Upcoming Kansas Jayhawks Football dates
Dates and live ticket listings appear here as soon as they are on sale. The guide below covers what to know before you buy.
Pick the side first: new west, older east
For a Kansas Jayhawks game in Lawrence, the first question is which side of the field your seat is on. The west grandstand opened new in 2025, with founders suites, loge boxes and club seats alongside general seating, so a midfield seat on that side, inside the 30s, gives you the newest chair and the cleanest sightline in Lawrence. It also keeps the afternoon sun behind you. The east side is the older half, still waiting for its own rebuild.
Home games are at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium, which first opened in 1921. Because the east half has not been rebuilt yet, reported 2026 capacity is roughly 32,000, compared with 47,233 before work began. The Big 12 home slate starts around the end of August and ends before Thanksgiving weekend is over.
Reading the horseshoe
The stadium is a horseshoe: sideline stands on the east and west, linked by a rounded seating section beyond the north goal line; the field is laid out north-south. Removing the old running track in 2014 pulled the stands closer to the field.
- West sideline: new seating and premium spaces, with the sun at your back as an afternoon game goes on.
- East sideline: the next phase of the project, paused because the money is not yet in place. The design moves the new east stands 80 to 100 feet in toward the field, plus a hotel, restaurants and retail. Until then, expect an older seat and the western sun in your face late in a day game.
- North bowl: home to the main scoreboard and, above it, the KU Ring of Honor. Before 2005, teams driving north had to turn around to see the clock. Prices are lower here, but plays at the south end look compressed.
If a listing does not say which sideline it is on, ask before you buy; the two halves are very different experiences. Lawrence can be hot in September, so check the kickoff time before deciding how much the sun matters.
Why a Kansas sellout is easier now
About 32,000 seats is a small stadium for a power conference, and the program's rise since 2022 has pushed demand up at the same time. The result is a tighter market than KU fans are used to.
- Kansas State: the Sunflower Showdown dates to 1902, without a missed year since 1911, which puts it among the sport's longest uninterrupted series, with the Governor's Cup to the winner. Kansas leads overall, though K-State has won most meetings since the late 1980s. This is the hardest home ticket of the year when it is in Lawrence.
- Ranked Big 12 visitors and homecoming: next in line.
- Missouri: the Border War, first played in 1891 and once the oldest rivalry west of the Mississippi, has gone dormant except for occasional nonconference games since Missouri moved to the SEC in 2012.
- Nebraska: an annual opponent from 1906 to 2010, off the schedule since the Cornhuskers left for the Big Ten.
Early nonconference games remain the easiest tickets.
Buying KU seats
Season tickets go first, with athletics fund donors getting priority on the best locations, and students buy through their own program. Single-game seats reach the public after renewals, all tickets are mobile and KU keeps an interest list for fans who want first word on future season tickets.
With fewer seats in the building, the public supply for Kansas State, ranked conference visitors and late games with bowl or title stakes can vanish fast, and resale becomes the practical route. Every Reserved Seat order includes guaranteed entry.
Getting in during construction
Construction plans touch the east-side lots, traditionally the two largest around the stadium, so look at KU Parking before you drive. KU Athletics runs a tailgate program called Tailgates on The Hill.
The stadium uses a clear-bag policy, as most Big 12 venues do, and construction can also move gates and entry points. As of the 2026 season, current bag rules and prohibited items are posted on the KU clear bag policy page; read it before you go.
The rebuild has already moved games once. In 2024 the stadium was closed while the west side came down and went back up, and the Jayhawks took their home schedule to the Kansas City area: two nonconference dates at Children's Mercy Park on the Kansas side and four league games at the Chiefs' Arrowhead Stadium. Football came back to Lawrence in 2025, and the finished stadium is planned at about 43,000 seats.
Wheat, Rock Chalk and a war memorial
- Waving the wheat: the student section rocks its raised arms side to side like a field of grain in a breeze; the new 2025 turf even paints wheat into both end zones.
- Rock Chalk, Jayhawk: the chant has football roots; in 1911 a crowd of over 1,000 gathered in downtown Lawrence and cheered a Missouri game relayed by telegraph and acted out on a miniature field.
- The memorial: dedicated to Kansas students killed in the First World War, the stadium stands among the campus war memorials.
A long history with a recent revival
Kansas first played in 1890 and helped found the conference that grew into the Big Eight and then the Big 12. It has six conference titles, the last in 1968. The peak came in 2007: an 11–0 start, a first-ever No. 2 ranking and a 24–21 Orange Bowl win over Virginia Tech in January 2008 for a 12–1 finish. Gale Sayers and John Riggins, both Pro Football Hall of Famers, played at Kansas.
Lean years followed, and from 2010 through 2021 winning seasons were rare. Since 2022 the trend has reversed: back-to-back bowl seasons in 2022 and 2023, a 2023 home upset of No. 6 Oklahoma (KU's first home win over a top-10 opponent in nearly four decades) and, in 2024, a win at No. 6 BYU, the first time Kansas had beaten a top-10 team on the road. ESPN's College GameDay came to Lawrence for the first time in October 2022, the same stretch in which KU sold out consecutive home games for the first time since 2009.
Frequently asked questions
Which side of the Booth stadium should I sit on?
The west side for most fans. It opened new in 2025, includes the premium seating and keeps the afternoon sun behind you; the east side is older and awaits its rebuild.
How many seats does the Kansas stadium have right now?
About 32,000 for the 2026 season while construction continues, compared with 47,233 before the rebuild. About 43,000 is planned when the project is finished.
Is the east-side rebuild underway?
Not yet. That phase is paused pending funding; the design brings the east stands 80 to 100 feet nearer the field and adds a hotel, restaurants and shops.
Will construction affect parking?
It can. The biggest lots sit on the east side, where work is planned, so confirm your lot on the KU Parking site.
Where did Kansas play in 2024?
In the Kansas City area: Children's Mercy Park for two nonconference games and Arrowhead Stadium for four conference games, while the west side was built.
What does waving the wheat mean?
It is the student section swaying raised arms like grain in the wind, a motion echoed by the wheat artwork in the 2025 end zones.