Big 12 releases 2024 KU football slate

The Kansas football program’s 2024 schedule is now official and so is the identity of the location where the Jayhawks will play their home games.

The Big 12 Conference on Tuesday released all of the 2024 schedules for the league and KU followed up that reveal by announcing that it would play its first two “home” games at Children’s Mercy Park in Kansas City, Kansas, and its final four “home” games at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, Missouri.

The venues are drastically different, with Arrowhead having a capacity that is nearly four times higher than Children’s Mercy, home of Sporting Kansas City.

KU will play Lindenwood in the season opener (Aug. 29) and UNLV in Week 3 (Sept. 14) in the roughly 20,000-seat soccer stadium. The final four home games will take place at Arrowhead with the potential to put more than 76,000 fans in the stands.

All of this was made necessary, of course, by the renovations that are happening at KU’s David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium. The entire west side and press box have been knocked down and the early stages of rebuilding the new vision of the Booth are under way. It’s expected that by August, you’ll start to see steel and stands taking shape. And the project has a target date of being ready in time for KU’s home opener of the 2025 season.

Moving these games out of town instead of trying to play at Memorial Stadium with limited capacity seating on the east side, which is still standing, clears the way for construction crews to continue to work full-speed ahead without having to pause for anything.

Season ticket packages soon will available for both all six home games and a four-game Arrowhead package. And the university is working on student transportation arrangements, as well.

Information on tickets, fan parking, suites and other premium opportunities at both venues in 2024 will be released in the coming weeks.

In addition to the KU administration being thankful for these partnerships and opportunities so construction can continue and fans can continue to enjoy a full-service game-day experience, it’s clear that the Jayhawks are excited about playing in the home of the Kansas City Chiefs and in a more intimate soccer setting.

“I know the whole team is excited about having the opportunity to play in Kansas City this season,” KU running back Devin Neal said in a release announcing the schedule. “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 program and 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.”

In addition, quarterback Jalon Daniels was filmed on the field at Arrowhead, wearing a blue Kansas jersey and in front of a Kansas Football graphic plastered on the Arrowhead Stadium video board, for Tuesday’s announcement.

“We said it was a new era, and now we here,” Daniels says in the video. “Can’t wait to see you all here. Let’s pack it out like we pack The Booth. Let’s do it."

Can’t wait📍#RockChalk x @GEHAField pic.twitter.com/BSe42lXN66
— Kansas Football (@KU_Football) January 30, 2024

Even the Kansas Football Twitter page now features a header that’s split between images of Children’s Mercy and Arrowhead. KU also did a redesign of the classic school flag featuring the block K. Instead of just having the red K in the middle of the blue and white vertical lines, that now that features a red KC.

Cornerbacks Melo Dotson and Cobee Bryant also joined Neal and Daniels in another video, with Neal saying, “You know we’re building something special in Lawrence,” before Dotson adds, “But this year it’s gonna be different.”

“You already know we’re doing it big,” Bryant adds before video of the pregame atmosphere at Arrowhead for a Chiefs game follows.