Current:Home > BackKansas to play entire college football season on the road amid stadium construction-LoTradeCoin
Kansas to play entire college football season on the road amid stadium construction
View Date:2024-12-23 20:23:08
LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Kansas will spend next college football season playing on the road.
At least the Jayhawks’ home games will be only a bit down the road.
With their old stadium being razed, and a new stadium anchoring a massive development project expected to open for the 2025 season, the Jayhawks had to find an alternate location for their home games. They decided to split them with its nonconference games being played at Children’s Mercy Park, the home of MLS club Sporting Kansas City, and its four conference games being played across the state line at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.
Both of the stadiums are less than an hour drive from the Kansas campus in Lawrence.
The school initially thought it could play part of the season at Memorial Stadium while construction was ongoing. But that did not prove to be feasible, so Kansas moved all its home games in order to keep the progress on its new stadium on track.
“While we are disappointed we can’t play in Lawrence, ultimately, we want to create the best possible experience for all involved,” Jayhawks athletic director Travis Goff said. “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.”
The Jayhawks will play Lindenwood and UNLV at the soccer stadium in Kansas City, Kansas, but the much smaller capacity of about 18,500 means that the school will not sell individual tickets for those games. They will only be part of season-ticket packages.
Their Big 12 games scheduled for Arrowhead Stadium will be against TCU, Houston, Iowa State and Colorado.
“I’m confident our fans will be able to create a home field that our players will be energized to play in,” said Kansas coach Lance Leipold, who led the Jayhawks to a 9-4 record with a victory over UNLV in the Guaranteed Rate Bowl this past season.
The new stadium is the centerpiece of a new campus gateway that will include multi-use spaces designed to generate revenue throughout the year. That includes a conference center, dining and retail space, office space and housing.
“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,” Kansas chancellor Doug Girod said. “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.”
___
AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/college-football and https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll
veryGood! (637)
Related
- 1 dead, 2 children injured in wrong-way crash; driver suspected of DWI: Reports
- Woman who said her murdered family didn't deserve this in 2015 is now arrested in their killings
- Separatist leader in Pakistan appears before cameras and says he has surrendered with 70 followers
- Analysts say Ukraine’s forces are pivoting to defense after Russia held off their counteroffensive
- Avril Lavigne’s Ex Mod Sun Is Dating Love Is Blind Star Brittany Wisniewski, Debuts Romance With a Kiss
- Here's why your North Face and Supreme gifts might not arrive by Christmas Day
- 1979 Las Vegas cold case identified as 19-year-old Cincinnati woman Gwenn Marie Story
- Cinnamon in recalled applesauce pouches may have had 2,000 times the proposed limit of lead
- As US Catholic bishops meet, Trump looms over their work on abortion and immigration
- Body wrapped in tire chains in Kentucky lake identified as man who disappeared in 1999
Ranking
- Parts of Southern California under quarantine over oriental fruit fly infestation
- Vice President Harris announces nationwide events focused on abortion
- What to know about abortion policy across the US heading into 2024
- A Chevrolet dealer offered an AI chatbot on its website. It told customers to buy a Ford
- 2 more escaped monkeys recaptured and enjoying peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in South Carolina
- The poinsettia by any other name? Try ‘cuetlaxochitl’ or ‘Nochebuena’
- Choking smog lands Sarajevo at top of Swiss index of most polluted cities for 2nd straight day
- A Japan court orders Okinawa to approve a modified plan to build runways for US Marine Corps
Recommendation
-
One person is dead after a shooting at Tuskegee University
-
US Catholic leadership foresees challenges after repeated election defeats for abortion opponents
-
Top Hamas leader arrives in Cairo for talks on the war in Gaza in another sign of group’s resilience
-
23-year-old Miami GOP activist accused joining Proud Boys in Jan. 6 riots
-
'America's flagship' SS United States has departure from Philadelphia to Florida delayed
-
Fans are begging for Macaulay Culkin to play Kevin McCallister in a new 'Home Alone' movie
-
Huntley crowned 'The Voice' Season 24 winner: Watch his finale performance
-
Colorado Supreme Court rules Trump is disqualified from presidency for Jan. 6 riot