Kansas vs. K-State is officially sold out. Bill Self and Travis Goff are excited
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Bill Self praised matchup, predicted competitive Sunflower Showdown win for KU football.
- KU declared the game a sellout; Goff credited dynamic pricing and ticket control.
- KU moved Friday volleyball to Allen Fieldhouse to meet demand and test venue scalability.
Kansas men’s basketball coach Bill Self was the guest speaker at KU football’s team meeting on Tuesday morning. He addressed the Jayhawk players in advance of Saturday’s KU-Kansas State battle, set for 11 a.m. at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.
He didn’t brief reporters on his words of wisdom when asked about the visit during Wednesday’s Big 12 men’s basketball media day at T-Mobile Center.
He did, however, respond to a reporter’s inquiry asking his take on Saturday’s Sunflower Showdown.
“Considering I’m an expert in football,” Self said, smiling, “I think it’ll be a great game. I think it’ll be highly competitive. I think there’ll be a ton of energy. I think the place will be jacked, all those things.
“And I believe that the correct team will prevail, and that would be the one from Lawrence, Kansas, this weekend.”
If his basketball team has no travel issues, the Jayhawk basketball players should be back from Louisville in time for KU-KSU kickoff. KU tangles with the Louisville Cardinals in an exhibition contest at 6:30 p.m. Central on Friday in Louisville, Kentucky.
“Rivalry games are why you do it, why you come to certain schools to play in these games,” Self said of KU-KSU. “And so I will be envious of everybody participating in that game day, because that’s why you are in coaching as well.”
The game was declared a sellout Wednesday by KU’s athletic department.
“I think ultimately it’s a win to sell out. We all expected it to (sell out),” KU athletic director Travis Goff said Wednesday at Big 12 basketball media day. KU also sold out home games against Cincinnati and Fresno State this season. Capacity is 41,525.
KU has had 12 sellouts under head coach Lance Leipold — 10 sellouts at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium since the start of the 2022 season and two at Children’s Mercy Park during the 2024 season.
“I think it (selling out four days before kickoff) exhibits and demonstrates that the process was handled right. You sell out a month ago, you probably did some things to undermine the product or the experience,” Goff stated.
He explained what goes into officially selling out a stadium.
“We’re (in a) new season and first season in a new stadium, right?” Goff said. “How do you manage the season-ticket dynamics? Obviously, there’s been incredible growth there. How do you manage single game and pricing? And obviously that quote-unquote dynamic pricing … the K-State price point is going to be different than another price point at another regular season game.
“... I commend the staff, because they really have been in real time monitoring and managing that in the right fashion. I think, selling out Wednesday before exhibits that we stood the course, so to speak, on managing the price points, on managing the ebb and flow of KU’s season, the ebb and flow of K-State’s season.”
KU has another huge event coming up in Friday’s volleyball match against Kansas State, which has been moved from Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena to Allen Fieldhouse. Game time is 8 p.m. with a live telecast on ESPNU.
It will be the first match for KU at the home of the Jayhawk men’s and women’s basketball teams since the 2013 NCAA Tournament. Since then, KU has played in Horejsi. Before 1999, Allen was the full-time home of the KU volleyball team. KU drew 14,800 fans for a match versus Missouri in 1996.
If all goes well Friday, it’s possible KU could move NCAA Tournament games from Horejsi to Allen Fieldhouse if the Jayhawks are granted a bid to host during the volleyball postseason.
“I think the expectations are high, right?” Goff said of drawing a huge crowd for the KSU match at Allen Fieldhouse, which seats 15,300. Horejsi seats 2,265 fans.
“But they’re also tempered a little bit. We haven’t done this in some time. We play in one of the best volleyball venues in the country in Horejsi Family Volleyball Arena. We love it. We won’t ever stray from that being the home base. But I think this Friday is going to show us that there’s an opportunity to weave in one to two unique matchups in Allen Fieldhouse and leverage, I think, the greatest sports venue in the country. ...
“So you’ve got to be selective about it. But I think we’ll come out of Friday going, ‘OK, what’s the next one? Can you do two in a season? When and where does that make sense? And let’s keep building upon that thing.’ We’ll get over 5,000 people as far as I’m concerned. I don’t know if it’s going to be 6,000 or 7,000 or somewhere in that realm. And of course, the students have a lot to say about that as well.”
As far as possible postseason matches in Allen this season, Goff said: “I think that at this juncture, if we host we will be at Horejsi, the intimacy of that and the home court advantage. Not that Allen wouldn’t be unbelievable, but let’s watch that Friday. Is Allen the same kind of home court advantage to volleyball that Horesji is? When you’re in Horejsi, it’s 99.3% Jayhawk and that has a real hand I think in outcomes in these matches.”
