It’s a sellout: No tickets remain for Saturday’s KU-Duke football game in Lawrence

Saturday’s Kansas-Duke football game, like so many of the men’s basketball contests between the two schools throughout the years, is officially sold out.

“Football vs. Duke = Sold Out,” KU reported Thursday afternoon on its official athletic department website.

The 11 a.m. kickoff at Booth Memorial Stadium will be KU’s first home football sellout since the KU-Kansas State game on Nov. 2, 2019. Kansas State, which brought a lot of its own fans that day, defeated Les Miles’ Jayhawks 38-10. That game attracted 47,233 fans, the same number of tickets sold for the Duke contest.

Until that KU-KSU game, Kansas’ most recent sellout at Booth Memorial Stadium had been Nov. 14, 2009 against Nebraska.

“This is a tremendous statement regarding both the exciting trajectory of Kansas Football and the incredible passion of Jayhawk fans,” Kansas ahletic director Travis Goff said Thursday. “We are excited to host an atmosphere at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium that will rival the best in college football. We are grateful for the way our fans have responded to the momentum of Kansas Football and I am confident sellouts will no longer be the exception to the rule in our bright future.”

The Jayhawks are 3-0 for the first time since 2009. Duke also is 3-0 under first-year coach Mike Elko, a former Texas A&M defensive coordinator.

A Thursday afternoon check of Stubhub showed there were still some tickets available for under $40 on the secondary market.

KU has announced several facts about the upcoming game-day experience. KU said on its athletic website that in preparation for the sold-out crowd, all available gates and metal detectors at Memorial Stadium will be open beginning 90 minutes prior to kickoff. Every available ticket scanner will be in use in order to ease the crowd into the venue.

Fans are encouraged to download their mobile tickets before arriving to the stadium.

There will also be a bus service available both from lot 54 on Irving Hill Road and from downtown Lawrence, with two stops near downtown parking garages: 6th & New Hampshire and 7th & Vermont. The fare is $1 per person round trip. Parking is free in downtown garages on game days.

KU drew 34,902, for the season opener against Tennessee Tech on Sept. 2. It was KU’s largest home-opening crowd in eight years. Since that 56-10 victory over Tech, the Jayhawks have claimed wins at West Virginia (55-42, OT) and at Houston (48-30).

“It’s great to be back home after a couple on the road,” second-year KU coach Lance Leipold said Tuesday. “Hopefully we’ll have a good crowd for a lot of different reasons. I think we have a chance now to create some energy and a homefield advantage.”

Leipold, who has spoken at countless KU alumni events since taking over as coach, has heard fans say they’re eager to return to the stadium to support a competitive team, like this one.

“I’m excited standing here with three wins and three home games coming in a row,” he said.

KU will play Iowa State a week from Saturday and TCU the following week, both also at home.

“I know in my year and a half of being here, listening to our fans, the loyal fans that have been waiting for something, starving for something to be successful,” Leipold said. “… Hopefully it’s meshing at the right time that we have three weeks of great crowds (in stadium that holds 47,000 fans). Great crowds can be beneficial to help this program take another step.”