I’m totally against it.
I’m aware of that, but they’re on about the same competitive level as UAPB or Alcorn St. Until now we didn’t play UCA or ASU, either. If we’re gonna do it, play every Arkansas college team who wants the payday. Just play one per year in a rotation.
Could someone please explain why the media seem to push this agenda so hard? Most of us fans I would say don’t want the games. Is Stephens Inc doing the pushing?
I think people like —ally —all think it’d sell more papers or gives them more to talk about on the radio. Personally I distinguish between “sports fans” and “razorback fans.” Some people think the one week of excitement for an instate game instead of a week playing some rent-a-win is good for “the state.” I don’t. Some people still buy the “keep the money in state” idea because they don’t understand as much money comes in to the state when ASU plays a money game out of state as goes out when we pay a rent-a-win.
What the Razorbacks need to do is win. If we do that, fans will come to the games. HS kids will want to play for them.
(btw, I know we haven’t even beaten “rent-a-wins” the last couple of years. I hope those years have been an aberration
Don’t buy what? That more people will purchase tickets to Arkansas v Arkansas State than Arkansas v UL Monroe? Have you seen attendance lately?
I’m not saying your opinion on whether Arkansas should play Arkansas State is wrong. It’s an opinion. But to say there are no good reasons is untrue. There are valid reasons.
What are you basing that on? Same people that think Texas is our rival?
I’m basing it on the truth as I see it not how you see it!!
Really doesn’t bother me if the Hogs play any of the instate D1 programs in any sport. I would say the only stipulation should be that all games would be in Fayetteville or Little Rock/North Little Rock to ensure better revenue than could be generated at any of their facilities.
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8 wins in the past 3 years is the attendance problem. I get it. You think having a different opinion than you makes your option valid.
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Would rather play an out of state team that brings money into the State of Arkansas & from an area that would help our recruiting - perhaps Tulsa or SMU.
Perhaps Missouri St in a couple of years after Petrino has worn out his welcome or has another scandal & is long gone.
The writing is on the wall. Everything that Yurachek has done is in a sequence leading to complete instate play. The media is for it, ASU, is certainly for it, and other UA administrators who aren’t from the state are for it.
It’s going to be huge for ASU. The other instate schools won’t matter much.
If Arkansas doesn’t get its football program back up to speed quickly, and it loses to an ASU, then it could easily create a scenario where major financial backers could switch allegiances. Or, at the very least diminish their support of UA, while dramatically increasing that towards ASU.
That would be the nail in the coffin for any hope of competing in football in the SEC. But, there are many more folks than you think who would be more excited at a UA-ASU matchup every year than that of an Arkansas-LSU matchup. And, no, I’m not exaggerating.
It’s going to happen. And, UA will gain nothing out of it. But, ASU will potentially transform its entire athletic program. And, that will make the media and ASU supporters ecstatic.
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No doubt that lack of wins is a huge issue. But playing Ark State, regardless of records, will increase attendance. If you can’t believe that then you’re being obtuse.
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I suspect another benefit of playing Ark State would be that it would not require paying them $750,000 to play the game like it does other non con opponents.
After paying off Morris and Bielema, that can’t be understated.
There’s no doubt we’d sell more tickets for an ASU matchup—at least for the first one. However, until about 2 years ago that was no issue at all. And let’s not confuse attendance with tickets sold. The increase in ticket revenue for one game is really negligible compared to our budget. If short term revenue were the most important thing, we’d never play a game in Little Rock.
As for having to pay ASU less than $750,000, well, that might be true at first. They’d accept a lower amount than most just to get their foot in the door. The longterm benefit for them is to be “the other big school” in the state. To get as much media coverage, to get as many fans, to get as many donations. All the things that would come pretty much at our expense. Will they completely catch us or surpass us? Not likely, but they don’t have to catch us to damage us. All they have to do is go from 10% of the state’s support to something like 25% or more. We don’t have the resources of LSU or Alabama. We need the one major asset we now enjoy—a monopoly of our state’s sports-fans’ attention.
I don’t know if Louisville’s rise came about because UK started playing them, but I know Louisville was a nobody in football until after it began playing UK. Ole Miss & MSU have played each other for years & are essentially equals in that state. If one of them were the program in Mississippi, it’d be one of the predominant programs in the SEC.
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Arkansas has Missouri State scheduled for 2022.
No Sun Belt team is going to be the “other big school in the state”
The resources are not there
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Simple math, if we stomp them everything is fine… the coach that loses to ASU better get his real estate agent busy putting his house on the market because his employment rope just turned into a thread. No coach in his right mind would want that kind of pressure for an ongoing non-conference game.
No doubt Petrino will be highly motivated.
If we help them enough, they won’t have to stay in the Sunbelt. I hope you’re right, but it’s not a chance I think we should take. Anything they take from us is something we don’t need to lose
No, not initially. But, over time the dominance that UA has to support its infrastructure via big time donators can easily be watered down via instate competition.
The ASU people have always known this. Their hand in that financial pocket can ask for a higher share of the money given to UA normally if for no other reason, fairness.
Then 10-15-20 years from now, ASU starts getting 20-30-40 percent of the money that in the past flowed directly to Fayetteville. Then UA can no longer keep up (or try to keep up) with elite SEC schools.
ASU has no designs on remaining a Sun Belt school. Their ambition is a P5 Conference. The only way they can achieve that is to increase their athletic revenue exponentially. Easiest way to do that? What you see in front of you.
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