CBE changing game for halls of fame, museums

If you see someone go into the College Basketball Experience and not come out for a few hours, there is no need to send a search party.

CBE President Kevin Henderson said it is easy for guests at the combination college basketball hall of fame/interactive museum to get lost in all there is to see at the facility.

“That’s what we wanted to happen,” Henderson said. “They get lost in the activity and time just slips away. We have visitors that spend numerous hours in the facility.”

The CBE has been open for 19 months, the same amount of time as the Sprint Center, to which it is physically connected. During its short life span, the facility has played host to small and large groups, according to Henderson. And the comments he gets are almost all on the positive side.

“The most common is that it’s great, it’s impressive or it’s so much fun. They didn’t know that it would be like it was. We’ve heard all about it. And they speak on the fact that the interactivity is the highest level for a facility of this type. And they say they will be back, which is what you want from a customer.”

The CBE is designed to have people experience college basketball, so the upstairs portion of the facility is specifically designed to do just that. It features an area where those of all heights can try dunking, shoot free throws in front of a boisterous crowd and try new dribbling techniques. It also features a full court at the center of all the activity areas that has become a popular destination for many activities.

One of the most popular ways to use the CBE center court has been to play actual games. The Kansas City Parks and Recreation Department has a men’s league that plays regularly at the facility and several youth tournaments have held their championship games on the court.

During many of those games, real introductions, scoreboards and statistics are used to make things more exciting for players and spectators.

“Our men’s league is one of the best men’s leagues in the city,” Henderson. “The league is nothing but former college players, current international players or former pro players.”

The center court has also been used to host more upscale dinners, charity auctions, team building and a number of events, nearly 200, in its 19 months of existence.

“We’re not just a one-trick pony,” Henderson said. “We have a set-up like no other facility for special events. We can manipulate it to look like basketball, and we’ve gone all the way to more like a nightclub atmosphere.”

Henderson said the CBE was designed with the rabid 18-year-old male basketball fan as its target, but he has seen that fans of all ages are enjoying the facility. He said the CBE already is gaining recognition among fans and players as a destination.

“It’s happening a little bit, that perception of being a destination or a pilgrimage,” Henderson said. “There are college basketball fans that love the game so much not visiting here does not complete their college basketball experience.”

The demographics coming out to the CBE have ranged, according to Henderson. From small families to large school and church groups, nearly all kinds come to the CBE on a weekly basis, according to Henderson.

“It’s a true mixture,” Henderson said. “We get walkups of families with kids and teenagers and we get groups of 300. It’s a nice mixture of all types of people and groups. Our programming is so big, and that’s because we’re not a museum.”

The Sprint Center regularly hosts college basketball such as the CBE Classic, which has included appearances by Kansas, Kansas State and Missouri, along with the Big 12 Tournament. When college basketball is being played in Kansas City, Henderson said things are jumping at the CBE.

“We get huge interest anytime basketball is being played at Sprint,” Henderson said. “We get a huge bump. We’re involved with any basketball event played at Sprint Center. We do get a lot of bounce out of that happening.”

For Henderson, who says he has found that his job almost never ends, success comes in a number of ways.

“I measure success on a business side in numbers,” Henderson. “We are a business and we have to operate as such. Even though we are a non-profit, we have to operate as a business. But the true measure of success is the smiles I see when walking through our facility. When I see that parents and kids are having a great time, I know we got it right.”

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