Absent A Buyer, Wichita Wings Soccer Franchise Likely To Fold

By Josh Heck

Unless something changes soon, professional indoor soccer won’t be played in Wichita this season and likely beyond.

Efforts to sell the Wichita Wings to a new ownership group have proved unsuccessful thus far, but the Major Indoor Soccer League is still working to find a buyer.

Wink Hartman, who revived professional indoor soccer — and the Wings franchise — in Wichita after a 10-year absence, announced in March that he wanted to sell the team as part of a review of his group of companies.

League President Tim Holt says a new ownership group would need to emerge in the next 30 to 45 days to allow enough time to complete the scheduling process in time for the 2013-2014 season, which starts in November.

If that doesn’t happen, Holt says, the Wings won’t field a team, and the organization will fold.

Holt tells me that the MISL has not received any business plans or ownership-transfer agreements regarding the Wichita Wings, which seems to refute earlier reports on Wednesday that the league had rejected a potential buyer’s group for the Wichita Wings.

“At no point and time have we received any application or business plan for transfer,” Holt says.

Hartman representatives could not be reached for comment.

In 2011, Hartman announced his plans to bring indoor soccer back to Wichita. The original Wichita Wings ceased operations in 2001.

It wasn’t until later that Hartman was given clearance to use the Wings name again with the new team.

Holt says the team was a good addition to the MISL.

It had, he says, a loyal fan base and was competitive in games, though that wasn’t necessarily reflected in the win column. Holt says the Wings appeared to be headed in the right direction and could have been a playoff team in another year or two.

Holt says the league hopes to again have a team in Wichita.

But that’s starting to appear less likely.