KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Big 12 Men's Basketball Tournament begins Wednesday at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, Missouri.
Organizers at the arena say they are ready for the teams and fans.
"It is not going to be like an event we have ever seen," said Shani Tate Ross, vice president of sales and marketing for T-Mobile Center.
It's been a year since 2020 Big 12 events and the NCAA Tournament were canceled in the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic.
"A year later, we are getting ready to again reopen doors for the men's Big 12 Basketball Championship in a safe and socially distanced manner. We are over-the-moon excited," Tate Ross said.
The reopening comes with some added pressure to make sure things go to plan.
"We will have physical distancing in terms of seating pods," Tate Ross said.
Fans will be placed in pods, similarly to how fans were seated at Arrowhead Stadium during the 2020 season. Pods range from two to eight people. They will be socially distanced from other groups and a six feet radius from everyone. Masks must be worn at all times except when eating or drinking.
This is the second public event the center is hosting in the COVID-19 era. Disney On Ice went on for several days in February but then was canceled due to an outbreak among the performers and crew.
The arena doesn't want that to happen this week.
The Kansas City Sports Commission is working hand and hand with the KCMO Health Department to make sure this week goes off without a hitch.
"It was a complicated process. None of this is easy, but to make that work and to get it to the finish line and tip college basketball off, I am pretty proud of that," Kathy Nelson, president and CEO of the Kansas City Sports Commission, said.
The first game tips off on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m., when Kansas State takes on TCU.
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