Wichita ? It’s official. Wichita has rolled a gutter ball in its hopes of hosting the 2011 United States Bowling Congress Championship in 2011.

Jack Mordini, the organization’s chief officer of membership products and services, told the Wichita Eagle on Friday that the group has decided against holding the event in Wichita, where officials estimated it would generate around $100 million in tourism spending.

Instead, the group has accepted an invitation from the Central Florida Sports Commission to hold the championship in Orlando.

Organization officials selected Wichita for the 2011 championship in 2004, but the agreement collapsed in May after the bowling group and local officials disagreed over contract terms, forcing Wichita to rebid.

The city offered $2.75 million in economic incentives, a $607,000 increase from 2004, according to figures provided by the Greater Wichita Conventions and Visitors Bureau.

“There was nothing left to do,” said Mayor Carl Brewer after hearing the group’s decision. “We believe we put our best foot forward.”

He said the city will now focus on winning the 2014 championship, which will be announced next year.

The bowling group also plans to ask cities across the country next year for incentives as it looks to possibly move its headquarters from Greendale, Wis. Brewer said Wichita would try to win that as well.

City officials said they weren’t told why their second bid for the 2011 championship was rejected. John Rolfe, president of the convention bureau and lead bid negotiator, said he had stressed the likelihood of nearby Sumner County having a destination casino by 2011, which he thought would a “key component” to attracting the bowlers.

He said he was told only that Wichita’s bid was “very competitive.”

Former Mayor Carlos Mayans, who worked to land the tournament in 2004, said he was “very disappointed” in the reversal.

“It’s a tremendous loss to our city, not only the loss of revenue but the loss of prestige,” Mayans said. “This is the second-largest (nonprofessional) sporting event after the Olympics.”

Negotiations on the previous agreement came apart on two fronts: a requirement that disagreements about the contract would be guided by Wisconsin law and assurances that Wichita’s Century II Convention Center, where the events would be held, would be maintained at its current level of repair until 2011.

City officials had envisioned Century II as a possible casino location, an idea that died in August when Sedgwick County voters rejected expanded gambling in the county.

The bowling congress’ Mordini said one reason for Orlando having an edge on Wichita was a desire to hold the tournament on the East Coast after almost two decades of holding the event in western states.