Kansas Paying Up to $845K Per Game to Play Football at Arrowhead

With its own David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium still being renovated, the Kansas Jayhawks have been playing their football games this year in Kansas City, 45 miles away from Lawrence. 

Four of those games are being played at Arrowhead Stadium, home to the NFL’s Chiefs. (The rest are being played at Children’s Mercy Park, home of MLS club Sporting KC.)

Newly unredacted contract details show that the university is shelling out roughly $2.4M to $3.4M total for the privilege. 

Each game comes with a $125,000 rental fee, along with estimated “game expenses” of $485,000 to $720,000, depending on attendance. Those expenses cover things like staffing, parking, and security. They don’t include resodding the field, which is an extra cost. 

The figures were first reported by The Lawrence Times, which obtained a copy of the contract on October 8—but with the actual dollar amounts redacted, purportedly because they were a trade secret. After the newspaper balked, the university provided it with an unredacted contract.

Arrowhead is owned by Jackson County, Missouri, and leased out to the Jackson County Sports Complex Authority, which in turn leases it to the Chiefs. Via Arrowhead Events LLC (A.E.L.), the team rents out the stadium for special events, including KU football games.

According to the contract between KU Athletics and AEL, the university keeps the revenue generated from standard ticket sales, minus a laundry list of fees, service charges, and taxes. Suites are a different story; KU receives six complimentary suites and can use another 10 but must pay 75% of the revenue on those to AEL.

While the university retains 80% of merchandise revenue and can sell sponsorships, all the concessions revenue (including from Arrowhead’s $9 beers) goes to the stadium. 

Progress Report

Arrowhead’s capacity of 76,416 represents a step up from “The Booth’s” 47,233 and is far bigger than Children’s Mercy Park, the soccer-specific stadium where KU played its first two home games and drew an average of 21,161 fans.

Still, KU, languishing near the bottom of the Big 12 with a 2-5 record, hasn’t been able to fill all the seats. Its games at Arrowhead against TCU and Houston have averaged 43,274 spectators, slightly behind last season’s 45,889 average. However, Week 10 and 12 fixtures against undefeated Iowa State and Coach Prime’s Colorado, respectively, could push KU above that mark.

Stadium revenue is a political issue in Kansas City, with the Chiefs contemplating playing elsewhere after county voters this April rejected a 0.375% sales tax for improvements to Arrowhead. None of that will matter to the Jayhawks, however: KU expects David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium to reopen in time for the 2025 season.