What are the advantages & benefits of Arkansas playing Missouri in KC?
Many have already questioned whether there are benefits of playing aTm in DFW, & endless discussions of benefits/disadvantages of playing off-campus in LR.
Does playing in KC help our recruiting? It is not a lucrative football market for recruits & much less benefit vs playing the aTm game in DFW where we heavily recruit. Seems that Mizzou is the beneficiary of playing in KC.
I would prefer to boost the Fayetteville & Arkansas economy & boost our on-campus exposure to recruits by playing at home rather than our money & fans benefiting U of Missouri’s home state.
Not the case at all. It’s Mizzou’s choice to play us in KC this year just like it’s our choice to play them in Little Rock next year. This is not a permanent neutral site like playing A&M in JerryWorld.
Missouri has the same trouble Arkansas has getting fans on campus Thanksgiving weekend. This is part of a multi-game agreement Missouri has with Arrowhead Stadium.
On a somewhat related subject, I’ve always thought Kansas City was overlooked from a recruiting standpoint. I think there are typically about 20 Division I football players who come out of the area every year, with most going to Missouri, Kansas or Kansas State.
Some great Razorbacks came from the Kansas City area. Steve Little, Tony Cherico and Greg Kolenda were All-Americans. And of course it has been widely noted that Arkansas missed on a great Kansas City-area recruit a few years ago, Isaiah Simmons.
It’s a different sport, but Dave Van Horn is from there and has had a lot of success recruiting there. Robert Moore, Isaiah Campbell and Ryne Stanek were from there, as were several others. Brady Slavens, who will play for the Razorbacks next season, is going to be the next great KC player at Arkansas.
I was a GA at the UA from 2014-16 and was surprised at the number of students I had from Kansas City. The university has put a lot of focus on recruiting the area from an academic standpoint.
It is the closest major metropolitan area to campus. It’s just more than three hours from Fayetteville to the southern KC suburbs, as opposed to close to five hours to the northern suburbs of Dallas. I’ve always been surprised we don’t see Arkansas recruiting more in that city.
Difficult to anticipate the attendance at UofA games at the upgraded Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville (& in Little Rock) when our football program has been at rock bottom for so many years. Anticipate CSP with new culture & coaches will change that.
SEC TV scheduling has a big negative impact on attendance - especially with day games scheduled in hot September & night games in cold November. Have missed the night games during cool evenings in the early Fall which made the 4 1/2 hr drives from DFW worthwhile. DFW drive used to be bumper-to-bumper with Hog fans making that commute.
Hope you are right about the benefits of recruiting in KC. Local Mizzou friends don’t get overly excited about football & acknowledge that Missouri is not a college football state or school, especially now with the success & focus on the Chiefs.
There seemed to be a lot of excitement about the program in 2015 when Arkansas finished second in the SEC West. The weather was not good and that Missouri team was bad, but the crowd for that game in 2015 was one of the smallest I’ve seen in Fayetteville. I think the attendance for that game played a significant role in moving the Missouri series to Little Rock.
Best & most memorable games in Fayetteville as a student & as an alumni were cold, rainy, &/or snowy. Much easier today with Hwy 49 & not having to navigate old Hwy 71 back in the dark ages & Razorback stadium bathrooms that were closed due to being frozen.
Believe that we were tied for 3rd in SEC West in 2015 with a 5-3 SEC record. It was a downhill slide over the next 4 seasons.
You’re right. It was a third-place tie in 2015. I had in mind that Arkansas tied Ole Miss for second after the win in Oxford that year. Ole Miss finished a game ahead in the standings.
Unfortunately, I think the proliferation of football on TV keeps people away more during non-ideal weather. Fans will brave the elements for big, important games. But a game between a couple of 6-4 non-rival teams on a rainy day in November? I tend to think most would prefer to watch it on TV along with all the other more important games that are televised around it.
Perhaps it’s just coincidental timing, but it seems the playoff has had an effect on attendance, too. If your team is out of playoff consideration, you might be less inclined to think your team’s games matter and stay home to watch the ones that do.
Yea, I remember that I stayed home and let my kids who were in from California use the tickets. I also remember it was Drew Locks first year and this was a “deer in the headlights” game for him. He certainly improved over the next couple of years.
The Arkansas/Texas A&M freezing rain game (late 70’s early 80’s) in Fayetteville was a mess. We were miserable. Me and my brother in law stayed to watch the Aggie band at halftime and watched the rest in my Nephews dorm room.
That was either '80 under Holtz or '84 & Hatfield’s 1st season at AR. aTm games in mid November were always cold.
I drove 9 hrs & 500+ miles with aTm friends from Houston for that '84 game. It was perfect football weather at kick-off clear & cool, raining & just above freezing to start the 2nd half, & snow & ice by the 4th Qtr with threats of 71 being closed. Great memory & weather for football. I enjoyed it despite the cold especially since we won 28-0.
Me and a buddy of mine were at that game. It was miserable, had to crack the ice off your jeans at the knees when you stood up. We stayed until the end of the 3rd then bailed. One of the very few Razorback games, of any sport, that I’ve left early.
Daddy and I were at that game. It was so cold. Daddy (who lost his right hand in a WWII training accident) had forgotten to bring a glove. He got really cold and was shaking at one point.
I remember getting a “hot” drink (either coffee or cocoa) that was barely lukewarm. The Aggie band was wonderful! And no, we didn’t leave early.
