At 10:10 today (10/10…how clever!), the Sprint Center will open without an anchor tenant.
There are some people who think that’s a bad thing (*cough cough*). I’m not one of them.
Look, I realize that it sucks that people won’t have a specific team to root for over the next couple of years, but I will guarantee that there will be a basketball or hockey team (god forbid) in there before the end of 2008. The truth is that it doesn’t matter. The place is going to be wildly successful.
One of the most exciting things about it is that it all but assures the return of the Big 12 Tournament to its rightful place here in Kansas City. And while that might only be for a week in March, I’ve got an inside source that says that AEG has over 200 events lined up over the next year. Anchor tenants do not make money for facilities. They get free rent, they typically struggle through growing pains, and considering that our best bet is hockey…well…I’d rather get an Arena Football team.
I wish that folks would see the bright side of this arena. Hannah Montana, Garth Brooks, Elton John – these are acts wouldn’t come near Kansas City in the past because our facility was hopelessly outdated. They would have opted for other booming cities like Oklahoma City or Omaha who have had the foresight to actually build modern arenas. The only thing Kemper had to offer was the ghost of Owen Hart haunting the catwalks.
I recognize that you wish that you didn’t have to pay scalper prices for tickets, but you should be appreciative that we are getting those events to begin with. Would you rather have to travel to St. Louis and figure out a way to buy tickets there, travel, get a hotel room, etc.?
I am thrilled to have an arena of this caliber opening in Kansas City. Like I said, some of these events wouldn’t touch KC with a ten-foot pole until the new arena was built. And unlike the area surrounding Kemper Arena, the area surrounding the Sprint Center is already under development and will likely have some decent pull. Out of all the problems the Sprint Center has, I would imagine that there is not one that is larger than parking. And that will always be a problem until people make it a priority. I imagine that as soon as Paul Saleh or James Hance, Jr., can’t find parking, it will become quite a priority.
I was at Kemper for the Owen Hart thing, tragic stuff.
The only way at this point we get an NHL team is if they expand, especially with AEG now building an arena in Vegas with NBA/NHL promises. Expansion in the NHL would be horrible.
The best chance would be if they build the Vegas arena, the NBA allows the Kings to move there from Sacto, and then we can take one of the Southeast NHL teams…Panthers, Hurricanes, Lightning.
Who needs a hockey team when you have Van Halen featuring Diamond David Lee Roth returning to Kansas City on October 26th to properly christen the new Sprint Center??
BTW, Elton John DID come to KC two years ago and played at Kemper. The only acts I’m aware of that snubbed KC for Omaha were U2 and Paul McCartney.
We went to check out the arena last night. It was quite impressive. My only complaint was that they staff was not accomodating to Katie being in the stroller. We were trying to get down to the level we came in at and they said we couldn’t get off on floor 1. That was the floor we needed. So, instead of fighting with them more, one of the workers helped me carry her down the stairs. My question is what would they do when a patron in a wheelchair wanted to get down to that level? Hopefully we can just chalk it up them getting the bugs out.
If you get tickets for the 200 sections, watch out cause it is STEEP!
Hey – the Brigade is all I need!
So far, it’s the Garth Brooks Center. Is he played out or what? Didn’t he try to play ball for the Royals or the Padres at one time? What’s really going on downtown?