After watching several women's and men's Big 12 tournament games at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City, one question keeps creeping up. Why?
What is the purpose of the new playing surface in that arena? It is a terrible distraction for viewers, and it has to be for players as well.
A quick Google search provided this information about the court:
“The T-Mobile Center in Kansas City is using a state-of-the-art for the 2026 Big 12 Men's and Women's Basketball Tournaments. This high-tech, 4K LED, three-layer glass surface allows for instant court design changes, in-game animations, and enhanced player tracking.”
Why is all of that necessary? Basketball doesn't need all those bells and whistles.
3 reasons the playing surface at the T-Mobile Center is terrible
1) Let's get the easy one out of the way. The court is flat-out ugly. While beauty is definitely not a prerequisite for a basketball court, but dang, that thing is gross!
2) It is incredibly distracting. Lights, pattern changes—it is all just too much. No one needs all of that to watch a basketball game. In a tense tournament setting, it is an additional thing your brain has to sort through. The action of the game has its own intensity without fans being distracted by the court.
3) Is it safe? It is made of glass for crying out loud. In the same result from the abovementioned Google search about the floor, it was also noted that "players have reported that it feels different and sometimes slicker than a traditional floor."
In an article by Kellis Robinet of the Wichita Eagle, via Yahoo! Sports, K-State players had major issues with the playing surface. Khamari McGriff mentioned that while the lights on the court caused a migraine, he thought it was "cool." His teammate T.J. Manning was a bit more blunt.
“It’s slippery. The lights and stuff caused Khamari to get a migraine. It’s a bad court. They shouldn’t bring it back. It’s just an eyesore. It’s constantly changing and stuff and flashing different lights. Nobody wants to play on that floor.”
In watching the tournaments, there have been several instances of players slipping, but according to the company that makes the court, that isn't supposed to be an issue. According to Dre Bradley from kshb.com, Mike Simpson, a representative from ASB GlassFloor said this about the court:
“It’s softer on your knees, your ankles, your joints,” Simpson said. “You dive on the floor, you’re not going to get floor burns. Players are going to feel better when they’re running and jumping on this court.”
There has been a trend of late in the designs of courts that leans toward gaudy. The Matthew Knight Arena at Oregon is difficult to watch a game. The floor looks like a weird forest. The Ed and Rae Schollmmaier Arena at TCU sports a playing surface that is horned frog scales that are harsh on the eyes. There are numerous NBA floors that feature garish paint jobs that can be distracting from the game, too.
Basketball is a fast-paced game of action. It does not need anything to enhance the experience, especially when these so-called enhancements are a distraction to the fans watching and the players working hard to win games. All any court should be is a beautiful hardwood surface, with the logo at center court, and maybe the lanes painted. Everything else is overkill.
Hopefully, when the Kansas basketball team plays on Thursday, the court won't cause any injuries, and the players can avoid the distraction of it. The fans are watching these games because of their teams and players, and not because of the playing surface.
Make sure to bookmark Through the Phog and follow us on X and Facebook with the username @Throughthephog