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Sports Commission turns 20, looks to future

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Sports
Wednesday, 15 April 2009 00:00
A lot of things have happened in the 20 years that the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission has been in existence.
The Chiefs have gone from doormats of the National Football League to prominence and back again. The Royals have had consistent trouble finding winning seasons. The city gained a professional soccer team. The city lost a pair of minor league hockey teams and an indoor soccer team. The city built a new downtown arena and College Basketball Hall of Fame.
For Kevin Gray, president of the GKCSC, the accomplishments are plenty, but he does not take much time to pat himself or the group on the back.
“We just kind of keep our head down and try to work hard,” Gray said.
Gray and the commission work throughout the metro in various capacities involving sports. They play a role in bringing different tournaments, such as the Big 12 basketball tournament, to Kansas City. They work in helping to create activities and arrangements around events, like the two-week period in April when the NCAA men’s basketball tournament, the NAIA Division I men’s finals and the MIAA basketball tournament were in downtown Kansas City. They help in trying to eventually bring a professional basketball or hockey franchise to the Sprint Center and nearly everything in between.
“We’re mission-driven and oriented,” Gray said.
Gray said that coming off the recent influx of basketball gives a boost to the sports scene as well as the local economy.
“We treat college basketball like it’s a franchise,” Gray said. “It took a lot of effort and time for us to bring the National Association of Basketball Coaches here and we led that effort for a long time. We’re really excited about where that is going. We’re excited the Big 12 is coming back next year.
“In our estimation we think that Kansas City is the college basketball capital of America. We want to bring that recognition forward.”
From high profile events such as the Big 12 tournament or NCAA tournament, the commission also works to bring events such as soccer tournaments to Kansas City. Gray easily shows his excitement for the coming years when Kansas City will have a large number of tournament soccer fields come on line in south Kansas City and Overland Park.
“It’s a dramatic positive shift in the right direction,” Gray said. “Even though the soccer referendum was not successful, this has been a very positive development. Overland Park has taken it upon themselves to construct something of significant value to economic development.
“The Wizards did not tuck their tail between their legs. They went in a completely different direction. These owners are committed to a top-notch organization. We can have a pretty significant event with the Overland Park facility and the Bannister Mall facility in the future. It will be dramatic and significant.”
With the Royals recently opening their season and opening a revamped stadium to crowds, Gray said the importance of the team doing well and the additions to the stadium are important in many ways.
Gray said a Royals team that stays in contention could do big things for the team as well as ancillary businesses.
“It would have a huge effect,” Gray said. “Everybody has a different hitch in their giddy-up. People would have regular pride in the community. Guys like me remember when the Royals were good. My kids don’t remember that. Once you start to have that effect on people with winning, there’s a dramatic effect on the community.”
Perhaps one of the proverbial elephants in the Kansas City sports room is the lack of an anchor tenant for the Sprint Center. Gray said it is important to eventually secure an anchor tenant for the arena.
“I think it’s important to support what we have,” Gray said. “We have a new facility coming online in Independence … There will always be an opportunity for the NBA. Maybe not in the short term, because of this tough economic stretch. But I have a lot of confidence in AEG and where their heads are at and what they want to be.”
Moving forward, Gray said the Greater Kansas City Sports Commission will continue to look to help in any area it can.
“We want to continue to facilitate where we can,” Gray said. “We want to continue to lead where we can. We will continue to lobby. We have a strategic plan that is thorough, but like anything else and any plan, we will have to see what works and what doesn’t.
“Our objective is the same and we follow the same mission. That’s to improve the quality of life and have an economic impact. That’s our key objective.”

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