The announcement that the University of Kansas will spend close to $300 million on aging Memorial Stadium and KU football facilities is welcome news.

KU athletic director Sheahon Zenger announced the pending renovations during a meet-and-greet event for the Kansas football team on Wednesday at The Well Bar in Kansas City, Mo. Zenger did not provide much detail but said architects would complete their renderings of the stadium’s renovation in three weeks, and the final version is expected to be released to the public in September.

Along with renovations to the stadium, Zenger announced plans for an indoor football facility that the team can practice in. He said total spending on the project will approach $300 million.

The renovation of Memorial Stadium, built in 1921, is sorely needed. In subjective rankings of college football venues, the stadium consistently ranks at the bottom of the Big 12 and in the bottom quartile of all major college football stadiums. Memorial Stadium, which holds 50,000 people, was only half full for Kansas’ six home football games last season. The team averaged just 25,828 fans per home game in 2016, the lowest attendance not only in the Big 12, but also the lowest among the 65 schools in the so-called Power 5 conferences and Notre Dame. In fact, 18 small-conference schools averaged more fans than Kansas.

Clearly, the performance of the on-field product — Kansas football is just 9-51 in the past five seasons — affects attendance, but stadium experience matters too. Consider that Iowa State, which won just three games in 2016, still averaged 52,557 fans per game at Jack Trice Stadium last season.

Financially, football remains the engine that drives college athletic departments, and a significant portion of that revenue is from maximizing ticket sales. Programs like Kansas can ill afford to have their stadiums half empty for home games.

The football team has started to show improvement under third-year head coach David Beaty, but if that improvement is going to continue, Kansas has to be more competitive with the rest of the Big 12 in recruiting. Facilities are a major factor in recruiting, so stadium renovations and an indoor practice facility can make significant differences in the talent Kansas recruits.

“The stuff we’re going to do first is like I talked about, things that we should’ve had 10 years ago,” Zenger said Wednesday. “At the top of the list is an indoor facility. So as we begin the stadium, we’re going to start with an indoor facility. We’re going to do things that will help young guys on the field.”

Zenger is right; the stadium renovations are long overdue. Still, it’s great news for the football program and for the university that a major renovation is on the table, and everyone from players to fans should look forward to hearing more specifics on the stadium plans.