KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Convention and Visitors Association says March basketball tournaments will bring more than $17 million to Kansas City. Some downtown merchants are concerned fans won’t spend as much in 2012.
Changes in the Big 12 Tournament scheduling mean there’s only two games being played on Wednesday. When you’re talking about the four worst teams, one downtown merchant says we’ll be lucky if the Sprint Center is half full.
Employees at the Kansas City Cafe say they’re not sure what to expect on Wednesday. It’s the first day of the Big 12 Men’s Tournament. In previous years, Montica Alexander says her workers gear up for two hours of mayhem as every seat in her restaurant fills up in the intermission between the first two games and the second series.
“At the end of the first session everybody gets let out of the Sprint Center and everybody wants to dine and drink for two hours,” said Montica Alexander. “Then they all want to go back. So, you have this mass influx of people in a very short period of time. everybody wants to get fed then get back to the next session.”
This year, because the Big 12 is smaller there are only two games or one session on Wednesday. That means there are no breaks where fans are able to roam around downtown to eat and drink. Places like Willie’s K.C. say they’re bracing for drop-in customers.
“Because it’s eight teams playing, it’s a lot better teams,” said Dustin John. “Where this year, it’s the four worst teams in the league are playing so, there’s not a lot of excitement for one. They’re four teams from the south that don’t travel real well.”
Still, with warmer weather nearly everyone is expecting good crowds Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Should Kansas face Missouri in the championship on Saturday, the surge in business is a merchant’s dream. It should more than compensate for any loss that happens on Wednesday.