The University of Arkansas at Little Rock announced Wednesday plans to study the costs of a football program and marching band after students petitioned administrators in favor of the sport.
The university, along with the city of Little Rock and the state Department of Parks and Tourism, will start looking for a firm to do the analysis, according to a news release. Once a firm is found and the study begins, it will take about six to seven months to complete, putting a tentative end date in the spring of 2018, the release said.
The university, city and state agency will fund the study equally. Money from the university will come from the athletic department's private funds, the release said. A total cost estimate was not stated.
The plan is to nail down exact figures on both a startup and annual cost for Little Rock football, officials said.
The decision comes after a group of students gave administrators a petition with 1,000 signatures in favor of football, according to the release.
“Since that time, I’ve heard from many other students, alumni, community members, and business leaders who have expressed their interest in a Division I football program in greater Little Rock,” Chancellor Andrew Rogerson said in a statement. “As a scientist, I have a high regard for data, so conducting an objective study seems like the right approach.”
Little Rock Mayor Mark Stodola expressed support for the program, stating he believed that a football team "would be yet another opportunity for our citizens, students, and alumni to rally behind our university."
"However, we want to make sure that the economic and community potential that many of us perceive with a football and marching band program actually plays out on paper," the mayor said in the release.
Arkansas Parks and Tourism Director Kane Webb stated that War Memorial Stadium would be a "natural, ideal home" for the UALR Trojans if the study determines that football is feasible.
"The timing of this is good, too, as the stadium is currently undergoing an outside study of its own to help us best plan for the future," he said in a statement.
The Trojans have been in Division I athletics since the late 1970s. The university has been a member of the Sun Belt Conference since 1992, which would provide a "clear path" to Football Bowl Subdivision membership, the release said.
UALR is one of two full-member universities in the Sun Belt Conference that does not currently host a football team, the other being the University of Texas at Arlington.
While the school was known as Little Rock Junior College, the Trojans fielded a football team until the 1955 season. The team won the 1949 Junior Rose Bowl over Santa Ana, earning it a national championship, according to the release.
Read Thursday's Arkansas Democrat-Gazette for full details.