Why an NBA team won't come to KC, but an NHL team will

There always being constant talk about Kansas City being a possible relocation or expansion spot for the NBA and NHL. There are some slight but major issues in the way for one sport to make its way back to the City of Fountains while the others are a bit easier. I will be giving several reasons for each as the NBA’s path is less likely compared to the NHL. I’m Brock Gorton from B-Card Entertainment and these are the five reasons why basketball cannot succeed in KC, but hockey can.

1. The NHL is more likely to relocate a team than the NBA. With the obvious Arizona Coyotes situation with their new arena and issues that have come with it. The Panthers’ name has been floated around as a team that could relocate. Both the New York Islanders and Pittsburgh Penguins were on their way to Kansas City at one point or another in the last 15 years. Kansas City has been a very attractive relocation spot for NHL teams for whatever reason something that Kansas City has not been in the NBA. Beyond the Kings being rumored to move it seems as if the NBA is keener on putting them in Seattle than in Kansas City. Now yes, The Pelicans, Hornets, and Timber Wolves have also had their names mentioned as possible looking to relocate, however. Las Vegas, Pittsburgh, China, Mexico City, and more seem to be higher up on the list for the NBA than Kansas City. While in the NHL Kansas City, Houston, and Quebec City seem to be the only cities whose names come up.

2. Track records in Kansas City. Now yes, the Kansas City Kings lasted longer than the Kansas City Scouts. However, the key here is what has happened since their leaving. If you read my list of the top ten best names of defunct teams, you will notice that a lot of basketball teams were on that list, but none of them lasted longer than 5 years. The Kansas City Blades lasted 20 years in KC and the Kansas City Mavericks have called KC home since 2009. With only 8 years separating the two teams. Basketball on the other hand has not seen the same success and the following reason may be a major reason why.

3. The University of Kansas Basketball. The demand for basketball is not as much because of those damn dodo birds. Why pay NBA prices for what for the most part would be average basketball and drive downtown to do so when you could just go to Lawrence and watch multiple NBA-caliber players play every night? KU for better or worse is a true-blue blood in the NCAA in basketball and has dominated the Big 12 and March for as long as I’ve been alive and beyond. And coverage of the Jayhawks is more than some NBA teams get in their home markets. Can't drive to Lawrence? Just wait until the Big 12 tournament comes in February to watch more NBA talent play in front of NBA-level crowds. All of this is something Hockey does not have in Kansas City unless you go to a Mavericks hockey game.

4. Geographical and logistical isolation. The NBA does not have the same spread that the NHL does in the middle of the country. The Central division in the NBA goes as far west as Milwaukee and west has Memphis, Minnesota, OKC, and Denver as the closest teams. So, the NBA would have to relocate one of them or redraw the divisions themselves. The NHL on the other hand has the single greatest rival in any Kansas City sports team Saint Louis. The Central Division also is perfectly set up for Kansas City to slide in. Minnesota, Chicago, Saint Louis, Dallas, Nashville, Winnipeg, and the Arizona Coyotes. Even if Kansas City was a relocation team for the NHL the main core of that new division is still there. NBA can not say the same thing as KC would throw a wrench into the whole east-west divide.

5. Fan interest. Now I know many are out there saying they will go to an NBA game however if we go by recent ticket sales for such games it does not seem that way. For you see Kansas City was the host for several NBA and NHL preseason games and while the NBA interest was weak the NHL interest was strong. Now you could say it was because the Saint Louis Blues were the home team for it, but the fact is that the NHL is so adamant as to continue to play games in KC. The NHL vastly outperformed the Bobcats vs Heat and Heat vs Timberwolves. Showing that even with name/star power (The Heat's Big 3 and Andrew Wiggins return to KC) the NBA could not best the NHL. And at the end of the day fan interest is what drives leagues and owners to put teams in cities.

Now is the NBA popular in KC sure, however, there is not one massive reason to the contrary that shows why Kansas City would succeed as a home for the NBA. Is the NHL coming to Cowtown a pipedream? Not since we’ve seen that hockey can succeed in nontraditional markets like Vegas, Tampa, Dallas, and Southern California. I have been Brock Gorton from B-Card Entertainment and you can follow me on Twitter @BrockGorton99 the NHL should bring the Coyotes to Kansas City next season! It makes a lot of sense that the Sprint Center (T-Mobile Center) is ready and willy to host hockey as that was her purpose when it was built! #KansasCityCoyotes It even rolls off the tongue nicely.