As a new school year and sports season kicks into high gear, many universities and stadiums have revamped their season ticketing model. From newly sponsored seating sections to a change in prices or expanded student seating, stadium and arena operators are juggling lots of balls.
The University of Kansas is no exception. The basketball powerhouse just unveiled it’s new season ticketing model that aims to increase price transparency and promote more donations from fans. The Jayhawks ticketing changes affect both season tickets at Allen Field house and David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium for the 2025-26 school year.
The new season ticket structure is being called the “per-seat-donation model” (PSD). Through PSD, fans will see each seat’s total cost as a combination of the season ticket price and required donation. As with any ticket purchase, the prices vary depending on where the seat is in the venue.
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By providing fans with the combined donation amount and ticket price, KU Athletics is hoping to give fans a more transparent pricing experience. Plus, they’ve created a new donation model. According to Sports Illustrated, the “total per-seat donation amount will also contribute to a fan's Williams Education Fund priority ranking, impacting seating and parking selection, postseason ticket priority, and access to other donor benefits.”
For fans who meet certain donation minimums, like donating to the Hall of Fame or those who have met a lifetime donation amount of $575,000 or more, they can keep the same season ticket seats they’ve had for years. Everyone else will have to select new seats for the 2025-26 season.
The University of Kansas’s deputy athletic director, Jason Booker, said to Kansas City Star, “Transparency was the biggest thing for us so the people knew how much each seat was going to cost. Looking at the pricing modeling there are a lot of people who are going to pay less. There are some people that may pay more. At the end of the day this wasn’t about driving incremental revenue. This was about trying to be more transparent so the people knew when they donated where their tickets were going to be.”
While the PSD model is implemented, UK will also be updating both the field house and the stadium. Inside, fans can expect a new video board, updated lighting and audio. The stadium’s renovations are set to begin in the summer of 2025.
