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Opinion column
by Murrel Bland
Sports plays a key role in the quality of life.
That, simply stated, is what drives Kathy Nelson who is president of the Kansas City Sports Commission. She was the featured speaker at a meeting via Zoom at the Fairfax Industrial Association Thursday, Jan. 14.
She told of how the Sports Commission brings various sporting events to Kansas City. The Big 12 men and women’s basketball tournaments and the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics basketball tournament are three of the more well-known sporting events that Kansas City hosts.
Nelson said the National Football League draft will be held in Kansas City in 2023. The commission owns and manages the annual Kansas City Marathon which attracts more than 10,000 runners from out of town.
Presently, Nelson and a group of volunteers, including Kansas City, Kansas, Mayor David Alvey, are hoping to attract The World Cup to Kansas City in 2026. This event of the Federation International de Football Association (FIFA) is estimated to be worth the equivalent of four Super Bowls. The event would be played at Arrowhead Stadium.
Nelson was very much involved in putting together the victory parades for the World Series and Super Bowl wins.
Nelson played a key, behind–the-scenes, role in arranging for the benefit Kansas-Missouri basketball game. She said the National Collegiate Athletic Association women’s bowling championship will be at the Pro Bowl in North Kansas City.
Nelson said sports played a key role in the revitalizing of downtown Kansas City, Missouri, with the addition of the T-Mobile Arena. She said her parents both worked downtown. She could recall when it wasn’t safe to go there at night.
When asked about a Major League downtown baseball stadium, she said she was neutral on such a proposal. However, she said she has visited other cities and seen how such stadiums can enhance downtowns. She said a smaller stadium which would seat 10,000 persons might be a possibility downtown.
Before joining the Sports Commission in 2010, she held senior management positions with WDAF-TV, Time Warner Cable and Metro Sports. She is a graduate of Winnetonka High School and attended Truman State University, Kirksville, Missouri.
Murrel Bland is the former editor of The Wyandotte West and The Piper Press. He is the executive director of Business West.