While the actual cities of the eight franchises have yet to be finalized, RPW will select teams to compete in the following eight states: California, Illinois, Iowa, Minnesota, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania and Texas. All eight of those states hosted teams in the first season as well, but this will be the first season that actual competitions will be held in those states.

"We chose these regions for a variety of reasons. They are either top wrestling markets or are showing considerable growing in the sport," Case said. "Texas, for example, isn't a traditional wrestling hotbed, but it's growing fast. It's a region that if successful, could be a foundational area."
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Texas for another example hasn't added as many programs for wrestling on the college level as Kansas has in the last 15 years either. Kansas is getting a shaft on this.

Swayz, don't bite the hand that feeds you. Kansas don't have the population base that Texas has or the television market. I fully understand why they chose Texas as a market over Kansas. Business men often make the decisions they make on the potential to make a profit. You can't blame them, they are the ones taking a risk. Until we can get more than a few hundred people at a wrestling event, I wouldn't expect them to choose Kansas either. I would see a possible Kansas City team if the Kansas City media supported wrestling more, truth is though, they don't. Without media, supporting the sport that sport won't have much of a chance. Real Pro also offered up invitations for people to bid on the teams. Who from Kansas did that? Why blame Real Pro when it is likely that no one from Kansas even tried to get a team.

As much as I would love to see RealPro Wrestling in Kansas, I have to think of our other professional sports, the Royals & Chiefs. Maybe if those teams could actually compete for a championship once every century or so, Kansas would be a good market.

That's a retarded argument. It's more about fan support, and that's what Kansas City is lacking in terms of its professional franchises. Granted, the Chiefs have sold out every game for over a decade, but what about the Royals or the Wizards? Sure the Royals have been bad for a while, other than their one great year two seasons ago, but maybe the ownership would be more willing to put more money into the team if the fans were more willing to show up to the games. I think they average less than 17,000 a game and that's pathetic. And hell, look at the Wizards. They're one of the top tier MLS teams, winning the title in I think 2001, and then winning the U.S. Cup last year, but hardly anyone cares enough to notice. You didn't even mention them as a professional franchise. No wonder they're looking at moving.

So really, with a lack of serious fan-support for two out of three of our professional franchises, I completely agree with not having RealPro Wrestling here. But no, it's not due to our teams not competing for championships, because as shown with the Wizards, that doesn't really matter.

I believe both the Chiefs and Royals won championships in the 20th Century. Neither team is based in Kansas.

Umm... Super Bowl IV was a long time ago, buddy!

And how many people on here were alive when the Royals won in 1985? How many people can remember it?

That's what I thought...

And it's the 21st century now

He said once every century or so. Many, many of us were alive at that time,, buddy!! :p

LancerM -
I don't mention the Wizards, because, frankly, most people don't care about soccer anyway in the US, no matter how much fan support there is. And who can afford to go to a Royals game? Who wants to pay to see losers? I would rather drive 6 hours to see the Cardinals play! And how much fan support will there be now that the ownership wants taxes in Jackson County to go up to finance repairs and a new rolling roof to get the SuperBowl to KC? People want to see winners, and our Kansas adopted teams (Chiefs, Royals, et.al.) can't get the job done. Until they do, there will not be the fan support to bring RPW to KC. Until a DI school in KS has wrestling, there won't be fan support. Until RPW can be seen on TV by more than a select few, there won't be fan support. It's all about the market. Kansas has about as good a chance as S. Dakota or Maine.

I bet there are just as many soccer fans in Kansas City as there are wrestling fans, so I guarantee you people won't care about wrestling very much either, whether our team is stacked or not. Just as with soccer, the only people who care enough to go will be those who wrestle or once wrestled, and there are probably not enough of those in the Kansas City to sustain a franchise in a league that's trying to get off the ground. Perhaps if the league were more established then we'd have a shot.

Secondly, the fact that you would rather drive six hours to watch the Cards play rather than the Royals illustrates another great point. Not every team can be great all the time, so you're basically saying as soon as the team goes downhill you're just going to go ahead and drive to Oklahoma or Iowa to watch their team instead. You do not support the team through thick and thin, which is essential to a franchise in any sport surviving. Sadly, much of Kansas City is just like you. Take the Outlaws, our semi-pro hockey team for example. They lasted one year in KC because they weren't initially good and KC didn't have fans that would stick with them. Sure they were only a semi-pro team in what's viewed by the midwest as a second tier sport, but I don't see RealPro wrestling being viewed as much more than that in itself.

And finally, I'm certain the Chiefs will sell out every game this year just as they always do. They tried to pass a bill a year or two ago to finance repairs to the stadium that was easily shot down, but they still sold out this year with ease.

So really, it's not the fact that our teams don't win, it's that fans like you are all throughout Kansas City, and they don't support teams when they don't win. With fans like you, owners would be crazy to move a franchise here.

I don't know what the logistics of having a franchise in Wichita would be, but the chances of having one come to Kansas City and survive are little to none.

Well said, LancerM.

Also agree with LancerM, see also Kansas City Kings (who played before half filled Kemper Arena)now performing before packed Arco Arena in Sacramento, Calif.

I thought about the Kings as well, but since they were a little before my time, I wasn't completely sure as to why they left.

Ouch!!Good one, Mark.

Hope school is going well for you.

Sadly, the story of the Kings is relevant to this discussion. They were owned by Joe (cannot remember his last name, but made his money with the Hy-Vee supermarket chain, and he bought the franchise as a hobby). The team moved to Kansas City from Cincinnati (Oscar Robertson played his final games as a King). The owner ran the franchise much like Bill Bidwell (of St Louis football lore) and put very little money back into a competitive product. Despite this, the Kings enjoyed moderate success in the NBA, especially in the late 70's. They weren't of the caliber of the Lakers, Celtics or 76ers of that era, but very above average. Attendance was poor, Kemper became a poor facility, very little promotional stuff and the fans quit showing up for games. The team was sold to the Maloof Brothers, who moved the team to Sacramento. In Sacramento, they are the only game in town. Arco Arena is a nice facility, but built in the middle of an old tomato field. The Maloof Bros. use the strategy of some of the successful minor league teams, they sell having a good time at the facility, regardless of record or quality of team. It sells! Sacramento usually fills the arena, where Kansas City did not. It becomes an issue, like Mr. Furches stated earlier, of good business practices. If the folks don't/won't come, don't expect to see your city at the top of the list. Kansas City has a history of failed professional franchises for attendance and financial stability.

Wrestling needs more exposure. More TV exposure from your local news stations on TV and Radio. More exposure from your local newspapers. More exposure at the NCAA's on TV, more exposure at the Olympics (other than the finals clips at 3 a.m.) People don't go to wrestling because they don't know about it, or don't understand it. Wrestling fans are dedicated, die-hard fans. I would say the best fans in sports. They not only know and cheer for their wrestlers, they know wrestlers from other schools (records, championships, moves, etc.). But, after high school, where can they go? Hays or Newman. I applaud all of the colleges and juco's that have added wrestling or produced solid wrestling for years. But it becomes a question of revenue, and that is tied to attendance. Any joe blow off the street can go to a basketball game and understand it. Get enough joe's and before too long the place is packed. Wrestling just doesn't have that, and it should. Believe me, if wrestling fans were to call, pester, and harass their news outlets for more coverage (dare I say EQUAL coverage as basketball) maybe, eventually those D1 schools will have wrestling and more people will attend, thus increasing the revenues. We need to pack the houses and let people know about it!

And LancerM - I support the Atlanta Braves and the Dallas Cowboys, through thick & thin. I just don't care for the locals (Chiefs & Royals). But, I must say that it was cheaper for me to drive to STL and watch the Cards than it was to go to KC and watch the Royals. At least the Cards know how to keep talent, unlike the Royals (Johnny Damon, Jermaine Dye, etc.).

Odd,, I just checked ticket prices and STL is double the price of KC. Isn't KC 4 hours closer to Topeka than STL? In the past several years I've seen the Cards, Twins and Royals and by far, KC has been the least expensive trip.

If you guys ever get a chance to see the Wizards live it's great, they did a game at UCO v. the Mexican National Team one year and the place was rocking.