now? My guess is it wouldn't prohibit them from still coming to Intrust.

Nothing wrong with it. How much ya willing to pay in construction costs for 2-3k more empty seats for 98% of the events?

[Ta town]

No I was saying you are a big WSU fan, and all of us want the NCAA tournament here. It's just that adding 2k-3k seats (if that would really make a difference) would cost a lot more than the current design, for an event that we aren't going to get very often.



Nothing wrong with it. How much ya willing to pay in construction costs for 2-3k more empty seats for 98% of the events?

It could have been done with the money on hand at the time. I don't believe the way intrust is set up now that any seats can be added. Again I may be wrong on that.

[im4wsu]

It's all about the "financial package" we put together. I haven't seen any details or comparisons, but lots of things go into obtaining events like this. Such things as the number of workers provided (whether volunteer or paid), the number and type of lodging provided without charge to the appropriate people, transportation included, advertising dollars, etc. It goes way beyond ticket sales, concession sales and percent of the gate.

[NCAABound]

I think our big problem is lack of lodging downtown. Events of this magnitude require a huge amount of rooms. We are pretty rinky-dink in this area.

[Ricardo del Rio]

15,004.

During the planning phase of the arena, I suspected that 15 thousand seats would be light for sub-regional consideration. I realize that other factors such as hotel rooms and transportation are considered, but the NCAA chases the holy grail, which is filled with money.

[another shocker]

I wasn't aware of this. Thanks for the timely update, RoyalShock.

[DUShock]

Size does matter.

[ShockBand]

Me thinks this may be a bigger factor than people realize. I would think lodging within walking distance (and I presume the hourly motels on S. Broadway don't count) is as important of a factor as total available rooms in the city.

[ShockerPhi]

I personally like the Arena and I like what it has brought Wichita recently. But yes, it probably should have been just a little bit bigger. I think they only major screw up is those box seats that are on one whole side of the thing. Take those out, put in seats like normal, and it'd easily be 18,000 for basketball.

[ShockBand]

I agree. Yes, it would have made the whole thing a bit taller, but so what? Plus, I would think if you wanted a second tier of luxury boxes, would they perhaps make more sense on the end opposite the stage end? Just a thought.

[Metalkatz]

Ive been thinking this ever since they built the arena. They said it would sit 15k for bball. I was optomistic they were rounding down and the final count from a sold out game would be something like 15,400 much like Koch were most people say it seats 10k when its a little more. At any rate the arena should have been built with the future in mind and the possibility to add at least 1,500 seats. Could they build some seats above the suites? It would be kinda high, but Sprint has some seat like that.

[SubGod22]

I always said 17k for basketball should have been the lowest they'd go. 20k would have made me happy.

[pinstripers]

Build it downtown and hope stuff springs up around it.............yeah

[1972Shocker]

Does anyone know if the NCAA gives any feedback on where they may have found our bid/facilities lacking or wanting? Hopefully, that's the case. Whether anything can be done about the shortcomings, if any, is a whole other issue.