| | 8 HOSPITALITY BUSINESS REVIEWSEPTEMBER 2025IN MY OPINIONSURGING GROWTH IN SPORTSBy John Hamm, Regional Director of Business Travel, KAJ HospitalityWe have seen some significant growth in sports travel in the Wichita market. Several things have contributed to the growth. The continued growth of youth sports and the changing travel environment have been some of the most impactful factors. We have seen some of the same factors having similar effects on our other markets as well. With the growth, additional issues need to be considered when preparing for sports-related groups.Perhaps the largest contributing factor in the growth of sports travel and tourism for Wichita has been the addition of larger sporting competition facilities. The facilities have come from both public and private sector investment. Wichita's Intrust Bank Arena opened in January 2010 and started the draw of larger sports events, including the NCAA Basketball Tournament. Wichita recently replaced our 89-year-old Lawrence Dumont Stadium with the Riverfront Stadium, which opened in April 2021. The new stadium was a key in drawing Minor League Baseball back to Wichita with the addition of the Wichita Wind Surge. Intrust Bank Arena is home to our ECHL Hockey team, the Wichita Thunder. We have several other professional sporting teams, including FC Wichita of League Two of the USL, the Wichita Wizards of Minor League Basketball, the Wichita Sky Kings of The Basketball League, and the Wichita Regulators arena football team. We also host several long-standing sports events, such as the Wichita Open of the PGA's Korn Ferry Tour, the National Baseball Congress annual tournament, and the Prairie Fire Marathon. The NBC tournament has brought some of the largest names in baseball history into Wichita. Many professional sports teams
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