When it comes to landing Big 12 championships, Kansas City doesn&#8217;t mind coming off as greedy.</p><p>And the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s basketball tournaments &#8212; the first major sporting events plugged in to the Power &amp; Light District &#8212; have only deepened the desire to keep them here permanently.</p><p>Big 12 championship events have been awarded through 2011, with Kansas City getting the basketball tournaments back in 2010 and 2011, but the conference will arrive at a venue selection crossroads long before then, perhaps during the next school year.</p><p>The decision comes down to this: Continue to rotate the Big 12&#8217;s crown jewels &#8212; the men&#8217;s and women&#8217;s basketball tournaments and the football championship game &#8212; among several cities. Or plant the events in the same city on a permanent basis, for example basketball in Kansas City and football in the Dallas area.</p><p>&#8220;The issue has been raised before, and I expect it will be raised again soon,&#8221; Big 12 commissioner Dan Beebe said. &#8220;As with every decision like this, there will be competing interests.&#8221;</p><p>The reward for cities is the revenue generated by the festival-like events. As much as $15 million is expected to be spent in Kansas City hotels, restaurants and other businesses by the time the championship game concludes today. When Kansas City last had the Big 12 football championship &#8212; Nebraska-Oklahoma in 2006 &#8212; the city generated an estimated $20 million.</p><p>But for all the fans clamoring that the Big 12 should make Kansas City its permanent postseason home, that also probably means the last of football championship games here. If the basketball event is anchored in Kansas City, the probable tradeoff is the football championship making its home in Dallas.</p><p>The Big 12 will evaluate Kansas City&#8217;s performance after the tournament and begin discussions about the future at the annual spring meetings in May. What the conference is likely to hear is a debate that runs down division lines.</p><p>South schools like the rotation. North schools prefer the anchor.</p><p>&#8220;We&#8217;re fortunate in the Big 12 to have a number of outstanding facilities in many cities, and there&#8217;s the idea that an event can become stale in one city for too long,&#8221; Baylor athletic director Ian McCaw said.</p><p>Or it can grow a strong local fan base.</p><p>&#8220;Consistency can be important,&#8221; Missouri athletic director Mike Alden said. &#8220;I&#8217;m a believer in the anchor concept.&#8221;</p><p>Stakes have never been higher. It was with the Big 12 tournaments in mind that Kansas City went forward with construction of the $276 million Sprint Center, a major component of the $1 billion downtown development.</p><p>Also, construction is expected to be completed next August on the $1 billion Cowboys Stadium in Arlington, Texas, which will hold the 2009 and 2010 Big 12 championship football games.</p><p>Oklahoma City, as well, continues to improve its basketball profile. It received positive reviews after hosting its first basketball tournaments last year. The city will get the 2009 event and wants future tournaments especially after voters earlier this month passed an extension of a sales tax to pour $100 million into Ford Center improvements.</p><p>&#8220;These improvements we&#8217;re making are very much in line with trying to get the Big 12,&#8221; said Oklahoma City mayor Mick Cornett, attending the games on Saturday. &#8220;We want to be a Big 12 host as long as the Big 12 will allow us to be.&#8221;</p><p>Meanwhile, Texas director of women&#8217;s athletics Chris Plonsky can&#8217;t see basketball leaving her state.