Kansas Trying to Play 2024 Home Games at Arrowhead Stadium
Kansas football has entered a new era under Lance Leipold, going 14-11 over the last two seasons and 8-4 in 2023, their best finish since 2007. The Jayhawks were 5-2 at home this year and look like a team on the rise with the Big 12 set to have another major shakeup in 2024, as KU and the rest of the conference will welcome in four new schools in July.
There are major changes coming to Lawrence as well, with the construction of a renovated David Booth Memorial Stadium already underway. By 2025, the Jayhawks’ new stadium will be complete, giving a breath of new life to a resurgent program that is as excited as it has been in well over a decade.
However, there might be a speed bump or two before Kansas fans can enjoy a football game in Lawrence again. According to a release from KUSports.com, there are construction issues that could make it impossible to have home games on campus in the fall of 2024.
KU Chancellor Douglas Girod told the Journal-World on Wednesday that there are some preliminary discussions with Arrowhead Stadium officials about using their stadium for home games in the 2024 season.
However, Girod also said that no agreement had been reached and that KU officials are still hopeful that games can be played at the Booth.
“It always would be our preference to do it on campus,” Girod said.
The issue is if construction was to revolve around a full home football season in ’24, there’s a concern that it could significantly delay the completion of the $448 million renovation to the stadium.
“We are in the process of going through the construction timeline with (the contractor) to see what is feasible for us to finish on time, meaning that in fall of ’25, we have to be in that stadium,” Girod said.
Turner Construction, who has been tasked with the stadium renovations, says that every home game hosted at the stadium will add approximately one week to the length of the project.
If KU is forced to move their home games in 2024 to Arrowhead Stadium, it would be a major difference from what was expected when the project began in August. Then, it was planned for KU to host home games at the stadium, albeit at an extremely diminished seating capacity. The west and north sides of the stadium were expected to be mostly inaccessible, while the east and south sides were to be available for fans to use.
Now, it sounds like there’s a good chance that won’t be feasible for the upcoming season, hence the inquiry on using Arrowhead as a temporary venue.
“We have had enough conversation to see if it is even a possibility,” Girod said of talks with Arrowhead officials. “It obviously depends on dates and everything else. Once we figure out what we can do, we will visit with them again.”
The impact that home football games have on the community around campus is profound, and without a season’s worth of games, it could be tough on local businesses and families. However, Girod says they are thinking about all their options given the circumstances.
“If we end up doing some games over there, we will be thinking about what activities we can do in Lawrence to counter that, if you will, for not being in Lawrence,” Girod said. “That would be for both students and the community, which means we may think differently about how we do Homecoming or Family Weekend, or maybe we would create some new events.”
