Positive changes coming to Kansas football gameday experience

With the Kansas football team set to begin their season on Friday against Tennessee Tech, the excitement is growing to see what this year’s crop of Jayhawks will do in year two of the Lance Leipold era.

And the off-the-field news announced this week has only added to the excitement.

Gameday improvements

On Wednesday, KU Athletics announced several gameday enhancements for the upcoming season that should have fans more excited to come see the Jayhawks in person.

The new Meritrust Touchdown Club presents new premium seating options for fans to enjoy the game, along with all-inclusive food and beverage and in-seat service. The new 5,500-square-foot space is nearly double the seating capacity of the previous touchdown club.

Other improvements include a concessions happy hour that allows fans to get food and beverages (sodas and beer) at a discounted price from 90 minutes to 30 minutes before kickoff.

There will also be a student giveaway for every game to help entice students to come to games.

And much to the (assuredly) delight of several future attendees, fans will once again be allowed to leave and re-enter the stadium after halftime. Fans will have to re-enter through specific gates and can do so starting with five minutes left in the second quarter through 10 minutes remaining in the fourth quarter.

Are these changes and improvements an alternative for success on the field? Of course not. Winning will always be the primary driver for getting fans in seats, but these improvements – as minimal as they may seem – can certainly help too.

Stadium upgrades

Earlier this week, it was reported that the University of Kansas, Kansas Athletics, and KU Endowment officials are currently soliciting design services for a new project at 11th and Mississippi Street.

That project includes an “upgraded home” for Kansas football that can also function as a “multi-purpose year-round venue which may incorporate conference or entertainment capabilities, retail, dining, health care services, or other facilities that support economic development and the University’s academic mission.”

An upgraded football stadium has been at the top of many KU fans’ wish lists for years now, and it would benefit the program and university in so many ways.

Plans for stadium upgrades have been discussed in the past and renderings have been shared, but under current Athletic Director Travis Goff, it now feels like words are being put into action.

“This project is not an ‘if’ project; it is a ‘yes’ project,” Sean Lester, deputy director of KU Athletics, told a crowd of design professionals during a meeting on Wednesday morning. “We will move this forward.”

Although plans are still in the preliminary stages and this won’t impact the upcoming season, it’s clear that KU is determined to finally get this done – which is yet another sign that the athletics department is in the right hands.

“KU leadership has never been vested so much in a project like this ever before,” said Mark Reiske, KU’s director of facilities planning and development. “From the top down the University of Kansas is vested in this project. This isn’t just an exercise to get some pretty pictures. We have done that before. We have done it a lot of times before.”