PRESS RELEASE: Kansas Athletics and Legends Global Extend and Expand Partnership
Collaboration Encompasses Ticketing, Premium Sales, and Fundraising for Kansas Athletics; Legends Global to Act as Owners’ Rep for Phase 2 of the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium Rebuild
Kansas Athletics and Legends Global announced today a multi-year extension of their successful partnership. The partnership is focused on enhancing the fan experience at KU sporting events and optimizing annual revenues for Kansas Athletics. Legends will also continue owner’s rep services focused on development oversight.
The extension builds on the successful collaboration during Phase 1 of the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium project, which exceeded revenue expectations for premium seating sales and delivered the initial phase of the transformational multi-use development project on time and on budget.
“We are thrilled to build on an already established best in class relationship with our partners at Legends with this extension,” said Jason Booker, Deputy AD for External Affairs and Revenue Generation. “At every turn they have met and exceeded our high expectations related to premium and season ticket sales, as well as their oversight on Phase I of the stadium project. We worked closely with the Legends team as we developed our new per seat donation model at both football and basketball, so it was a natural transition to have them manage our annual fund donations connected with all of our seating products. We simply couldn’t ask for better partners in this space.”
As part of the extended and expanded partnership, Legends Global will manage all ticketing, premium seating, and annual fundraising efforts connected to seating products for Kansas Athletics. Additionally, the Legends Global owner’s representation division will oversee budgeting, scheduling, design review, and construction supervision for Kansas on Phase 2 of the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium’s east side remodel and related development. Legends Global will continue managing Kansas Athletics’ tour experiences for fans at both David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium and historic Allen Fieldhouse.
“Over the past two years, Kansas Athletics has outlined a bold vision for the future of KU Football, and our role has been to bring that vision to life. Together, we’ve rebuilt the fan experience from the ground up and delivered results that exceeded every target,” said Tim Statezni, Executive Vice President of College, Legends Global. “As we move into the next phase, we’ll keep executing against that vision – elevating the stadium and surrounding area while aligning ticketing, premium, and fundraising into one connected strategy that strengthens relationships and drives meaningful results for KU.”
Legends Global partnered with Kansas on Phase 1 of the David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium transformational project, serving as owner’s rep and managing premium ticket sales strategy and execution. In August, Kansas and Legends Global announced that $187M of capital commitments were generated from premium seating sales in the newly renovated stadium ahead of the 2025 football season, exceeding initial revenue projections by an estimated $60M. The $450M transformation of the 104-year-old stadium introduced 23 new premium seating products, in consultation with CSL and Legends Global based on fan feedback, industry-leading concepts, and overall market and demand studies.
Legends Global is the leader in advising university athletic departments on major transformational facility projects to enhance fan experiences and maximize initial capital and annual revenues. This includes renovation and new facility projects at Northwestern University, the University of Notre Dame, the University of Oklahoma, the University of South Carolina, the University of Southern California, the University of Wisconsin-Madison, the University of Utah, Villanova University, and San Diego State University, among many others.