David Booth Memorial Stadium - Kansas Jayhawks

Photos by Xander Loosvelt, Stadium Journey

Stadium Info FANFARE Score: 3.86

Memorial Stadium 1101 Fambrough Way Lawrence, KS 66045

Kansas Jayhawks website

David Booth Memorial Stadium website

Year Opened: 1921

Capacity: 41,525

The Booth is Back and Better Than Ever

After a near-complete teardown and just two years of construction, the University of Kansas has completed phase one of the new home for Jayhawk Football - David Booth Memorial Stadium.

The original stadium opened in 1921 and currently stands as the seventh-oldest college football stadium in the country. It was renamed nearly a century later, in 2017, in honor of alumni David G. Booth, who pledged $50 million to overhaul the facility.

Since the turn of the century, the stadium has taken on smaller renovation projects, including new turf, the Anderson Family Football Complex, the Gridiron Club, luxury seating, and the touchdown club, but none matched the magnitude of the rebuild that began in 2023.

The new stadium was set to improve concessions, the concourses, and implement a brand new seating design. After a near-total demolition, phase one was completed in the summer of 2025. Phase two still to come over the next couple of years, which includes renovating the east side of the stadium as well as the potential additions of a south side of the stadium for additional student seating and a mixed-use facility including a hotel, restaurants, and retail.

For now, we take a look at how the completion of phase one has transformed David Booth Memorial Stadium and improved on providing its fans with the ideal gameday experience.

Food & Beverage 3

David Booth Memorial Stadium offers a wide variety of food and drink options, including a couple of Jayhawk specialty items, but the quality also varies from stand to stand. Despite that issue, rest assured that you’ll get your items quickly in a short line, and the staff will be there to help if you run into any trouble.

The large variety is what really carries this rating. Walking the long concourse will allow you to pass by so many different options, including chicken, hot dogs, tacos, burgers, pizza, nachos, and even notable specialty items such as the chicken tinga-loaded nacho residing at “Tiza De Roca” for $15. The wide variety allows for those high-quality specialities, but also results in some of the food being less than desirable for your taste buds.

For the drink options, that statement flips. It’s hard to go wrong when most of the general drink options consist of Pepsi, Dr. Pepper, and Gatorade, or for alcohol, when you see nearly every stand has Modelo and Bud Light.

If you're looking for a specialty item you won’t see most places, take a chance on the Chicken Tinga Loaded Nacho. However, if you want something simple and reliable, around a fourth of the stands at least serve good quality hot dogs at a price tag of $6.

Atmosphere 4

The Booth provides a one-of-a-kind atmosphere that bolsters the fan experience in almost every way imaginable.

There are three main sides to the stadium. The west and north side general seating areas both contain exclusively chairback seats that provide good leg room and clear sight lines, with all seats on the west side and the bottom seats on the north side having cupholders. The east side consists of benches since it mainly serves to house the student section and visiting team fans, but they’re still somewhat comfortable and provide a lively viewing experience. Additionally, the suites are well designed and closer to the field than in most stadiums, wifi is mostly available throughout the stadium, and the scoreboard is gigantic with great visuals to complement the experience before, during, and after.

It doesn’t stop with the aesthetics, though, as the KU faithful do everything in their power to add to home-field advantage. The marching band is playing in the stands at all potential moments from kickoff until the end of the game, and also plays on the field pregame and postgame. The cheer and dance teams fire up the crowd and provide entertainment at commercial game breaks, and the Kansas mascots Big Jay and Baby Jay interact with spectators all around the stadium. Music often plays over the loudspeakers with a wide variety of songs ready to blare for any game situation, and the PA announcer follows suit and matches the tone of the home crowd. There’s even a pregame flyover and small fireworks to go along with the vast amount of pregame traditions.

The best seats in the house are in the middle of the west side of the field as those spots guarantee leg room, cupholders and a clear sight line with the logo facing correctly. Those seats are in the middle of all the action as well as giving you easy access to the wide variety of food and drink concessions - and just for an added bonus, the sun shines on the opposite side in the fall when the weather’s hotter.

Neighborhood 5

David Booth Memorial Stadium is located right in the heart of Lawrence off 11th and Mississippi street in one of the nicer parts of the city. You can walk to the stadium from nearby locations, but depending on where you're staying you may end up driving to park closer to the stadium.

Luckily, Lawrence has a ton of great places to eat all within a mile or so of the Booth. Jeffersons (Chicken Wing’s Restaurant) and Limestone (Pizza Restaurant) are both good options on Massachusetts Street for a casual meal near the event, but a nicer upscale place also located on that street is Wine Dive and Kitchen. Want to eat even closer to the stadium? Toppers Pizza and Rock & Hawk are both right around the corner and renowned by local residents.

While you're looking to kill some time, Breakout Lawrence is praised for its engaging escape rooms and creative puzzle designs. Some more educational attractions in the college town could include a trip to the Lawrence Art Center or a look around the Dole Institute of Politics. If you want to experience all the sports, the historic Allen Fieldhouse offers tours of its sports complex and team facilities around the arena.

For the easiest time getting around, the Oread hotel is the place to stay. Its price tag is a little higher than other options, but it overlooks the stadium from the roof and its room quality is worth the price of your stay. If you wanna be a little further but still involved, the Eldridge is near the majority of the better eating options on Massachusetts Street, but if you want to be completely removed from the business of the city the DoubleTree by Hilton will still allow you to drive short distances while staying on the outer parts of Lawrence.

Fans 4

Jayhawk fans at David Booth Memorial Stadium are loud and passionate, but holding them back from the highest possible marks is their tendency to leave games early.

Due to smaller stadium capacity, their average attendance is near the bottom of the Power 4 conference teams, but the stadium still routinely fills up to near capacity. The problem is that some of the fans, mostly the student section, leave games early even when the score is still close. The stadium is rarely seen to be near completely full towards the end of games in comparison to some of the best college football locations.

Still, the fans as a whole still get a high score because of how engaged and involved they are at the games. There's always noise filling up the stadium even when the stadium itself may not be filled, and fans are always cheering on the home team even when the moment isn’t necessarily big. There's a host of traditions going on throughout the game including the Rock Chalk chant, the university’s fight song, Waving the Wheat on scoring plays and so much more. Jayhawk fans are able to make their presence known at each and every game, and can give the Jayhawks a great home field advantage when they are actually present at the games.

Access 3

David Booth Memorial Stadium is in the middle of the road when it comes to accessibility. The positives outweigh the negatives, and most of the negatives aren’t necessarily reflective of the stadium itself as much as they are on its location.

Bad news first: To get to Lawrence, you have to fly through Kansas City International Airport and then drive down to the city. That itself isn’t ideal, but it’s also surprisingly difficult to find parking around the stadium unless you buy a parking pass for one of the lots or garages. Lastly, there are only so many Ubers around, so closer to game time it gets increasingly unlikely you’ll be able to take one to the game. I would recommend getting a parking pass for lot 92 and then taking one of the available buses to the stadium.

Additionally, the stadium’s accessibility inside and surrounding the stadium is also really good. Entering through security is easy, and the stadium has a lot of gates to enter so the time from getting in line to inside the stadium is usually under a minute. Entering through the gates on the south side of the stadium is best so you can walk near the field when heading to your seats, get the shortest lines and pass the most entertainment and food options just outside the stadium. Only mobile tickets are accepted, and the stadium has a clear bag policy for bags under 12x12 and above 6x9 as well as no larger bags or backpacks being allotted.

From inside the stadium it is very easy to move around and navigate the main concourse as well as get to other levels. Though you can’t see the main field of play from everywhere, numerous TVs have the game on all over the concourse so you won’t miss a minute of the action. The accessible seating on the main concourse also allows for clear lines of sight into the game. The best part is the restrooms are pretty clean for public stadium bathrooms and lines are quick for the most part.

Overall, a mixed bag on accessibility, but the score is definitely closer to being a four than it is a two.

Return on Investment 4

David Booth Memorial Stadium is worth the cost of the experience, and everything manages to be around the right price for the experience.

Most ticket prices fall within the range $20 to $40, and almost every price falls somewhere between $10 and $60. With food generally ranging from $5 to $15 depending on your item of choice, along with soda being about $5 and alcohol about $12, your consumption price will probably end up around $25 total. Parking can vary, but if you get a pass for my recommended spot your charge will be $35.

Putting that all together, the average spectator is going to spend around $85, with that price varying from about $60 to $130 for most fans. Considering the entertainment value and overall experience, the price is fair and worth the cost.

Want to save money? I would recommend avoiding Ubers since a lot of attractions are within walking distance and buses are around the stadium for transportation. Sitting in the upper decks will also allow for cheaper ticket prices but still great views with clear sight lines.

Extras 4

There’s a few extra perks that add to the experience at David Booth Memorial Stadium.

For first time fans, the Booth has multiple Rally House stores inside the venue that allow you to purchase merchandise and other team memorabilia. The staff at these stores and throughout the stadium are super friendly and willing to assist with whatever you may need.

If you want to know who the best players in the program’s history are, take a look at the west side of the stadium to see the names of recognized former players and retired numbers. Additionally, the stadium’s environment is a great place for the whole family, including children as there are kid’s activities outside the stadium before the game. In fact, all of the pregame tailgates near the stadium are a good time and worth arriving at the game earlier to experience.

Final Thoughts

The new and improved Booth has certainly lived up to fan expectations even when the team has fallen short. No one really knows if Kansas football will ever return to the levels the team saw in the late 2000s or even the early 2020s, but excitement for phase two of the stadium is strong.

After the $300 million dollar donation in the fall of 2025, David G. Booth seems determined to help get this project done, and only time will tell what the future holds for the home of this football team. It seems as though next year will see reduced capacity as renovations won’t be finished in time for next season, but in two to three years we’ll be able to fully evaluate what the Booth has become.

As it stands now, it’s a great gameday experience that is less talked about due to the lack of a winning football team. The Booth is worth a visit during football season and is one of the more lively venues in college football.