WMS deal a poor compromise
The recently announced agreement for the Arkansas Razorbacks to meet the Missouri Tigers every other year at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock is a compromise in every sense of the word.
It is not an idea many Arkansans considered. It prevents — well, delays, really — the end of Razorback games in Little Rock and keeps the program connected to its statewide roots.
Unfortunately, everywhere you look, the agreement is littered with downfalls. The new plan just does not solve existing issues with the university and the program’s relationship with the rest of the state.
Unless Arkansas announces a plan for other games, a decades-long streak of Razorback games at War Memorial Stadium will come to an end in
2020. The same will occur in
2022 and 2024.
The 70-year-old stadium is by far the worst “home” football facility in the Southeastern Conference, which is completely understandable. SEC football is an arms race. Most of the league’s teams have renovated and upgraded their stadiums in recent years.
Even Vanderbilt is likely to move into a new, smaller stadium as part of an agreement with the new Major League Soccer club in Nashville, Tenn. The Commodores have the only stadium with a current capacity less than War Memorial’s, but their new stadium will be packed with modern amenities wholly absent in Little Rock.
The university’s previous agreements to play in the state capital grew more tenuous in recent years as Arkansas scheduled lowly opponents and moved all SEC games to Fayetteville, save for the annual game against Texas A&M in Dallas. Attendance waned not only as a result of the perceived mistreatment of fans in the rest of the state, but also from the belief the university no longer cares about the rest of the state. Many fans assert the state’s flagship’s institution only cares about Northwest Arkansas.
Dig only slightly deeper, and it is clear this is not the case. Recruiters and affiliates of every level of the University of Arkansas System scour the state for students and supporters. Coaches and administrators visited groups and Razorback Clubs throughout the state.
The University of Arkansas System operates college and university campuses in Batesville, Fort Smith, Hope, Little Rock, Monticello, Pine Bluff and Texarkana, among others. I assure you they do no want to sever ties with the rest of the state or alienate fans from their most high-profile program.
The basketball and baseball teams have no problem playing games in Little Rock. The competitive and recruiting impact of moving one game each year during their schedules away from Fayetteville is nonexistent. The drop-off in venue quality and fan experience is minimal between Bud Walton Arena and Baum Stadium to Verizon Arena and Dickey-Stephens Park.
And the financial burden is nowhere near as steep.
Hunter Yurachek, the university’s new athletic director, has repeatedly asserted the decision to move games from Little Rock would be an easy one if it was merely about “dollars and cents.” The former athletic director for the University of Houston has taken concerted steps to take a less corporate or financially-driven approach than his predecessor, Jeff Long. The new agreement is very much a response to Long’s leadership and views on playing at War Memorial Stadium.
But the athletic program loses $4 million every time the Razorbacks play a football game in Little Rock instead of Fayetteville. That is no small amount as Arkansas works to keep pace in the SEC arms race. No need to
address the recent expansion of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium. That entire debate has been thoroughly covered in the past several years.
Yurachek said he does not believe in separating “revenue sports” from “non-revenue sports” or “Olympic sports” from traditional sports. His job is to care about all 19 programs in Fayetteville.
The reality is revenue from the football and basketball programs helps build a football center, an academic center, renovations to Baum Stadium, renovations to Randal Tyson Track Center and bolster the Blessings Golf Club to host state, regional and national events. It’s all about profile and recruiting.
No football player is committing to Arkansas to play one game every other year in Little Rock.
The Razorbacks will eventually stop playing games at War Memorial Stadium, whether it be in favor of moving all home games to Fayetteville or playing at a new stadium built in Little Rock. The new agreement only works to prolong this separation and increase the tenuous nature of the relationship.
The main objective of keeping games in Little Rock was supposed to improve this relationship.
Again, the compromise looks like a decent deal at face value, but it is a poorly designed arrangement. The Missouri games are currently scheduled during the same seasons in which Arkansas is officially listed as the home team in their games against A&M at Jerry Jones’ AT&T Stadium.
That means the Razorbacks will only have two home SEC games at their newly renovated stadium in three of the next six seasons.
Another aspect of the compromise that appeared to be beneficial is that Arkansas will hold its annual Red-White spring game at War Memorial Stadium in the years when the Razorbacks travel to Missouri. Then, I read someone else explain how the Red-White game is the most valuable recruiting opportunity during the spring, bringing recruits to campus to experience the home facilities and the fan support.
The fan rejection of the “Battle Line Rivalry” between Arkansas and Missouri is another factor. I think the series will grow more intense each year, but the fabricated rivalry has not connected with fans. And Missouri is just not the same profile as an LSU or Ole Miss.
The compromise fails to boost recruiting, revenue or even relations with fans in south and east Arkansas who feel neglected. I think a better solution could have been found.