On Thursday, I had the opportunity to chaperone my six-year-old daughter’s school field trip to the T-Mobile Center to watch the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament.
While we had a great time taking the kids to the game, if it wasn’t for about 1,000 school kids inside of T-Mobile on Thursday, it would have looked even more empty and cavernous than it already did. And this was for a game involving a local team, Kansas State, taking on UCF.
Here’s what it looked like from my vantage point.
It was nearly three years ago, during the end of the Bob Bowlsby era as Big 12 commissioner, that the league announced that it would move up the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament to the week prior to the men’s tournament so that the women could enjoy the better facilities than the Municipal Auditorium and play at the T-Mobile Center.
This has turned out to be an enormous mistake.
How We Got Here
When the men’s and women’s tournaments ran parallel, it allowed fans to come to Kansas City and enjoy both their men’s and women’s teams playing quality basketball and bouncing back and forth between T-Mobile and the Municipal. Fans would try to make their schedules work out to watch both squads. It was a non-stop week of hoops, and even if your men’s team lost, you might stay an extra day or two to watch the women. Or vice versa. Everybody won.
But now? No one was in downtown Kansas City today. I walked through the Power and Light District. It was empty. All the pomp and circumstance, from the pep rallies to the music to the crowded bars, were nowhere to be seen.
The intention of this move was a nice one from former commissioner Bob Bowlsby and the Big 12. But it has utterly failed. I’m the father of three young daughters, and, of course, I’d love to see women play in great arenas. But more important is growing the game.
Related: Which Big 12 Basketball Teams Can Actually Win the 2025 NCAA Tournament?
People are not flocking to Kansas City for back-to-back weeks to watch the women’s tournament and then stay for the men’s tournament. Most people don’t have the time or the money to make both work. But for a few days to see both? Done deal.
Now, there may be a crowd by the time we get to the Championship Game on Sunday if there is an overlap with some fans coming to town for the men’s tournament next week or if it is a team within driving distance like Kansas, K-State, Iowa State and maybe a couple of others. But otherwise, I anticipate a fairly empty T-Mobile center this week.
And for what? To change in a nicer locker room before and after the game? I understand the facilities are far superior at T-Mobile, but don’t we want to bring as many fans as possible to these games to watch the women play?
That’s not happening. You can’t force the marketplace to do what you want. The market is never wrong, and it always wins.
Other Conferences… Who Cares?
Some may argue that the Big Ten, ACC and SEC Tournaments are all happening this week, so the Big 12 is just keeping in line with their fellow Power 4 leagues.
The Big 12 always had something more unique, with the men and women playing at the same time, just blocks away from each other. It was a unique setting and atmosphere, unlike anything in basketball. And I believe other conferences should try to duplicate what the Big 12 used to do to continue to grow the sport of women’s basketball.
What the Big 12 Should Do
If the Big 12 is serious about displaying the women’s game, moving the women’s tournament back one week to where it used to be would be the move. And then, if the league agrees to extend the Big 12 Basketball Tournament in Kansas City, which it should eventually do, try to get some concessions from the city of Kansas City, Missouri, and maybe even the Kansas City Sports Commission, to make some minor upgrades to Municipal that don’t break the bank.
It’s an important week for the city, and if the league stays committed to this town, it may be worth the ask.
Otherwise, expect the Big 12 Women’s Basketball Tournament to remain an afterthought. And for those who claim to want to see the sport grow, that’s a shame.
