photo by: Matt Tait

Kansas and Coastal Carolina warm up under the lights on Saturday, Sept. 12, 2020. The game was the season opener for both teams and, with fans not allowed to attend, it featured very few of the normal sights and sounds surrounding David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

It wasn’t exactly breaking ground on a new facility, but it might have been an important step all the same.

If nothing else, at least it was something.

Kansas Athletics Inc. on Wednesday sent out a survey to tens of thousands of fans designed to collect feedback on the fan experience at David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium.

Specifically, the survey sought input on how to make gameday “unforgettable” and the stated goal is to make “our stadium a second home for all Kansas residents and a landmark destination.”

The survey took roughly 15-20 minutes to complete and covered topics ranging from gameday satisfaction, seating experiences, fan benefits and more.

Sample questions included inquiries about your connection to KU and why you attend games to what seats you typically sit in, how you view dining and parking at KU games and whether you would recommend an event at Memorial Stadium to friends.

A large section of the survey focused on input and opinions about high-dollar, premium seating options, which can only lead you to believe that the survey is being done now so that KU officials have a better idea of exactly what to move forward with in those areas when the time for a renovation or rebuild comes.

Included in those options were:

• A newly renovated Champion Suite, which mirrors the current luxury boxes

• Loge Box seating, a private, open-air section of 2-8 seats with cushioned chairs, charging stations and tables to rest food and drinks on

• Table Top seating, which accommodates four people and includes access to a premium club for concessions

• Field Club seating at field level with access to premium food and beverages and the ability to come and go as you please throughout the game

• Limestone Club seating for Williams Fund donors and suite holders

• A Corner Landing Bar, an outdoor, end zone bar area billed as a way for fans to continue tailgating mere steps away from their seats.

The pricing options given for the Loge Box range from $6,000 to $12,000+ for four seats for a full season. The pricing options given for the Field Club seats range from $100-$700+ for one ticket for one game. The pricing options for single-game access to the Corner Landing Bar range from $50-$350+. Pricing options were not provided for the other seating areas.

While the construction of any of these likely remains years away, it’s fair to call this survey is a step in that direction.

For one, it’s public acknowledgement of the process being under way. For two, it seems to be collecting important information. It may not seem that way to the casual fan who doesn’t want to shell out more than a few hundred bucks for season tickets. But it’s still valuable because I can’t think of anything worse than a shiny new facility full of premium seating sections that no one is using. Talk about a waste of space and money.

At least this way — and there certainly will be other surveys and more discussion in the future — the powers that be at KU can move forward with a better feel for what people want.

This wasn’t just some Survey Monkey thing that you or your uncle could throw together either. This survey was created by Elevate Sports Ventures, a leader in the sports world that specializes in landscape studies, market survey and focus group studies, strategy and execution and predictive analysis for teams, leagues, venues and properties throughout the world.

I know that surveys have been done before. Many of you might have even taken them and seen nothing come of them. But for those of you who are anxious about the future of Memorial Stadium and KU’s plans for it, the fact that KU has sought assistance from a third-party with as much of a proven track record as Elevate seems to be at least something of a good sign.

Where it goes from here remains the most important part, but you can’t get shovels in the ground without an understanding of where you’re headed.

And this survey seems to be designed to give Kansas Athletics a better idea of exactly what that is.