It’s an old, trite country sayin’: “If you want to dance, you have to pay the fiddler.”
The “Answer the Call” initiative, featuring the cleverly named Razorback Seat Value Program (RSVP), was previewed in the recent athletic department annual report and detailed in full at a media event on Wednesday.
Rather than explaining to Arkansas fans why they should be happy finishing higher than 8th in the SEC, Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long has been busy during his time on The Hill focusing on finding more money for the athletic programs.
Whether it’s been through the consolidation of the men’s and women’s athletic departments, revamping the old Arkansas Razorbacks Sports Network, changing leadership at the Razorback Foundation, or adding ribbon boards to Bud Walton Arena and Razorback Stadium — the common denominator has been bringing in more cash to fund the athletic programs.
While some Razorback fans may complain about the seat license increases, the question on the table is, “Do you really want to dance?”
To bring the question into clearer focus — “Do Razorback fans want to have a ‘big-time’ football program?”
In order to have a nationally competitive football program, you must have both broad and strong financial support. Under Frank Broyles, the approach was based on a few huge donors with a broad number of very small donors within the Razorback Foundation.
What do I mean by “broad and small” as compared to “broad and strong?” Well…$150 for a 50-yard line seat license at Arkansas versus $1,300 for a 50-yard line seat license at Alabama is a pretty good example. Even Vandy charged more than the Hogs.
Besides bringing in less money to the program, the low, low price for maintaining seat location meant that Foundation members willing to pony (or should that be hog?) up more donation money could not be rewarded with better seat locations. Why bother giving more if you don’t get anything for it?
The new RSVP program is just the beginning to finding out the real willingness on the part of Hog fans to give to the program.
To really bring the question into crystal clear focus — “Do Razorback fans want to keep Bobby Petrino?”
It’s pretty simple. Bobby Petrino is going to coach somewhere that gives him the chance to not only win the National Championship once, but to win it multiple times. If Arkansas can be that place, we can keep him. If Arkansas fans are not going to provide the ongoing support to make that possible, we are going to lose him.
We’ve seen what buying coaches on the cheap (and not being able to afford sending them away) has done to the Razorback basketball program.
Sorry to be the one to bring the news, but players play for coaches, not schools. If a school can afford to have the kind of coach that attracts quality student athletes, then they can afford everything else the player is looking for, as well.
If the school doesn’t have all the other stuff (locker room, training room, educational opportunities and facilities, practice facilities, stadium) that a player is looking for, then it probably won’t have a coach that outstanding student athletes want to play for anyway.
To coin another country sayin’, “It’s time to fish or cut bait.” How the Arkansas fans respond to this initial phase of a fundraising initiative that will go on for years to come will be critical to the future of the program.
"We’ve seen what buying coaches on the cheap (and not being able to afford sending them away) has done to the Razorback basketball program."
The lost decade (and the football program, I would add. You can see what investing in Petrino has done for the football program in three years. He has set a foundation already and is building it bigger and stronger by the year. We simply can't afford not to give him any money he can really use.)
Obviously, it's past time to move forward. The SEC is the king of college athletics. Now is the time to invest. These increases are probably too small but, in this economic climate, in a small state as poor as Arkansas, you can see why they structured it the way they did. Big Fish, Small Pond.
I would love to see the numbers for season ticket sales across the conference instead of just dollar figures. We compete very well dollar for dollar.
It seems that the way to fix all the woes of our economy, and sports programs is to shovel money at the problems. Arkansas has a 60 million dollar athletic budget and needs more. TCU has a 43 million dollar budget and Boise State has a 25 million dollar budget and USA Today ranks both teams ahead of the University of Arkansas.
Agree with the concept but unfortuately, neither schools could survive in our league either.
The athletic budget is more than football. Arkansas' athletic programs are multiple dimensional. With the exception of the baseball team this year, what other TCU sports team did well? How about Boise State?
It is sad to see that people do not look at the stats for TCU or Boise. TCU has a great baseball and tennis program. Boise also produced strong results in many other sports and out ranked good old Arkansas in several sports. But if spending money is the object just keep on spending. I am sure Arkansas can spend its way to a many more national championships. Look at Arkansas track. It has won many national championships and has always had more funding and support then all other schools that have track. Oh, I am sorry, we did more with less and won. It is sad to believe that money is the answer. I hope the fans that can not afford to come watch the games understand that only the people that pay huge amounts of money should watch the Razorbacks play in the stadium that belongs to the wealthy.
I think it's sad that folks want to complain when there is not a quality product, but aren't willing to pay for it. The other alternative is to raise state taxes to fund a budget increase. I'd argue there are better ways to spend tax dollars in Arkansas.
The bottom line is we all have a choice. We can choose to not pay, or you can choose to save up an extra $100 or so to keep your tickets (assuming you already have some). This is about saving $2-5 a week, which is a few cups of coffee, half a pack of cigarettes, half a six pack, or a McDonalds happy meal.
Nothing is free folks.
I couldn't agree more with this post. If we want to be big time, we have to provide the funding for it. This is a business, and business can't grow without capital to create more capital. Something that hasn't been well documented in this push is that big time programs bring in big time money from things outside of ticket sales like BCS bowl payments, merch sales, prime time specials on ESPN (see the Focus on Bama hour long special that's been airing on ESPN), sponsorships, the list goes on and on.
We finally have a great opportunity to take the next step to become more than a lower tier SEC team – and we all need to face that this is the perception outside of the state of Arkansas. However, we have to compete for the SEC title this year to gain any funding momentum. If the Hogs have an unsuccessful year in the eyes of the fans, this increase is going nowhere.
Boy, tons could be said about Arkansas' image nationally and throughout the SEC. Bobby's exciting offense and winning can make us a media darling in the short run but, it is also an important foundation for recruiting and long term success.
I love what Bobby is doing with recruiting high character kids and good students. He has a great formula for building a program. Facilities are very important. Great kids are important. Making all that work and win depends on a committment to excellence and AN EXCITING BRAND OF FOOTBALL. Frank and Hooties statistical play-not-to-lose approach was ultimately a recipe for mediocrity on and off the field. Frank could explain it very well, and he was right about being wrong.
Players, fans and media love BobbyBall. I hope we never lose it. I wish Basketball would take a clue.
I don't have a problem that premium seats cost more. When sitting in the endzone where you already pay a 20 dollar premium for a chairback, I am not sure that a required donation is needed. I would say make the fifty yardline tickets a ton. To say that there are seats that don't require a donation and they are last rows in upper deck or student/visitor section is a little misleading. I say it should be the same at a movie theatre, parking lot at Wal-Mart and ability to comment on this website.
Now, after that, I understand the need to pay a donation to get season tickets, I just don't agree with the way they spread it out.
Day for my family of five goes from 65 * 5 to 95 * 5 (assuming five games). So 325 vs 475 or for the season 1625 vs 2375. I think that will buy a mighty fine TV and plenty of beer.
Nah, I'll still be at the games. Although I will sell the nonconference games and only attend the conference games to keep my price the same.
So with all this extra money, I expect John Pelphrey to be fired by the end of the day and baseball tickets to go up 10 dollars a game.
We HAVE to keep Bobby. College football is all about recruits. The best recruits in the country are thinking about how they can go somewhere and get NFL ready. With Pete Carroll leaving USC, Bobby Petrino may be the Offensive Coach in NCAA. Saban has a great hold on Defense.. but we got REALLY lucky to land Petrino – right place, right time. Now, Fayetteville is a great place to live. The SEC is the conference for a college coach. If the fans are serious about a desire to compete for an SEC Championship and going to BCS bowls – RIGHT NOW is the time.
Someone on DTS said we need "Fort Petrino" and that is absolutely right. He needs ownership here. He needs an anchor here in Arkansas. We need to do whatever it takes to make Bobby feel like an Arkansan. We bust our way into a BCS game this year – get a lot of media attention from Mallet's He15man run, get a great recruiting class, and show Bobby that we are serious about giving him whatever he needs to win – then we can establish ourselves as a top program and he won't want to leave.
On a related note: I HATE MORE THAN ANYTHING opening up my mailbox, pulling out my Sports Illustrated and have 3 Burnt Orange Texans growling at me with "The Longhorns have the defense to win it all". Our defense MUST step up. They have to overachieve this year. We must get defense recruits as well. I'm not so excited about building a "Willy's Rodeo" unless they really show up. Every game can't be a shootout.
And to the people moaning about the bump in price – I know you have had 50 yard tickets since 1972… maybe it's time to sit at home on your Lazyboy and watch on TV. I will gladly pay for the upgrade. I think a lot of people are sitting by ready to upgrade closer to the middle of the field.
Go Hogs! Beat Georgia!
Haven't read all of this but I'm not interested in particapting. As much as I love to watch them play, I'm NOT a fan of using tax dollars for pro stadiums… this just rubs me the wrong way.
So, paying for the right to buy season tickets… just as much rubs me the wrong way. If possible, I'll still buy without the extra fee… if not, I'll find them on the street… heck, it probably cost me much less to do this… might not be a bad plan after all.
I just have a hard time understanding how 85% of the seats should pay extra. I don't care where I sit… just as long as I get a seat without being broke!
you better check the ticket market before you go with that strategy owasso. the Bama game is going for over $125 a piece for the cheap seats. Your 'right to buy a seat' (which has actually been in place for years…now it's just going up significantly) will cost you less than to go to one game this year. And if the Hogs do well this year, it's gonna get worse. your on the street ticket budget better be pretty robust.
Game time at the stadium prices are always cheaper than stub hub.
maybe not this year or for the next couple
Could be out of luck for a few games over the new few years… I'm willing to take that chance. I've got other options that will work vs. paying the blood money for the "right". 85% of the seats with a premium??? Come on… that's just not right!
I have never walked up to the stadium and missed out on getting a ticket. Never paid face value either. People aren't going to eat them and most people are not willing to walk up to the stadium and take a chance.
Soupdog:
If the 'Backs do as well as predicted, you are correct. My son got me tickets for three games (one at Arlington) at 130 a pop. He's looking for tickets for the Bama game but is not having any luck. If Arkansas wins it first games, including Georgia, I'm thinking 500 or more for the same seats, and not at the game. Might as well make plans for making friends with a tailgater and watching the game outside the stadium.
It may be necessary for some UofA fans to pay these kind of ticket prices to stay competitive in the SEC, but rest assured, it won't be for everyone.
Sadly, I am of the majority who won't be able to afford these kind of ticket prices. As a mattter of fact, it's almost impossible to even afford one game such as Tennessee Tech for my family of 3. (This would be myself, along with my 2 sons)
I understand the benefits for the program in the longrun, but unfortunately, most fans like me will have to view the progression of the football program from the livingroom recliner.
I'm actually with you Gonzo. It's just gotten out of my price range the past few years too. It's worse for me since I live out of state and have to pay for gas, hotel, etc when I can catch a game.
While it's disappointing for sure, it's not realistic to think that ticket prices and donation levels will stand still for the fans, just like every other product in the world. Milk, bread, clothes, the list goes on….when it costs more to produce a product, the prices have to go up to continue to deliver quality. College athletics are no different.
I'm just thankful we play in a conference that can provide it's own TV network and have all the games on national TV in some form or fashion. It would really suck if I couldn't afford tickets AND couldn't watch on TV. At least the University has found a way to get the games to the fans that may not be able to afford the price of admission.