WICHITA, Kan. (AP) The city of Wichita and National Baseball Congress officials are hoping a new format, more promotions and television exposure will help stabilize the financially struggling NBC national baseball tournament.
The changes unveiled Thursday were in response to an audit released two weeks ago that found the tournament, which is managed by the Wichita Wingnuts independent league team, was $280,000 in debt and two years behind on lease payments for Lawrence-Dumont Stadium.
The tournament has been in Wichita since 1935.
This year’s tournament is from July 26 to Aug. 10. The first week will be a 16-team qualifier. The second week will pit qualifiers from that tournament against the 10 most successful leagues in the last 10 NBC tournaments, two at-large clubs, and the previous summer’s national champion and runner-up.
