As construction continues on the transformational Gateway District and a reimagined David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, the Kansas Jayhawks have determined the location of their home games for the 2024 season.
Kansas Football will play all six of its home games in 2024 in the Kansas City metropolitan area, including its first two home games against Lindenwood (Aug. 31) and UNLV (Sept. 14) at Children’s Mercy Park – the home of Sporting Kansas City. The Jayhawks will play their four Big 12 Conference home games at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium against TCU (Sept. 28), Houston (Oct. 19), Iowa State (Nov. 9) and Colorado (Nov. 23).
The alternate venues enable Kansas Athletics to provide increased fan amenities and a full event experience that would not be possible in a reduced capacity Memorial Stadium. Most importantly, playing the six games outside Lawrence is necessary to keep the Gateway District construction on schedule and ensure that KU can host its 2025 home games in Lawrence.
“This plan for the 2024 season has an incredible number of benefits for our student-athletes, our fans and supporters, our campus partners and the Kansas Football program,” Kansas Director of Athletics Travis Goff said. “While we are disappointed we can’t play in Lawrence, ultimately, we want to create the best possible experience for all involved, and playing two games at Children’s Mercy Park and four games at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium allows us to do that. It has been a thrill to see construction begin in earnest in Lawrence on the Gateway District and David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, and this decision allows that construction to continue on a necessary timeline while also benefiting the overall budget of the project and the 2024 fan experience.”
Fans looking to support the Jayhawks throughout the 2024 season can purchase a full six-game season ticket package beginning at $275. There will also be a family zone opportunity for $200 per ticket. Renewals for 2023 season ticket holders will go on sale Feb. 6. Full season ticket holders for the 2024 season will have priority for the 2025 season – the first inside the transformed David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
Kansas Athletics is also working with campus partners to ensure student transportation and accommodations for all six home games on the schedule. Student attendance and participation during the 2024 season is of utmost importance and the student ticket allotment at Children’s Mercy Park will be approximately 3,500, right on par with the student capacity ratio at a full David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. At GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, student numbers will be even with or higher than the total number used at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
Information on fan parking, suites and other premium opportunities at both venues for 2024 will be released in the coming weeks.
Due to season ticket holder demand, single-game tickets are not expected to be on sale for the two games inside Children’s Mercy Park in 2024.
“We are excited for the unique opportunity to play our home games in the Kansas City metropolitan area in 2024,” said Chancellor Douglas A. Girod. “While we had hoped to play these games in Lawrence, the move to alternate venues is needed to ensure that our fans, student-athletes and all constituents have the best possible gameday experience and that we stay on schedule to complete construction for the 2025 season. We recognize this move is not ideal for some members of the Lawrence community, and we hope they will understand this is a necessary one-year move to ensure the Gateway District can begin benefitting Lawrence as soon as possible in 2025.”
Kansas Football is coming off a 9-4 season in 2023, winning the Guaranteed Rate Bowl against UNLV for the program’s first bowl victory since 2008. The Jayhawks won nine games in a season for just the seventh time in program history. Leipold will welcome back several key members of the 2023 team, including running back Devin Neal, receivers Lawrence Arnold, Luke Grimm and Quentin Skinner and quarterback Jalon Daniels on offense.
Defensively, Kansas will welcome back two-time first-team All-Big 12 cornerback Cobee Bryant, along with the team’s other starting cornerback, Mello Dotson. The team will also return defensive standouts Jereme Robinson, Marvin Grant Jr., JB Brown, Taiwan Berryhill and others.
WHAT THEY’RE SAYING
Sporting KC President and CEO Jake Reid: “Sporting Kansas City and the University of Kansas are longtime supporters of one another. We’ve worked closely on numerous initiatives in recent years including preparations for FIFA World Cup 2026, playing Sporting KC II matches at Rock Chalk Park and also launching our Sporting U and Sporting U NIL platforms. We look forward to hosting Coach Leipold and the nationally-ranked Kansas Football program at Children’s Mercy Park and welcoming KU students and fans to cheer on the Jayhawks.”
Kansas Head Football Coach Lance Leipold: “This is an exciting move for our team as these are two well respected and exciting venues to watch a sporting event. I’m confident our fans will be able to create a ‘home field’ that our players will be energized to play in. Our administration has done an excellent job of partnering with both organizations and venues during our construction phase. This will allow the project to continue its path to completion in a timely manner and provide the best competitive advantage for our team during the transition.”
Kansas Running Back Devin Neal: “I know the whole team is excited about having the opportunity to play in Kansas City this season. Obviously, we all love playing in Lawrence at The Booth, but this will be a great experience for our team and it’s what’s best for the future of the stadium. I know our fans will show up in a big way at Children’s Mercy Park and Arrowhead Stadium to provide a homefield advantage, the same way they have in Lawrence the past couple of seasons.”
