K-State football open to moving future home game to neutral site like Arrowhead

The Kansas State football team is scheduled to open the next five seasons at home inside Bill Snyder Family Stadium, but that could change.

K-State athletic director Gene Taylor says the Wildcats are exploring the possibility of moving at least one of their future home games to a neutral venue, most likely Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City or AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.

“That is something that we have talked about,” Taylor told The Eagle this week. “We are looking out a few years to see if there is a year that would work for us. We have had some interest and a couple stadiums that have asked us to consider it.”

Taylor said Arlington and Kansas City have shown the most interest in hosting a K-State football game, and the Wildcats are intrigued by those possibilities.

But, as of now, Taylor cautioned a deal was far from imminent.

“There are a couple games we are looking at for that,” Taylor said. “But we haven’t homed in on anything yet.”

The most likely future K-State football game that could receive a venue switch seems to be Stanford in 2021.

Not only is it an appealing matchup for a neutral-site game between Big 12 and Pac-12 opponents, but the Wildcats currently have eight home games slated for the 2021 season. K-State could choose to play Stanford at an NFL stadium and still host seven games in Manhattan that year.

Stanford owes K-State a return game in what was originally billed as a home-and-home series, which the teams began in 2016 in Palo Alto, California, but Stanford would likely consent to any neutral venue.

They are currently scheduled to meet again on Sept. 4, 2021 in Manhattan, the season-opener for both teams.

K-State would have to move things around to create a different appealing matchup for a neutral-site opener, but it also has home games slated with Vanderbilt (2020), Missouri (2022) and Arizona (2024).

The Wildcats have games scheduled as far out as 2031, but Taylor said they are only looking at upcoming seasons for a neutral-site game right now.

Missouri could be an option for an Arrowhead game. The Tigers are scheduled to play Arkansas there next season and are looking to return to Kansas City before 2025.

The Wildcats are currently scheduled to play the Tigers in Manhattan in 2022 and in Columbia the following year. But neither game is expected to be a season-opener.

Neutral-site games have become a popular staple of college football’s opening weekend. Miami vs. Florida received huge ratings last week when they played in Orlando. Several more prominent games will be played at pro stadiums this week, including Duke vs. Alabama in Atlanta and Oregon vs. Auburn in Arlington.

Some of those games will pay their participants as much as $4.5 million for showing up, according to USA Today.

K-State last played a regular-season game on a neutral site in 2010 when it defeated Iowa State 27-20 at Arrowhead. It has twice opened a season at a neutral venue in recent years, beating Iowa 27-7 in 2000 and California 42-28 in 2003. Both games were also played at Arrowhead.

Former K-State coach Bill Snyder fought hard for as many home games as possible during his second run as the team’s coach, making neutral-site games a non-starter. But they have become a possibility under new coach Chris Klieman.

“He understands,” Taylor said. “If we want to do it, he sees the benefit of playing a potential neutral-site game, depending on the opponent.”

This story was originally published August 28, 2019 at 11:26 AM with the headline "K-State football open to moving future home game to neutral site like Arrowhead."