Why can’t local professional sports teams attract more fans? Some think the spotty attendance at Wichita Wranglers and Thunder games confirms fears that Wichita isn’t big enough to support pro sports. But it’s not as if Wichita doesn’t have sports fans — even fanatics. Wichita State University Shocker baseball and basketball pull in large crowds and inspire intense loyalty. Shocker fans identify with the players and the tradition, and feel an active part of the program. I think local pro teams need to work harder at cultivating that sense of fan ownership. It can happen: Wichita Wings soccer attracted a rabid following in the 1980s (before it lost its major-league affiliation), drawing almost 10,000 fans a game. What do you think of the prospects for pro sports in Wichita? Why aren’t more people coming out to the games?
Posted by Randy Scholfield
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8 Comments
I believe it is promotion. I disagree that Wichita is not large enough. It is quite a bit larger than other cities that have pro/minor leauge teams.
I’m not really a sports fan, but I went to a Red Hawks game in Oklahoma City on a company business meeting and I had a good time. That was the first time I went into a sport event in like 10 years. Now! I’m seriously thinking about going to Wrangler and Aviator games.
Sometimes college sports can take a chunk out of it. People support WSU like crazy, both in basket ball and baseball. There are cities that have large enough populations to support Pro teams… Like NFL expansion teams, but what holds them back is that they have very strong college sport ties and hardly anybody would go to a pro/NFL team.
Look at Florida as an example. A very strong college presence in college sports there. Yet pro teams like Jacksonville Jaguars, Tampa Devil Rays, and even Florida Marlins have very difficult times filling their seats…even to the point that Marlins are thinking about leaving and going to Las Vegas…and Miami area is very populated. Teams in Florida can’t even get enough people to fill in their stands to get television coverage for their games. But you have a Hurricane or Seminole game and they are packed.
Yet you have cities like Buffalo and Green Bay that are smaller than Wichita and they have an NFL teams.
Maybe! Just a thought! But we can probably learn from what Green Bay did. They have a huge loyal following. They did this by making their team public and allow average people to buy shares in the team.
Maybe we can do something like that here in Wichita. Basketball and Baseball is out of the question because of the competition with WSU, but the Thunder and Aviators can do this. There is a way you can go public intra-state and sell shares without having to do a bunch of SEC filling. As long as Kansas Residents are the only ones purchasing the shares.
There would probably be a bunch of people that would buy shares. I would and I don’t even like sports all that much or watch them, but if I owned a few shares there would be a sense of ownership and I would watch a lot of games out of pride and support.
It is also a way for the teams to generate good cash reserves to help them through the debt cycle.
Who wants to go see anything….have anything to eat or drink inside that decrepit Cow Barn of the Kansas Coliseum?
Basically, I think it’s lack of promotion. Today, I could only support The Wranglers. They have a nice ball park, an adequate but, not exceptional team and they try to make you visit enjoyable. Kudos, for trying!
They just don’t have any promotion behind them. Rarely, do I see much more than a boxscore in the paper, or a 30 second segment on t.v.
They’ve been playing ball at Larry D, for 50 plus years but, the Chinese Nat’l. Team got more recognition in two weeks than the Wranglers get, all year.
I don’t think, being affiliated with The Royals,helps either. That club has been on a downward spiral for years and what do they accomplish, except for raiding the Wranglers, for the best talent—and then trading them away. They need to put some talent on the field, that people would come out to see. Not just 9 guys, named Joe Smith. They don’t come out to see the ex K.C. Royal Manager.
James you do have a point. When I watch the local news or read the Wichita Eagle, they don’t give too much spots for the local sport teams. I think they need to put more into it. More highlights, player profiles, and good exposure.
I mean! I’ll watch the local news and they will give a very brief remark about the local team and like a 3-5 second video highlight and thats about it. Most of the sports is concentrated on College Sports and Pro-teams. I guess there is a bigger market to having so much attention to KU, K-State, Chiefs and Royals… Actually I want the local teams. I could care less about KU’s football coach and who they are recuriting out of high school or the day to day highlights of the KC Chiefs training camp.
They need to focus more on Wichita and little high lights for the rest of them. That way we can build loyalty and know our team.
I remember, but I was a small child, during the Wings, people had Chico Borja jerseys and people including kids wore Wichita Wings (Whataburger) gear to school and in the public.
I think we really need a good focus on Wichita, and not KU or K-State.
Back in the day! Wichita had WSU basketball, with Dave Stallworth. Before that, Cleo Littleton.
In the 50s, they had Vickers, NIBL Basketball. Played at the Fieldhouse, and if they didn’t sell out, it was a miracle! I never missed a home game and had to drive 35 miles to see it. They had talent, they were promoted, they played against people that you had heard of before; Big 8 players, Helms America All Stars. 2 (count ‘em) 7′foot players, for Wichita Vickers, Halbrook and Boldebuck.( Almost forgot, Dick Boushka, from St. Louis Univ. Dude would punch your lights out, in a heartbeat. Miss a game? Forget aboutit!
Today,– I don’t know the players!
I don’t see The Musials, or The Mantles, or Willie Mays, or the Johnny Damons, of the baseball world. I see Frick and Frack and the Bingo scores, on television news. I read about the 6,000 pound catfish in the Arkansas River, caught with a bowling ball, and I wonder! Is this what it’s all about.
Wichita has a gem, in Lawrence D. stadium and a group that’s busting their backside to give ya’ll a fine product. We are all wrong, IF we don’t take advantage of it. It may not be here forever!
I personally, don’t think you would have a sell out, if the Chiefs were in town for a game. Too many people standing in line for the “Free Passes”
James! Again you have another really fine point.
Players can create excitement and loyalty. I was listening on NPR about Lance Armstrong and cycling. They said that less than 50,000 people in the US was watching cycling sports and the tour de france before and on the first year of Lance Armstrong. But once he started to win and people reconizing the name, it jumped up to 2.5 to 3 million viewers and followers. The expect that since Lance Armstrong will retire and if no US cyclist steps up to be a strong competitor, that viewership will decline rapidly.
They said the same thing about golf. If Tiger is not playing, the viewership is a whole lot lower than if he was playing.
We need a star to follow in our local sports. A household name, so that people can get excited and feel proud and watch games.
The solution is simple, really. Win. Win and you get rewarded with fanatics. Win and you get promoted in the media. Win and every company in town wants to have box seats to your games. Win and people will line up for your tickets. Win and your club starts making money through promotions. Win and every company in town will want their name on a sign somewhere in your stadium. Just win, baby.
Oh, and enough with the lame “professional” sports leagues, like indoor football. Stop wasting money on that crap and spend it on the 4 major sports (outdoor football, hockey, baseball, basketball). The Thunder could sell another 5,000 seats per game if they had the backing of the Wichita business community. If 10% of the companies in town bought 4 season tickets, and then used those as some sort of reward for their employees, attendance at Thunder matches would explode. The same can be said about the Wranglers.
Lastly, as with anything, it must start with the kids. Get kids interested and their parents will follow. Tell the Thunder and Wrangler players to start visiting schools on days off. Give out trading cards. Do whatever it takes to get the children interested and their parents will follow. I recall as a child being able to flag down a police officer in my hometown in order to get some KC Chiefs trading cards. This was when the Chiefs flat-out stunk. My parents didn’t like them at all. As soon as I started falling in love with the Chiefs, so did they. Regular visits to games became the norm. It starts with the kids.
We got sports?