Thursday, September 25, 2008
While the Kansas football team tries to top last year’s school record 12 wins, it appears the football program will be breaking another significant record in 2008.
Later this season, the Jayhawks will break the single season attendance record for the fourth consecutive year, football spokesman Mike Strauss said. The football program has sold almost 39,000 season tickets this year — 8,000 more than the 31,000 season tickets that were sold last year.
Fans packed into a sold-out Memorial Stadium to watch Kansas defeat Sam Houston State, 38-14, on Saturday. The football program has sold almost 39,000 season tickets this year, and later the program will break the single-season attendance record for the fourth consecutive year.
“I think it’s great,” coach Mark Mangino said of the record-breaking attendance this year. “Our fans are loyal. They know that when they come out to see our kids play, they are going to play until the very end and play their tails off. I think our fans appreciate that.”
Kansas has already sold out two games this season, including the season opener against Florida International and Saturday’s 38-14 win over Division 1-AA Sam Houston State.
The home game against Louisiana Tech, game No. 2 on the schedule, had more than 48,000 fans attend, even though the team played the entire game in the rain.
Memorial Stadium, which was built in 1921 and is the sixth oldest college football stadium in Division One, is the home playing field for the Jayhawks for the 88th consecutive season.
The listed capacity crowd for Memorial Stadium is 50,071 people, the third smallest in the Big 12, but Kansas has averaged 50,833 fans for the first three home games of the season. Kansas averaged 46,784 fans in 2007.
According to research performed by espn.com, Kansas has the third highest attendance in the Big 12 compared to the stadium’s capacity. Only Nebraska with 104.2 percent and Oklahoma with 103 percent have had a higher percentage of the stadium filled than Kansas’ 101.5 percent.
“The kids, they see it,” said defensive coordinator Clint Bowen, a former Jayhawk defensive back who played in front of thousands of empty seats during his time at Kansas.
“When the kids come out of the locker room and there’s people in the stands or on the hill, it really does play a factor. The crowd makes a difference. Now, if we can get them to stay here the whole time, it will be even better.”
Strauss said that the Kansas State game on Nov. 1 and the Texas game on Nov. 15 were both “getting close” to selling out.
The season-opening win against Florida International on Aug. 30 drew an announced crowd of 52,112 — the largest crowd ever to see a game at Memorial Stadium. Fans set the previous record last year when 51,910 people saw Kansas defeat Nebraska 76-39.
“It was unbelievable to play the first game of the season with the place filled up,” quarterback Todd Reesing said. “Having the crowd loud and behind you is something special. I don’t think there has been a first game here in a while that has been sold out.”
— — Edited by Jennifer Torline
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