FAYETTEVILLE — Ticket prices for Arkansas’ home football games won’t increase in 2011, but holding on to the seats they have will go up for more than 9,000 fans with multiple season tickets.
Donations to secure spots in specific seating sections at Reynolds Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville and War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock will be raised, Arkansas and Razorback Foundation officials announced Wednesday.
Arkansas Athletic Director Jeff Long said a “conservative estimate” is the donation increase will provide an additional $5 million to help the Razorbacks close a fund-raising gap in comparison to most of their SEC competitors.
Long said Arkansas “cannot rest on the accomplishments” of former Arkansas athletic director Frank Broyles in terms of building firstrate facilities.
“Our competition has not sat still,” Long said. “They’ve continued to improve and continued to push to reach the standard that Arkansas set.The reality we have to face today is we’ve lost ground to many of our competitors in the SEC.”
Beginning in 2011, there will be seven levels of donations for Razorback Stadium seats, ranging from $300 to $50, and six levels for War Memorial Stadium, seats ranging from $160 to $75.
There will be 15 percent of the seats in both stadiums that don’t require a donation.
Arkansas officials noted the top donation level of $150 for seats has been in effect at least since Razorback Stadium was expanded and renovated for the 2001 season and currently is the SEC’s lowest for the 50-yard line.
Alabama tops the list with $1,300 for premium seats. Vanderbilt is 11th at $325.
“It’s become clear we need to move quickly,” Long said. “We can’t wait any longer.”
The increased donations system is being called the Razorback Seat Value Plan (RSVP), and details of the policy have been mailed to Arkansas’ 14,116 season-ticket holders.
Of those accounts, 4,509 won’t require an additional donation to retain their seats and 9,288 will require an increase, according to Arkansas’ news release. Of those who require an increase, 4,471 will have to pay $360 or more and 4,871 will have to play $350 or less.
Seat donation levels will remain the same for at least three years, through the 2013 season.
Wednesday’s announcement is part of a what Arkansas’ news release called a “multi-faceted decade-long comprehensive fundraising initiative.”
Long said he’s received “mixed” feedback from fans about the seat donation increase, but that he expects most will understand why it’s being done when they compare Arkansas’ budget to other SEC athletic departments.
Arkansas’ $60 million budget last year ranked ninth in the SEC, where the average was $75 million and the leaders were Tennessee ($98 million), Florida ($91 million), Alabama ($85 million) and Georgia ($80 million).
“We don’t like doing an increase ... but we feel as we assess where we are, where our fans want us to be, we’ve got move in that direction,” Long said.
The RSVP package mailed to season-ticket holders includes a 13-minute DVD of Long, several current and former Arkansas coaches and players talking about the program’s passion and urging fans to “answer the call” to support it.
Football Coach Bobby Petrino spoke bluntly in the DVD about Arkansas football facilities having “curbside appeal” - an apparent reference to Razorback Stadium - but requiring internal improvements, notably the cramped locker and training rooms.
“This is something that we need for recruiting,” Petrino said on the DVD. “The players we bring in for visits have four other visits that they take. We try to keep them out of our locker room ... where other schools we’re competing against, that’s the first thing they try to show them.”
Arkansas Associate Athletic Director Chris Wyrick will take a leave of absence from the athletic department for the next year and move to the Razorback Foundation to oversee the new donation plan. Wyrick’s athletic department duties will be divided among current staff members.
Wyrick said RSVP resulted from a committee studying 55 different donation plans at other schools and having more than 400 hours of discussions.
“This is an Arkansas plan. This isn’t a plan from X school or Y school,” Wyrick said. “Although we did study those schools and learn from the things that they had done, it was very important to us that our plan reflected the true values of Arkansas.”
Wyrick said the plan rewards loyalty by allowing fans to keep their current seats by meeting a specific donation level. It also allows fans to improve their seats if they increase their donations.
Long said the plan is being announced now to allow fans several months to make decisions about how they spend their money in support of the Razorbacks. There is a March 1, 2011, deadline for renewing tickets.
What it’ll cost
Minimum donations required for current ticketholders to maintain the same seating in 2011 at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville and War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock:
RAZORBACK STADIUM
$300 Midfield (sections 104 and 114) $250 West/east side (sections 103, 105, 113 and 115) $225 “Pig Heaven” west/east side (sections 502, 503, 504, 505, 506; sections 513, 514, 515) $200 Lower deck west/east side (sections 102, 106, 112); “Pig Heaven” west/east side (sections 500, 501, 507, 508; sections 509, 510, 511, 512, 516, 517, 518, 519); upper deck rows 1-12 east/west sides (sections 504 and 514) $150 South outdoor club (sections 217-229); south indoor club (sections 476-488); east outdoor club (sections 201-216); east indoor club (sections 330-344); “Red Zone” (sections 120-126) $100 Lower deck west side (sections 101, 107); upper deck east/west side rows 1-12 (sections 503 and 505; sections 513 and 515); “Red Zone II” (sections 118, 119, 127, 128. Note: Seats in section 128 don’t include seatbacks) $50 Upper deck west side rows 1-12 (sections 502 and 506) WAR MEMORIAL STADIUM $160 Midfield (sections 6 and 26) $145 East/west side (sections 5 and 7; sections 25 and 27) $125 East/west side (sections 4 and 8; sections 24 and 28) $115 East/west side (sections 3 and 9; sections 23 and 29) $95 East/west side (sections 2 and 10; sections 22 and 30) $75 South/north end zones (sections 16, 17, 18; sections 34, 35, 36 and 37).
Sports, Pages 17 on 08/12/2010