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Arkansas Sports Raffle Act Passes House Committee on Second Try

Raffle bill now goes to the House floor for a vote on bill that could help fundraising efforts they need

Daniel Shi

Arkansas Razorbacks athletics director Hunter Yurachek on the field at Razorback Stadium in pregame before the Hogs played the Tennessee Volunteers.
Arkansas Razorbacks athletics director Hunter Yurachek on the field at Razorback Stadium in pregame before the Hogs played the Tennessee Volunteers. / Michael Morrison-Hogs on SI Images
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FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The House Rules Committee in the Arkansas State Legislature passed the Arkansas Sports Raffle Act (House Bill 1634) by voice vote Wednesday.

The bill would allow universities to conduct in-house raffles to help with fundraising efforts. It is the second attempt at establishing raffles after HB1044 failed to get out of committee.

Rep. RJ Hawk (R-Bryant), the lead sponsor of the bill, opened for the bill in committee by outlining the ways in which the funds that are garnered from the raffle can be used.

"This bill is going to allow for our universities in the state of Arkansas to have raffles," Hawk said. "To use them at their sporting events for NIL, scholarships, general athletic revenue, or even for construction of facilities or maintenance."

The entire hearing took less than 30 minutes, with no questions being asked from any of the committee members to both Hawk and co-sponsor Rep. Matthew J. Shepherd (R-El Dorado). Shepherd was not involved in the initial bill.

Most of the remaining 30 minutes consisted of testimony from Carlton Saffa, chief market officer at Saracen Casino Resort. Saffa testified against HB1044 but now testified for HB1634.

Saffa opened by stating that "on balance" it was a "good bill" but cautioned legislators about the potential shortcomings of the legislation.

The biggest point of contention that appeared to be in direct opposition to Rep. Hawk's opening statement was whether or not the raffle could be used to pay for NIL and called for an audit, something that is already required of other charity raffles under Amendment 84 of the Arkansas Constitution. Saffa points to the direct language of Amendment 84 and a 2007 Attorney's general as precedent for

"What we're talking about here is this strange game of twister where we're going to use this account to pay this guy and this guy is not affiliated with this and we can use this to go over here," Saffa said. "Without any ability to audit what is going on in these accounts, we're opening ourselves to a can of worms."

Saffa also pulled no punches about his specific concerns with the Razorback Foundation.

"Everyone in this room knows how famously secret the foundations in Fayetteville are," Saffa said. "They will do everything that can to go to court to avoid sharing information."

Even the bill sponsors conceded in closing that the bill is not the most efficient way to raise funds, but the bill passed without issue this time.

"I agree with Mr. Saffa," The expectations have to be somewhat tempered. This is not the bill if you were going to write a bill on a blank piece of paper as to how to raise money for sports through a raffle, this wouldn't be a bill you drafted. But if you're writing a bill that complies with the Arkansas Constitution, then I believe that this is the best bill that we could come up with."

The bill now heads to the House floor for a full vote.

HOGS FEED:

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• Calipari's Hogs grab monumental win, should end bubble talk

• Hogs pick up critical win over Vandy; Keep tourney hopes alive

• Legislators take second shot at passing Arkansas Raffles Act

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Daniel Shi
DANIEL SHI

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