Kansas AD Travis Goff Talks Kansas Football, KU Women’s Sports and More in 2025 Recap

The Kansas Jayhawks saw a lot of success across their various sports teams this year.

Both Kansas soccer and Kansas volleyball reached the Sweet 16 in their respective NCAA Tournaments. Kansas baseball had the second most wins in program history and reached the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2014. And Kansas football unveiled the long-awaited, new David Booth Kansas Memorial Stadium in what has become a game-changer for the program and Jayhawk fans alike.

We sat down with Kansas Athletics Director Travis Goff to get his thoughts on all the changes and successes from this past year and what KU fans have to look forward to in the new year.

It was a big year for KU women's sports teams. What are you most proud of among their accomplishments?

Goff: The success and the trajectory of our women’s programs is exciting. To have two Sweet 16 appearances for both soccer and volleyball this year – led by women’s soccer coach Nate Lie who’s just in his second year and volleyball coach Matt Ulmer who just finished his first year – is remarkable and we don’t take for granted putting ourselves in the national conversation and competing on the biggest stages. Across all our women’s sports teams, we love the coaches at the helm and the success they’ve all shown early on in their tenures at Kansas.

It was the first year of the new Booth. What was some of the feedback about the stadium that you received and how will that feedback be used to continue to improve the experience for fans going forward?

Goff: Big picture, the new stadium received rave reviews. Our fans valued the details and storytelling that went into the stadium, as well as the comfort that came with the seating on the north and west sides. We heard great feedback about the amenities and premium spaces too. Overall, we’ve heard so many positive reviews exceeding our own expectations, but we know there are always things we can improve upon. That is why we sent a survey to fans earlier this month to get additional feedback, and we’ll take those learnings into Phase II of the stadium reconstruction.

What's the latest with the Gateway Project and what can fans expect for the 2026-27 season?

Goff: Phase II began this month, and we are close to finalizing the stadium design of the east and south sides of the stadium. For the 2026-27 season, we’ll have lower bowl seating available on the east side with no upper bowl, and we’re still determining what the space on the south side will look like. The positive feedback we received about the premium seating options provided this season reiterated that we need to offer that on the east side. We’re also close to pinning down the agreements for the mixed-use developments surrounding the stadium.

Goff continued: You only get one chance to do this right, and that’s why we are working incredibly hard with Phase II to not cut corners and not sacrifice the details because we want the entirety of stadium to be world class. We’re planning to roll out full details and renderings of Phase II to the public in late January, early February 2026.

KU has invested a lot in football these past few years. What does that investment say about Kansas, and what is the expectation of the program now that these investments have been made?

Goff: The commitment and investment to football at Kansas – given where we were – has had to be all-encompassing. The renovated Anderson Family Football Complex and the new football stadium are a great example of that, and those are as tangible of an investment as you’ll see in college football today. We’ve also continued to evolve in how we support roster building/retention through revenue sharing and gathering Name, Image, and Likeness (NIL) partners.

Goff continued: The expectation is for us to continue to elevate our foundation and invest in a way that allows us to have sustained success, and a sustained model means we’re competing at the highest level of the Big 12 Conference. And if we can do that, then we can compete in the postseason.

Lawrence is in position to be a base camp for a team during the World Cup next year. What would that mean for KU to be able to host?

Goff: We are very excited about the possibility of hosting a World Cup team. We have had two countries visit thus far, and we feel good about our chances of being selected. The fact that we are in contention is a testament to the city of Lawrence and the quality of our facilities at Rock Chalk Park, which the team would use for conditioning and training if selected. It would be a big economic boom for local businesses in the Lawrence community, especially during a time when most of our students are gone during the summer. We expect to know by March if we are selected.