Currently I am out of State and do not have access to my records however the primary reason Topeka won the bid is the Expocentre is subsidized by Shawnee County taxpayers.
Sedgwick County entered into a management agreement with SMG which is far different than the contract between the Expocentre and SMG. The basic difference is the Wichita arena receives NO taxpayer subsidy.
SMG has agreed to absorb all losses from the operation of the Intrust Arena and will retain all profit up to a specified amount.
The Wichita bid pitted a for profit corporation bidding against the Shawnee County taxpayers.
From the get go, the Wichita group faced a difficult if not impossible hurdle to win the bid.