Letter from Athletics Director Jeff Long

Dear Jayhawks,

Like many of you, the afterglow of the Jayhawks win over Boston College hasn’t fully worn off just yet! We should all be so proud of Coach Miles and the student-athletes for the way they responded on the road at Boston College. It was a beautiful site to see the Crimson and Blue faithful wave the wheat throughout the stadium. Thank you to everyone who traveled from around the region to see your Jayhawks in action, it was a great team win!

Now that we have broken the streak and are carrying this momentum into Big 12 play, we are focused and prepared to give you the most enjoyable gameday experience you can have at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium this Saturday against West Virginia. With our first Big 12 matchup of the 2019 campaign, we would love for everyone to show up early and be loud.

Just like Coach Miles stresses to his team, we don’t want to finish second, and this includes your experience when coming to The Booth. Below is a list of where we heard from you, our fans, on successes as well as ways we can improve your overall experience.

Areas of Success:

  1. Alcohol implementation at The Booth thus far has been a success. THANK YOU for being so responsible!
  2. We think Saturday could be the biggest crowd since 2013 after two home games with 30,000+ attendees. Until we start selling out Memorial Stadium, walk-up buyers are always welcome but please plan to allot some extra time since the crowd will be big. You can always purchase your single-game tickets in advance here or reserve your seat for the rest of the season by signing up for season tickets.
  3. Student support continues to be strong. The back-to-back turnout of students for the first two games was the largest in many, many years. Let’s continue that trend!
  4. If you’re still on a high from the road victory like me, relive the game at Boston College with some of these highlight videos.
    • QB Carter Stanley is one of eight players to be nominated for the Manning Award Stars of the Week after his performance last Friday at Boston College. We need your help with fan voting, so stop what you’re doing and click here to vote for Carter!
    • If you’re still hungry for even more football content, be sure to check out the upcoming episode of Miles to Go on ESPN+. To sign-up for a free one week trial or subscription and watch more of your favorite Jayhawks exclusive ESPN content, go to www.espn.com/watch/espnplus.
  5. Social media engagement is growing and continues to be a big piece of how we interact with fans of all ages. (You know I’m a fan!) We led the Big 12 in social media engagement on Twitter for the second time in three weeks this season. Thank you to our fans that are making the Big 12 and the entire nation aware of the Jayhawks’ success. If you don’t follow Kansas Athletics already, be sure to follow all of our social media platforms for exclusive KU content.
  6. Much like the crowd, we will have our biggest tailgating turnout on Saturday. The Campanile Hill will be an incredible experience and make many fans nostalgic for the days of old. You can reserve your location through the Tailgate Guys here or by calling 785-727-4122. Don’t miss out!

Ways to prepare for Saturday:

  1. There is no doubt that Saturday will be another electric environment. We’ve all been waiting for the day that our home field advantage would be restored and we will get to see it again on Saturday.
    • With bigger crowds comes other obstacles – mainly concession and bathroom lines as well as additional traffic. We heard your concerns, as have our partners at the KU and Lawrence Police Departments. Please help spread the proper traffic flow message to avoid extra congestion.
    • Pre-game traffic control is provided starting three hours before kickoff at 11th & Mississippi, Fambrough & Illinois, and Fambrough & Maine. Police officers in those intersections are expediting the normal flow of traffic and assisting pedestrians. Traffic control is also provided at key intersections off campus to facilitate the arrival of both the visiting and home team buses.
    • Post-game traffic is controlled by officers moving one-way traffic to the north of the stadium via Mississippi Street, Alabama Street, and Maine Street., to the west and south via Fambrough and West Campus Road, and to the south from Lot 91 and MSPG via Mississippi Street.
  2. While we constantly strive for a fan-friendly experience, if you experience an unruly fan or see someone that needs assistance with a fan issue, CSI and Police are onsite to assist. Please do not hesitate to ask for help or for them to intervene if necessary. We need your help by contacting these professionals to make it remain a safe and family-oriented gameday experience. You can also send a text message to 55678, keyword KUHELP, then type in your issue and location.

Please don’t hesitate to reach out with any additional questions or comments. I look forward to seeing you on Saturday and Rock Chalk!

Jeff Long
Director of Athletics

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