Why 2025 U.S. Championships in Wichita will be ‘even more special’ for figure skaters

The premier event in U.S. Figure Skating is coming to Wichita.

Visit Wichita announced Tuesday afternoon it recently won a bid to host the 2025 U.S. Figure Skating Championships at Intrust Bank Arena from Jan. 20-26, 2025. All-session tickets will go on sale on May 16.

Wichita’s bid was strengthened by its recent track record of successfully hosting four U.S. Figure Skating events in the past seven years. This is the first time Wichita, and the state of Kansas, has hosted the championship event.

“We are extremely excited to have Wichita host the most prestigious event on the U.S. Figure Skating calendar,” U.S. Figure Skating CEO Tracy Marek said in a statement. “As the top figure skaters from across the country look to win the biggest title in the U.S., Wichita’s Intrust Bank Arena, walkable downtown and strong community support is the perfect host for our competitors, coaches, officials, families and fans.”

U.S. champions will be crowned in Wichita in the women’s, men’s, pairs and ice dance events at both the junior and senior levels. Novice pairs and ice dance will also be contested.

Jason Brown, a two-time Olympian and U.S. champion, was in attendance for Tuesday’s press conference and spoke about the importance of the event held in Wichita.

“What makes this event even more special is it’s the start of our Olympic run,” Brown said. “Depending on how we do at the U.S. Championships in Wichita, it will decide who is on the world team for 2025 and that World Championships event will decide how many spots we’ll get for our country at the 2026 Olympic Games (in Italy). So it’s really important and we will be bringing our ‘A’ game.”

The 2024 U.S. Championships generated nearly $9 million in local economic impact for host city Columbus, Ohio. The 2025 event is expected to bring more than $8 million in local economic impact to Wichita.

NBC is also expected to broadcast more than 40 hours of live coverage across its networks, giving Wichita plenty of national exposure throughout the week.

“Hosting (the event) is not only a win in terms of local economic impact for Wichita, but we will also be seen by a national audience and it will provide a great experience for locals and people in the region,” Visit Wichita vice president of sports development Josh Howell said in a statement. “We are passionate about creating incredible experiences for the athletes, fans and everyone who visits our city.”