Arizona State athletic director Graham Rossini said deciding to play a Big 12 football game against Kansas in London during the 2026 season was about creating unique experiences for the students and ASU community.

“Not a financially motivated decision for us by any means,” Rossini said Wednesday on a Zoom call with reporters following the game’s official announcement.

“It’s more about the enrichment of the student-athlete experience. … College is still about preparing young people to enter the world as a productive human being and a productive citizen, and so getting a chance to take 105 football players, a coaching staff into a new country (and) introduce them to new experiences, what a gift to be able to provide to our program.”

Rossini cited international competitions for ASU’s hockey and men’s basketball teams that have gone smoothly as a reason he’s confident this trip can also be beneficial.

But of course, there will be long-term benefits for the schools involved in recruiting and marketing their brands overseas.

“(Big 12 commissioner Brett Yormark) mentioned the game in Ireland (between Iowa State and Kansas State), if you look at the television ratings, if you look at the media equivalency of all the ancillary benefits that come from playing where all eyes of the football world are on us, all eyes of a a nation in England are going to be tuned in and understanding what American college football is all about,” Rossini said.

“And so I think the benefits are always going to be far greater than any finances involved.”

The athletic director acknowledged the commitment that competing internationally in football requires, but he said that’s been juxtaposed with immediate local interest. The Arizona Cardinals’ trip to London in 2017 also had heavy local interest, Rossini added.

The Sun Devils won’t lose any of their six previously scheduled home games, so the neutral-site contest means they’ll play just five true road games during the regular season.

Kansas was the one to give up the home game, which athletic director Travis Goff said benefits the Jayhawks because of the reduced capacity at Booth Stadium in Lawrence during renovations.

“We’re going to be under significant construction … which of course means reduced capacity,” Goff said. “We’ll have a reduced capacity environment, and the economics of that come into play as we pondered this decision to move a home game to London.

“And I would just emphasize this is a financially beneficial outcome for the University of Kansas. This is a greater benefit for this one game to be in London financially than it would be for us to be in a reduced capacity environment here in Lawrence.”

ASU will open its 2026 season against Morgan State at home before traveling to Texas A&M, from which it will likely head straight to London. A bye week will await ASU upon return, Rossini confirmed.

London matchup between ASU, Kansas next step in Big 12 globalization

Yormark highlighted the importance of global expansion of the Big 12 brand, with cashing in on media rights globally as a big reason why.

“In the short term, playing games internationally provides a great student-athlete experience,” Yormark said. “It drives meaningful enrollment when we could put our flags in London and in a new marketplace, and it certainly will help in recruitment.

“In the long term, being globally relevant will help us monetize our international media rights. And certainly that’ll be something I look forward to in our next TV deal and something that we’re not doing currently.”

He said that along with games like the Week 0 matchup in Ireland, following the NFL’s lead to a place in England with an established fanbase of American football can be a blueprint to follow.

“We want to follow the NFL footprint,” Yormark said. “I think they’ve been very successful opening up markets and launching markets. You saw that they just did a multi-year deal with Brazil. They’ve been to Germany, Munich specifically. So I like those markets.

“And obviously we’re going to be returning to Dublin next year when TCU hosts UNC in August.”

Yormark added the league, Arizona State and Kansas will lean heavily on the Jacksonville Jaguars, who have played in England more than a dozen times since 2013, for guidance in planning the trip.