University of Arkansas budget hit with Little Rock football

LITTLE ROCK—A report says starting a football program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock would require a significant financial investment beyond a budget increase for athletics.

Conventions, Sports and Leisure International released its consulting study Tuesday. The report gave projections for a UALR football program for the next decade, basing scenarios on "potential revenue, potential enrollment impact, economic impact on Little Rock and alumni involvement," the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette reported .

The university's athletic budget would need to grow from the current $11 million a year to as much as $23.4 million, depending on which NCAA participation level the university chooses, the report said. The figures don't include the cost of new facilities. The report assumed a startup date of next June, when the university would notify the NCAA of its intentions to implement a football program.

The results aren't surprising to Athletic Director Chasse Conque because he's been working with the consultants, he said.

"It's good to see the report," he said. "It's been a lot of work on a campus-community collaboration."

The university last played football in 1955, when the school was called Little Rock Junior College. Talk of reviving the program sprung up sporadically, most recently last year when students presented Chancellor Andrew Rogerson with a petition of 1,000 signatures supporting the idea.

The university posted an online survey and sent questionnaires to about 90,000 students, staff, alumni, business leaders, donors and corporate sponsors in February to gauge support for the idea, including whether that includes financial support.

The Tuesday study didn't give recommendations but said the difference between the university's athletics budget and those of comparable schools heightens the challenges in starting a football program.

"The real work is now," Conque said. "What we wanted from the firm was unbiased facts, and you have to acknowledge the price tag and the investment needed."

The consultant was paid $125,000 for the study by the Arkansas Departments of Parks and Tourism, the city of Little Rock and the university, through private funds in the athletic department.