With four days remaining before the official reopening of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium for the Jayhawks’ season-opening matchup with Fresno State on Saturday, KU Athletics held a guided tour of the renovated northern and western portions of the venue on Tuesday afternoon.
Media members had the opportunity to browse concourses featuring new food and beverage vendors (and sample concession items), tour premium suites and hospitality areas and observe views from a variety of seating locations across what KU athletic director Travis Goff calls 70% of a new stadium.
“It’s a really tangible indication of how far the program’s come,” Goff said.
KU officials conducting the tour, including Goff, deputy athletic director Jason Booker and senior associate athletic director Brad Nachtigal, drew plenty of attention to “storytelling” aspects littered throughout the three levels of the stadium — small exhibits highlighting aspects of the histories of the University of Kansas, KU football, KU Athletics and the state of Kansas more broadly.
Goff said he encouraged fans to go on a “scavenger hunt” through different portions of the stadium and explore areas they might not visit otherwise in order to see the full picture.
“There’s a personal story, I think, that was written with this venue in the thoughtfulness, talking about our history, talking about the things that make the University of Kansas unique and special, and I think for all of us, Chancellor all the way through, there was that deeply embedded commitment to that,” Goff said. “And so we’re proud of the big picture and I think we’re equally proud of the finer details as well.”
With the first phase of the Gateway project drawing to its official conclusion on Saturday (although the conference center is set to open in October), next up for Goff and KU is the second phase, which received significant boosts last week in municipal incentives from the City of Lawrence and a donation from longtime benefactor David Booth. Goff said the plan remains to demolish the east side at the conclusion of the 2025 season, although the end date of the second phase is not yet clear.
“That unfinished east side, to me, is a reminder that we’ve got work to do, both obviously on the facility but certainly as we think about this football program,” Goff said. “We’re excited about that.”
Hear more from Goff, and see more pictures from the stadium tour below:
The view from field-level seating on the north end of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is pictured on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.
The old east side of David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is pictured on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.
Megh Knappenberger’s Game Day Flag art piece is shown at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.
The Anderson Family Football Complex entrance in David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium’s Horejsi Ciciora Family Atrium is pictured on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.
The view from the home coaches’ box at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is pictured on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.
The Campanile exhibit in David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is pictured on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.
Nick Reid’s name in the new Ring of Honor at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is pictured on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.
An exhibit about Bleeding Kansas at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium is pictured on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.
A tribute to former broadcasters Max Falkenstien and Bob Davis, located outside the press box at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, is pictured on Tuesday, Aug. 19, 2025.
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Henry Greenstein/Journal-World