K.C. Looks To Keep Big 12 Hoops Tourneys; Dallas, Oklahoma City Expected To Bid

K.C. has formally bid to keep the Big 12 men’s and women’s basketball tournaments at Sprint Center through '20, while Dallas and Oklahoma City are "expected to be among other cities that bid for the Big 12 events, although it’s uncertain how many others would offer both the men and women in the same building for all four years," according to Blair Kerkhoff of the K.C. STAR. K.C.'s bid "includes a website -- Big12inKC.com -- that kicks off with a 93-second spot that highlights the city’s embrace of the event." The creative was "filmed at the Big 12 Tournament last month." K.C. has "been the site of the Big 12 men’s tournament in 14 of 19 years," while Dallas and Oklahoma City have previously held the men’s and women’s tournaments. An announcement is "expected from the Big 12 in late May" (K.C. STAR, 4/2).

MUSIC TO THEIR EARS: The Nashville Sports Council on Monday confirmed that the 20,315 fans who attended the Kentucky-Arkansas SEC Tournament championship game on March 15 "was the largest to crowd attend an event at Bridgestone Arena." The NSC also confirmed that attendance "for the overall tournament was 192,727, which is the second-largest total in the event's history in Nashville." In Nashville, Mike Organ noted the tournament "will return to Bridgestone Arena eight more times in the next decade" (Nashville TENNESSEAN, 3/31).