The March 1 deadline is looming.
Are you going to "Answer the Call" to empty your wallet out to the Razorback Foundation for the privilege to then empty it out some more to buy season tickets to Arkansas Razorbacks football games?
The University or Arkansas athletic department has priced most of the state out of the market by issuing a drastic increase in required donation levels required to buy season tickets, and ironically the most likely effect will be to eventually reduce the number of season tickets sold.
Why would you double and in some cases triple the amount you spend on season tickets when the games are never sold out and you can easily find tickets for only the games you want to see without having to sit through Louisiana-Monroe? Even if you want to buy season tickets at a higher price, the economics of this will force many fans to take this route, and eventually they will realize it is a better option and never be interested in season tickets again.
Maybe the accounting wizard in the AD's office has it figured out that they can make more money off the nouveau riche of northwest Arkansas as the average fans have to give up desired seating, but other than as a misguided attempt to grab more of the almighty dollar, which has become much more important in college athletics than winning or doing the right thing, I don't see how this plan ever came to fruition.
There are other things out there that provide a better value for the entertainment dollar. In Central Arkansas, take, for instance, the Arkansas Travelers. (The NWA Naturals do not apply because they are not supported as well and have competition with Razorback baseball.)
If purchased as part of a three-year plan, season box seats for the Travs are $400, and season reserved seats, which are just as good as the box seats, are $300.
Meanwhile, for just the two Razorback games at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, it costs $115 in required donation for a seat on the 5-yard line that then costs another $120 for the two-game season ticket. That's $235 for one seat at two games, and one of those games will be a lame rent-a-win.
Compared to five months of baseball, I have to question the value of spending $235 for two football games versus $300 for 70 baseball games throughout the summer.
And that's not even taking the Fayetteville games into consideration. At Reynolds Stadium (they have sold out so much I'm not sure you can even call it Razorback Stadium any more), the required donation ranges from $300 for midfield privileges to $50 for upper deck.
So let's take $200 as the donation for our example because that is a level for lower-level seats around the 10-yard line as well as some of the best upper deck seats. Add to that about a $60 per ticket, and you are spending a total of $500 for one season ticket to five Fayetteville games. Since you aren't going alone, add another ticket and that's $1,000.
Then when you consider gas and hotel costs since most people going to those games are driving a considerable distance from across the state, I have to ask -- exactly who does the UA think can afford this plan???
Even as a University of Arkansas graduate, I think I'll take a summer of baseball instead.
-- Travelerocity reporter
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