By Robbie Neiswanger
Arkansas News Bureau • rneiswanger@arkansasnews.com
FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas has helped fuel anticipation for the 2010 season with a two-word message on the football media guide: ‘Get Ready.’
But how are those expectations translating in 2010 football season ticket sales? Are Arkansas fans ready to spend at the ticket window?
Kevin Trainor, Arkansas’ associate athletic director for media relations and communications, said Tuesday the Razorbacks are ahead of last year’s pace in season ticket book sales. Trainor could not disclose the exact number, but noted a “two-percent” increase.
It sounds minimal. Trainor said Arkansas is pleased with the response, though. It comes even though ticket prices for all but the nonconference games in Fayetteville were increased for 2010.
“We’re certainly very encouraged with that,” Trainor said Tuesday evening. “The summer is generally a slow time, but we saw a big pick up last week with SEC Media Days. And as we get into football practice, we know it will continue.”
The general admission prices for all games was set at $45 in 2008. The amount for nonconference games in Razorback Stadium remains at $45, but three conference games now cost $55.
The nonconference game in Little Rock is set for $55. The regular season finale against LSU is $65.
Trainor said Arkansas has approximately 1,700 upper deck and 350 East indoor club ticket books remaining. There are approximately 475 season ticket books remaining in Little Rock.
The increase in ticket price is expected to net Arkansas roughly $3 million more for the 2010-11 fiscal year, according to the school’s athletic department budget. And it’s no secret football ticket sales are vital to the athletic department’s total revenue stream.
“As we address the future funding needs of our program to compete and succeed in the Southeastern Conference and nationally, it is essential that we take steps to enhance ticket revenue,” Arkansas athletic director Jeff Long said in February.
An annual report recently mailed by the Razorback Foundation to members continued to emphasize that point. Fifty-two percent of the athletic department’s revenue ($60.3 million) came from ticket sales in the 2010 fiscal year. Almost 75 percent of ticket sale revenue came from football.
It was one of several facts disclosed by the Razorback Foundation in its 32-page report. The guide was filled with language and statistics indicating Arkansas’ ongoing battle to stay financially competitive in the lucrative SEC.
The report highlights the fact Arkansas ranks ninth in the SEC in overall budget and emphasizes that the Hogs are $15.4 million below the SEC member average of $75.7 million. Charts and graphs put together by the Razorback Foundation also indicate Arkansas is seventh in the league in athletic foundation donors, eighth in football revenues, ninth in athletic foundation annual funds and last in athletic foundation endowments.
Even more, a section dissects the “cost to compete” and analyzes the minimum donations required for 50-yard-line seats at Arkansas. The $150 requirement is last in the SEC and well below frontrunners Alabama ($1,300), Tennessee ($1,250), Florida ($1,000), LSU ($950) and Ole Miss ($625).
So it’s no surprise the report included a message to fans on the final page: “For decades, Arkansas fans have Called the Hogs. In the coming months, the Hogs will be calling on you. It is our turn to answer the call!”
It is not known what the Razorback Foundation is planning specifically. Harold Horton, the foundation’s president, declined comment Tuesday.
But Arkansas chancellor David Gearhart stated how important the fanbase was in helping the athletic department remain “self-sustaining” in a letter to “Razorback Fans” on the first page of the Razorback Foundation’s annual report.
“The University of Arkansas takes great pride in the fiscal independence and responsibility maintained by Razorback Athletics,” Gearhart wrote. “Though the department’s careful management of resources is necessary to accomplish this, the truth is we couldn’t do it without the widespread and passionate support of our fans who show their enthusiasm week in and week out, year after year.”
