From 1979 to 2001, pro soccer in Wichita meant "The Wings." After a 10 year absence, the return of the Wings heralded new beginnings for professional soccer in Wichita. The four years of the new Wings and the B52s whet the appetite of soccer fans in this town. The 2011-12 season yielded several sellouts of Hartman Arena. Talented players from around the US, and several from Brazil, gave old Wings fans something to celebrate. It seemed that pro soccer might be back for the long haul. As we know, it didn't last. The Wings and their successor team, the B52s, were gone by 2015.
But thanks to Blake Shumaker and other investors, our city gained a new team in the form of FC Wichita. Though this team has thrilled its fans with excellent play on the field, it plays in the NPSL, which is a league composed mainly of amateur college players. Recent news that the city of Wichita will be constructing a new dual-use stadium to replace the venerable Lawrence-Dumont ballpark has the potential to change the soccer landscape in this town. The USL has expressed interest in bringing Wichita into its new Division III league that targets cities between 150,000 and 1,000,000 people.
The USL requires that owners have $10 million in assets. That is certainly a wise decision on their part. Consider this: the Wichita Wings never made a profit in their 22 years of existence. What made the Wings work, in a financial sense, was that prominent local businessmen saw the team a point of Wichita pride. They were willing to continue to lose money as long as the people of Wichita were willing to come out to see them play. The diminished salaries of modern indoor soccer put profitability within reach for a new team. But make no mistake, professional soccer in Wichita is not a business one should enter in order to make money.
What to do? Wichita is underserved when it comes to professional sports. An affiliated baseball team and a professional USL team would go a long way to help that problem. But where does indoor soccer fit in? In Cedar Rapids, the Rampage compete in the Major Arena Soccer League and also field an amateur outdoor team in the summer. That model could work for Wichita; a USL franchise coupled with an indoor team. Players could live and play here year round. One management team could run both franchises. We already know that FC Wichita wants to grow into a professional team. Soccer fans could spend their winters at Hartman (or maybe even Intrust Arena) and their summers on Roy Turner Field in Delano. I believe that an outdoor team needs the Wings brand to help build success. The 2011 Wings managed to sellout Hartman Arena several times with very little marketing. The Wings name helped make that happen.
The backers for this already exist here in Wichita. Our community has a multitude of wealthy businessmen who could afford to make this a reality. But they would need support from the fans. Numerous season tickets would need to be sold. Perhaps most importantly, the right management team would need to be found that would guide these franchises forward. The Wings had Roy Turner and Bill Kentling. These new teams would need a similar duo who could promote and manage these clubs with skill and efficiency. When the Wings returned in 2011, the team missed an opportunity to promote individual players in the way that the old Wings did in the 1980s. Sure, none of those guys were Chico Borja, but they had legitimate talent on those teams. People want to connect with individual players and follow their progress. Kids want posters in their bedroom. The fans in Wichita deserve quality professional soccer. But those regular folks, and the business community that serves them, need to show that they will spend the money to make this happen.
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