LAWRENCE, Kansas — The University of Kansas, which got its global star turn as host to the Algerian National Team during this summer’s World Cup, will expand its global reach later this month at a first-of-its-kind American football game across the pond.
KU’s athletics department has been hustling behind the scenes overt the past year to get the Jayhawks ready for the Union Jack Classic, the first-ever college football game held at legendary Wembley Stadium.
“There’s a real thirst for American football in London,” said Daniel Berk, KU senior associate athletics director for strategic communications.
After Lawrence's successful summer hosting Algeria, the Jayhawks Athletics Department says it's embracing experimentation.
The initial decision to host Algeria brought plenty of questions and local adjustments, said Berk, but KU Athletics thinks it can expand the university’s international brand by taking calculated risks.
"I think 12 hours after they got here, everyone saw the benefit because Good Morning America, the Today Show, the New York Times, everyone was talking about Lawrence, Kansas,” Berk said during a gathering with some KU mass communications students last week. “It became this story of what the World Cup was all about."
Berk said Athletic Director Travis Goff’s mentality is to always be open to new ideas.
“There’s not a lot of things (Travis) will say no to,” Berk said. “He’s fine with us being the guinea pigs with things, ‘Hey, do you guys want to try something new, something different? Talk to Kansas first.”
The university is continuing to reach for the next challenge as KU Athletics angles to host a 2031 Women’s World Cup team at Rock Chalk Park.
First, though, KU Athletics has to get everything in place for its overseas matchup.
Staff had to ship — on an actual boat — training and game equipment and band instruments to London, a six-week process. Then, there were the logistics for a huge traveling party, connecting with London media and some of the other game-day details that teams usually don’t have to think about as much when they’re operating out of their own stadiums.
Andy Eisch, assistant athletics director for strategic communications, said the KU team has received help from other universities including the Big 12’s Kansas State and Iowa State — who played in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin last year — as well as the NFL’s Jacksonville Jaguars, who have played 14 times in London since 2013.
"When we were talking with K-State and Iowa State, we had a lot of the same ideas, a lot of the same stuff that we were doing,” Eisch said. “It was great to pick their brain and hear about their experience, because we met pretty early on (February) ... We took a lot of insight from them."
KU’s Deputy Athletics Director Jason Booker told KCUR in July that the university is still “on the surface” of understanding how the global seeds planted during this summer’s tournament will grow, but the upsides are obvious.
KCUR is partnering with students at the University of Kansas' William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communication for coverage of the Union Jack Classic in London.
