KU Jayhawks to open football season at Children’s Mercy Park Thursday

KANSAS CITY, Kan. (WDAF) – David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium will be closed this year as the University begins a $300 million renovation and creation of a Gateway District with retail stores, restaurants and more.

So the football team is playing its conference games at GEHA Field at Arrowhead and non-conference games at Children’s Mercy Park starting Thursday night as they take on Lindenwood.

Crews had to work quickly on Wednesday. Sporting KC had a match at the stadium Tuesday night that was delayed by the weather. From painting yard markers to the Kansas K in the end zone, it’s been a busy day at Children’s Mercy Park following a long night of Sporting KC soccer.

“We ended the night at 3:30 this morning. Turned around first thing this morning, we are back out here trying to finish up what we need to do,” Josh Blackford, Vice President of Operations and Stadium General Manager, said.

It’s not every day a Big 12 football game is held in a soccer stadium. But as renovations sent KU football in search of a new temporary home they turned to Sporting KC to help fill needs for non-conference games.

“At the end of the day you are talking about 21,000 fans jammed in, standing-room-only, the students jammed in down in the cauldron. I think the environment and the energy, and the noise is going to be exceptional. We are excited,”  Travis Goff, University of Kansas Director of Athletics, said.

Children’s Mercy has hosted the 2015 Kansas State Football Spring game, also because of construction, and the Division 2 National Championship in the past.

“We have some experience with this. It’s been a few years. We have a lot of the equipment, so it’s a lot of dusting it off and getting it out here and getting it set up so we are rocking and rolling,” Blackford said.

However, there are still challenges, including smaller locker rooms and getting students who may not have cars to the game.

“Obviously, we are built for soccer. So we are getting creative with how we turn over some spaces and make things work for football,” Blackford said.

“We have a really robust bussing system. Reservations have sold out in terms of the number of busses that we have access for,” Goff said.

For any college football fan and perhaps especially Kansas, “there’s no place like home.” But before the Jayhawks move over to Arrowhead a month on September 28th, Children’s Mercy and Sporting are happy to be the Jayhawks home away from home.

“It’s going to be an awesome atmosphere, and we’re excited to be a part of it,” Blackford said.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, with the gates opening to all fans at 5:30. However, the team is trying to create as much of a student experience as possible, so a special fan fest is planned at Mazuma Plaza outside the stadium starting at 4 p.m. The team will still do its famous Hawk Walk through the event when it arrives at about 4:45.

Phase 1 of the Gateway District is set to be completed in 2025, when the Jayhawks will play their games at “The Booth.”

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