KANSAS CITY, Mo. (KCTV) — The Kansas Jayhawks will not play their home games in Lawrence this year. David Booth Memorial Stadium is currently undergoing renovations, meaning KU will not have an on-campus stadium for the 2024 season.
Instead, the Jayhawks will play two non-conference home games at Children’s Mercy Park and four conference home games at Arrowhead Stadium. On Wednesday afternoon, KCTV5 stopped by Children’s Mercy Park to find out how stadium workers are converting the soccer stadium into a football field.
“It’s going to be crowded, it’s going to be loud, it’s going to be intimate,” said Josh Blackford, vice president of operations and general manager of Children’s Mercy Park. “I think it’s going to be a great experience for the KU fans who come here on Thursday night.”
Children’s Mercy Park last hosted a football game seven years ago, the Division II National Championship from 2014-17. The stadium also hosted K-State’s spring game in 2015, but KU’s season opener against Lindenwood will be CMP’s first Division I football game. Stadium staff is relying on past experience as they prepare for Thursday’s game.
“When we heard that Children’s Mercy Park was going to be a host site for the University of Kansas, we immediately started pulling out the playbook,” Blackford said. “This is nothing unusual for us. We have some history here, now we’re just elevating our game to the Division I level.”
Children’s Mercy Park typically hosts 17 to 22 soccer games per year, but it was also built for football. The stadium easily fits a standard soccer field and even has permanent spots for goal posts. Game clocks have also been installed on both sides of the field.
READ MORE: No. 22 Kansas begins the season against Lindenwood at Children’s Mercy Park while the stadium is being rebuilt
While KU plays two home games at CMP, the stadium will continue to host Sporting KC soccer games as well as a U.S. men’s national team game. Football and soccer require different lines on the turf, but Blackford said that won’t be an issue between events.
“We use a special paint. It’s a little easier to remove than the paint we normally use,” Blackford said. “After we apply it, we can essentially go back in with pressure washers and some pressurized water and start to remove some lines. We have a natural grass field here, so we’re actually removing a chalky paint from the turf.”
The school will provide students with free transportation to and from the stadiums this season. KU’s student section will be seated in the Cauldron, putting the school’s loudest fans less than 10 yards from the east end zone. Sporting KC believes Children’s Mercy Park will provide a first-class game experience.
“It’s a very intimate venue. It’s a smaller capacity, but you’re as close to the field, as close to the action as you can get,” Blackford said. “It’s a very different experience than what you would normally get at a regular stadium or even at Arrowhead.”
The turf at Children’s Mercy Park is NorthBridge Bermuda grass. It is currently about ¾ inch tall, which is longer than it is used at soccer games – when it is typically cut between a quarter and a half inch. CMP’s field team says the longer blade length provides some protection to the turf.
“We’re not worried about the damage we’re going to see in football. We know the movements and the activity we’re going to see on Thursday night are very different than what we would normally see in football; they’re heavier athletes, they’re more physical, the movements are different. The field is going to respond to that,” Blackford said. “We hosted KU here for a practice in early August. We have a good feel for those movements and we have a good feel for how the field is going to respond to them.”
The games between Kansas and Lindenwood (No. 22) begin on Thursday evening at 7 p.m. The bookmakers see the Jayhawks as favorites with a 45.5-point lead.
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