Kosher Hot Dogs a Slam Dunk for Kansas Basketball

Molly Rissien stepped up to the hot dog stand at Allen Field House and left happy. It was a first for the University of Kansas junior, who comes from a family of die-hard Jayhawk fans and goes to all the games. Since she keeps kosher, she could never partake in the long-time sporting event snack tradition. Until now.

In a first for the Lawrence school, the local Chabad-Lubavitch Center for Jewish Student Life has partnered with concessioner Centerplate and businessman Jim Badzin to bring kosher versions of America’s most-popular sausage to weekday games of the KU men’s basketball team. Located on the northeast corner of the second floor of the Allen Field House and serving from an hour before the start of the game until 10 minutes after halftime, the dedicated stand has kosher hot dogs, kosher buns, and kosher hot dog toppings, all overseen by a rabbi to ensure adherence to Judaism’s dietary laws.

Chabad House director Rabbi Zalman Tiechtel says having the stand there helps promote Jewish pride, awareness and observance.

“And on a national level, it’s a strong statement,” he adds, explaining that the games draw hundreds of Jewish students and alumni from around Kansas, the Midwest and beyond.

Dec. 29 was the stand’s sell-out debut, and its sales roughly doubled at the second game earlier this week. The hot dogs are shipped in from New York by the thousand.

“By the time we reached halftime, we had no more hot dogs,” Tiechtel says of the December game.

The creation of the stand follows a groundswell of activity in recent years by schools embracing, with the encouragement of their local Chabad Houses, kosher meal plans and other kosher options.

At the University of Kansas, some of the sales’ proceeds go to support Jewish activities at the university, where just less than 10 percent of the campus population identifies as Jewish. And the hot dogs, although more expensive to provide, sell for the same $4.00 as any other hot dog in the stadium.

“This is not a business venture,” Tiechtel emphasizes. “This is about promoting Jewish awareness; this is a service to the community.”

Some of Rissien’s friends were so excited about the prospect of kosher dogs at the game that they changed their Facebook statuses to say so.

“It was like ‘can’t wait to get my kosher hot dog at the KU game tonight’ ” reports Rissien.

Badzin, a long-time University of Kansas donor, provided the funding for the initiative this year, and says he’s glad to offer a kosher option for fans.

“This is the very first college in the country to have kosher hot dogs at their games, and it will bring the people back, because it’s tastier than other hot dogs sold at the concession stands,” he claims.

As for what’s ahead, Badzin says the kosher stand will be announced on the JumboTron at the next game.

“They’re going to put up a blurb,” he relates. “I think it’s important that people know we have kosher hot dogs.”

The Connecticut-based Centerplate, meanwhile, sees the initiative as a way to offer a unique item to a niche audience that previously couldn’t partake in game time eats.

“It’s all about making sure every fan can enjoy eating good food at every game,” says general manager Rick Brown, noting that he enjoyed the process of locating the proper ingredients and preparing the equipment.

He hopes to see a trend emerge.

“More venues will step up and offer these types of products,” he predicts. “It was quite the experience to see fans come up and get a hot dog. Seeing the expressions on their faces and their kids’ faces made it all worth it.”

As for the future, Brown is full of ideas: “Perhaps a location that specializes in kosher items and traditional foods such as brisket, apple sauce and latkes. As we talk to the fans more and see the business grow, it will certainly dictate what we do next.”