🚜HEARINGS: The Latest on Memorial Stadium Renovations
KU appears to be putting a 'premium' on seating.
EVERYTHING IN THIS NEWSLETTER IS BASED UPON WHAT I AM HEARING FROM PEOPLE I TRUST. PLEASE DO NOT MISTAKE THIS FOR FACT OR FOR ACTUAL JOURNALISM, WHICH HAS VERIFICATION STANDARDS THAT I HAVE NOT ADHERED TO. I DO NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OF THE CONTENT.
Earlier this month, I asked you what Hearing should come next. The winner was also the hardest one to get solid information on — David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Renovations update.
I’ve annoyed a lot of people to bring you these Hearings. More will surely come. Thank you for voting in the poll and being a part of this KU family. Your input drives my content. I hope you enjoy.
Here is the very latest on David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium renovations:
I expect the suites to come down (or be torn up) after this coming season. It sounds like any significant construction on the stadium will come after the 2023-24 campaign.
Renovations for the Anderson Family Football Complex will start directly after Spring Football is finished.
Details on the stadium renovations are limited but finally starting to trickle out. I don't think all key decisions regarding timeline and design have been made yet, which is why information has been hard to gather.Â
AD Travis Goff won’t share much with donors until he knows he can deliver.
These Hearings are subject to change as plans are still finalized. Think of this as an update of where I’ve heard the project stands today.
I've heard there's been a lot of discussion around premium seating. The goal seems to be a variety of seating options for all levels of fans and donors. It appears KU is focusing largely on the social experience of gameday.Â
I’m not sure what KU is going to do with The Hill area. If the Athletic Department truly wants to provide options for ALL fans, I’d think The Hill will be incorporated into this.
There will be indoor and outdoor premium seating for the stadium. It sounds like a club level would be a part of this.
Some of the premium outdoor seating may be "loge" style, often priced between club seating and luxury suites.
I was told to look at TCU's suite renovations, so let's check it out. In 2020, TCU added a club area, loge seating and luxury suites.
Fundraising will be a split between State money, Endowment, and Athletics. KU recently won a $50M grant and has an additional $35M in ARPA funding if it wants to use toward the project. I had originally heard KU would get around $100M from the state, and this brings it pretty close to that total.1
In addition to the grant, Kansas announced $150M in funds from KU Endowment.
In total, it appears KU has access to $235M in funding for the project. The remaining $100M+ would mostly come from donations.
I’ve heard Endowment, Athletics, and The University are on the same page for this project in a way we haven’t really seen before at KU.
I previously caught wind of some fundraising concerns from donors, but those seem settled now. It may have taken a while for some donors to get used to Goff not showing them anything yet. This Athletic Department is operating differently from previous administrations, and they will not roll out anything they aren't sure they can deliver on.Â
I'm expecting a significant capital campaign to launch soon. Football, basketball, and baseball will all be a part of it.
And that’s where the project stands today. Please subscribe and reply to this email if you have additional information on the project. You may also reach out to kuhearings@gmail.com with any anonymous tips.
Other fans of in-state schools complained on Twitter about the $50M grant. I had previously heard Kansas State and Wichita State would have access to the same funds as Kansas. One requirement of the grant was the 3:1 private funding match.
So does it sound like we're getting a completely tear down and rebuild? I think the variety of premium seating options was pretty clear based on all the surveys they've run, but really haven't seen anything on the basics. Are they keeping any of the old stadium? What are they thinking capacity wise? Are we going to be blown away or has construction gotten so expensive that it just costs several hundred million now to get the basic amenities you would expect for a stadium?
I'm hoping it's pretty much a complete tear down and rebuild, and that we build back something that just blows people away. I think KU has a really opportunity to capture the casual college football fan from KC if we can provide the type of amenities and experience people expect at a stadium nowadays. Also I'm hoping they're spending a great deal of effort to design something that will be as loud acoustically as possible because it really adds to the experience and makes you want to be there when you feel like you have an incredible homefield advantage (which also helps the team win).
TCU is a good example to use for this entire project. They have torn down and rebuilt 3/4 of their stadium. Only the south end zone (which connects to a building similar to the Anderson Complex) was unchanged. The project was done in stages over the offseason, so the north end zone was redone, then the west side was torn down and rebuilt, then the east side, which features the 2020 club area. That was added after the initial east side rebuild.