Wichita passed NCAA tournament test with flying colors
There will always be room for improvement, and some things will be tweaked for the tournament’s return in 2021. But the consensus among local stakeholders was that the tournament in Wichita and at Intrust Bank Arena was a smashing success.
"I’ve told people that I think Wichita hit a home run with this," says Brad Pittman, associate athletic director for facilities at Wichita State University.
As one of those instrumental in bringing the tournament to town, and helping with oversight of the event with WSU acting as the host university, Pittman says the operations, events and parties surrounding the tournament and even the cooperative weather all combined to make for a memorable four days.
And, he says, it serves as a foundation for similar success the next time around.
"Now, we take what we have, tweak it and enhance it to try and make the product even better," Pittman says. "But the blueprint we have is a very good one. I think we aced the test."
Wichita Mayor Jeff Longwell says he has heard almost nothing but positive reviews, including his own firsthand experience attending games on Saturday.
There were minor complaints about some logistics, like the availability of portable restrooms. But Longwell says those are things that can be tweaked for 2021.
He says the city really put its best foot forward.
Many people, including Longwell, were surprised by the big crowd at the practice sessions on Wednesday.
Bolstered by more than 4,000 local school children from USD 259, the University of Kansas Jayhawks took to the practice floor in front of more than 13,000 fans.
Wichita and Intrust Bank Arena have drawn positive reviews this week as the host of NCAA tournament action.
"Those are the kinds of things that really show what a city is doing to make this tournament special," Longwell says.
Longwell also says he has heard near-unanimous positive reports from the teams that traveled to Wichita, while he has also heard from attending fans about their appreciation of downtown transit and the law enforcement presence that all helped keep things running smoothly and safely.
"It gives us a taste of what we're capable of doing," he says. "This gave us a chance to elevate Wichita on a national stage. I think we’re going to have a great report card."
Inside the host venue, barring one brief power outage at the scorer’s table on Thursday evening, things also ran smoothly.
That included the potentially challenging logistics of moving fans in and out of Intrust between sessions on Thursday.
"We were very happy all around," says A.J. Boleski, the arena's general manager. "The staff put in so many hours ... I'm very proud of them."
Boleski also credits recent upgrades to the arena, including the improved Wi-Fi and renovations to the north entrance, for helping make those operations as smooth as they were.
While he says the arena will always look to get better for such events -- which will include visits to other tournament sites -- the success in 2018 was thanks to all the advanced planning and collaborations that went into bringing the tournament to Wichita.
"This was a great example of the community coming together to put on a great event," Boleski says.
The tournament was also a boon for many Wichita businesses -- and not just for those near the arena in downtown.
While some local business owners felt the pop-up parties surrounding the arena may have kept some visitors from finding their stores, that wasn’t the case for all.
Even well away from the arena in the Delano District, some businesses were feeling an NCAA bump.
Jack Kellogg, owner of Hatman Jack's Wichita Hat Works, says his business was up at least two-and-half times from what he would do on a normal St. Patrick's Day weekend.
And many of those customers, he says, were from out of town.
"You could tell the NCAA helped a great deal, especially on Saturday," he says.
For Bob Hanson, CEO of the Greater Wichita Sports Commission, bringing the NCAA men’s basketball tournament to town was the realization of a goal held for more than two decades since the formation of the organization.
And you would be hard-pressed to find a Wichitan who has attended more tournament games.
With the weather as the icing on the cake, Hanson says he believes the event came off even better than he expected it would.
"It was tremendous," Hanson says. "It was better than any regional I’ve ever been to."