Why did Wichita loose it's affiliation with the KC royals? (layoffs, high school)

[kcmo]

I guess I don't follow minor league ball below Omaha too often because I didn't even realize that KC's AA team is now in Arkansas.

We were at the Royals Fan Fest in OP last weekend when I found out.

Anybody know what happened and why Wichita lost the affiliation? Seems like it was a good fit and Wichita is plenty big enough to sustain a AA team and they have a great ballpark on the river downtown etc.

I think we will be going down to check out the team in Arkansas this summer.

But this seems like a loss for Wichita. The St Louis AA team is not in Springfield MO, so it might be fun to watch a game there as well.

[Johnny Bananas]

Lack of fan support. Plus their stadium was getting old (played high school ball there for playoffs) and they couldn't afford a new stadium.

[northbound74]

They go where the money and new stadiums are. Plus, David Glass is from that northwest region of Arkansas, which doesn't hurt.
I love the Royals, but the "Northwest Arkansas Naturals" just sounds lame. What a mouthful. They could have done better than that. Leave it to Arkansas to come up with such a horrible name.

[Thehate]

To be fair, Arkansas already had a minor leage team in Little Rock, therefore the "Northwest Arkansas" vs. just plain ole "Arkansas". And the state motto is "The Natural State"...I guess thats where they got the Naturals. I know, I think it's really effin stupid too...and I'm from Arkansas.

Besides...the Royals suck major donkey balls.