Here’s the story of ‘The Backyard’ which will expand for KU’s NCAA games vs. OU
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- KU increased Hoglund Ballpark capacity from 2,500 to just over 4,000 for NCAA Regionals.
- KU added bleachers in left field and standing 'Backyard Decks' in right and right-center.
- KU expects attendance to be a little bit over 4,000 for the Super Regional vs. Oklahoma.
Kansas’ athletics department increased capacity at cozy Hoglund Ballpark from 2,500 to just over 4,000 for the Jayhawks’ three NCAA Regional baseball games last week.
Chances are the Jayhawks will draw even more fans than the school record 4,042 — who attended Sunday’s 13-10 title game victory over Arkansas — for Saturday’s 5 p.m. Super Regional game against Oklahoma.
That’s because KU facilities has added some additional bleachers to ‘The Backyard,’ an area behind a new see-through chain-link fence in left field. KU also has added ‘Backyard Decks’ in right field and right center where fans can stand to watch the best-of-three series.
“They (’Backyard Decks’) should give viewers a really unprecedented view of the game that they’ve never seen at Hoglund Ballpark. Standing up there (in right and right center), it’s kind of surreal,” said Casey Cook, KU associate athletic director of events.
“You’re looking out over the field and you’re about waist high to the top of the wall, so it should give fans a really good vantage point of what’s going on the field,” Cook added.
It’s all standing room only in right and right center with drink rails for fans to put their beverages.
“It’s a capacity thing. We can get more people on the decks if they are standing as opposed to sitting. So that was kind of the idea,” Cook said.
He said attendance figures should “be a little bit over 4,000 (in each game of the three-game series). It’s hard to really dial in exactly what those numbers are. Last weekend we had ideas where we could fit in places but after you live it for a weekend you live and learn. So we’ll be just north of 4,000 with the ‘Backyard Decks’ and a (new) five-row set and couple three-row sets (of bleachers in ‘The Backyard’). This should help the people that are back there get elevated a little bit and see above the people that are seated or standing in front of them.”
Cook said it’s fun for KU staff to hear fans talk about the ‘The Backyard,’ which was built with the NCAAs in mind.
“Well, it was fun watching ESPN Plus and the highlights and everyone call it ‘The Backyard,’ and honestly, that was Ethan Derstine, who is actually the tournament manager and we just hired him on full-time a couple months ago. We were sitting through this, designing it out, and he just kind of slapped ‘The Backyard’ on a map, and it stuck, and it’s ... doing a really good job of really promoting what it feels like out there.”
As far as coming up with the idea of adding seats with a week or two remaining in the regular season Cook said: “They say that necessity is the mother of all innovation, right? So I just credit the team for giving us opportunity to really have a need to expand.
“Knowing some of the constraints that we have out in left field with the trees and just some cost perspectives and everything else, we felt the best route was to do what we did out in left field.
“I watch a lot of college baseball, I’ve been following it for years, and I’ve seen regionals held at Louisville, held at Arkansas, places that have similar designs of places in left field, and we kind of reverted back to that, and said, ‘Hey, could we do something similar to what Louisville has?’ Looked at some pictures and said, ‘Hey, let’s give it a shot,’ and luckily our administration went with it and gave us a green light, and we turned it around. That’s a great staff that we have.”
KU’s opponent this weekend, Oklahoma, seems enthused about the environment.
“I really liked watching them last week and the fan experience that they brought out. College baseball is an exciting time this time of year, and I think we lose the sight of it,” said OU coach Skip Johnson.
“I mean, you really see the spirit like football in a baseball arena. You really see it when they start yelling, whatever y’all yell (Rock Chalk) and we’re all ‘Boomer Sooner.’ So it’s an exciting time for all of us, and we’re excited to be here, for sure.”
