The National Collegiate Athletic Association is breaking its 45-year tie to the Kansas City area to move its headquarters to Indianapolis.
N.C.A.A. officials said the move, to be completed by 2000, would save more than $50-million over the following 22 years.
The association will move from the Kansas City suburb of Overland Park, Kan., to a site within a state park in Indianapolis.
The new headquarters will provide greater visibility for the organization and would put it closer to more of its members, officials said.
Kansas City, the other finalist in the competition, had vied for a year and a half to keep the N.C.A.A. headquarters, which had moved there from Chicago in 1952. The association said a major reason it decided to look for a new home was that its lease in Overland Park was due to expire in 2000, and it wanted more room.
The association’s Joint Policy Board chose Indianapolis on a 7-to-1 vote. Samuel H. Smith, president of Washington State University and chairman of the board, said the relocation would enable the association to have enough space to create a “campus” atmosphere.
The N.C.A.A. will build a 20,000-square-foot Hall of Champions adjacent to its new headquarters. The current hall in Overland Park portrays the history of college sports in photographs and videotape. It occupies 12,000 square feet.
N.C.A.A. officials declined to provide details of the financial packages offered by either city. Dr. Smith said, however, that the association stood to save"significantly less” had it remained in the Kansas City area.
Dr. Smith said the two cities’ proposals were similar"from a quality perspective.” Still, he said, the decision was not “only about money.”
Other factors involved included the convenience of the new site for N.C.A.A. members. Dr. Smith said that two-thirds of the association’s members are located east of the Mississippi River, with 19 within 100 miles of Indianapolis and an additional 145 within 250 miles.
The N.C.A.A. said it had determined that it would be cheaper and faster for officials of member institutions to fly to Indianapolis than to other potential sites, including Kansas City.