Gov. Sanders goes on air, makes case to Northwest Arkansas for giving up game

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Arkansas Gov. Sarah Huckabee-Sanders took to the radio again Tuesday morning in an effort to convince those living in Northwest Arkansas that it is in their best interest to allow Little Rock to host one of the Razorbacks' game yearly against Arkansas State.

"I think growing up in Arkansas, growing up in a Razorback fan, is a unique one, and it's special to our state, and something I hope we don't lose," Gov. Sanders said. "And based off of what I saw this weekend as well, I think that the rest of the state, in what we hear, and you know, people we talk to, they're hungry to see a game in Little Rock continue, and a match-up between UA-ASU showed out to be, I think, one of the most energetic crowds we've had in a really long time. And I think it is a great way to celebrate football season and bring all of our state together and just a really fun time of fellowship and football."

One of the biggest arguments against not continuing in Little Rock is the millions that will be lost in revenue at a time when scraping together every penny possible to make player payroll for revenue sharing obligations is a must. For Gov. Sanders, her solution is the state will find a way to make it work.

"We usually pay one of those other schools anywhere from $800,000 to north of a million," Gov. Sanders said. "I think we can do it for less. The travel is also much smaller, so that cost is lower if we sell out every single ticket like we did on Saturday. The energy that I saw on Saturday in Little Rock was infinitely better, and the stadium was infinitely more full than the game the week before on Saturday in Fayetteville. And so I don't know if you went to both games, but there was a noticeable difference in the number of empty seats. And I think if we keep that momentum up and don't lose it, then we can figure out a way to make the money side work out throughout some of the negotiation, and that's really what this is. Let's bring both teams to the table. Let's negotiate and see if we get can get to a place that it makes sense. Nobody's looking to hurt either school and not make this something that's a win for everybody, but I also think it's a big win for the state."

Gov. Sanders emphasized the visual of seeing empty seats at Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville for the game against Alabama A&M while there were no major gaps at War Memorial. While it's accurate from a visual standpoint, the official paid attendance in Fayetteville was 70,827 while the game against Arkansas State generated 54,224 in paid attendance, a difference of 16,603 tickets sold in favor of Razorback Stadium.

The other area of concern was last Saturday was supposed to be a special, one time event. It was a chance to supposedly say goodbye to War Memorial Stadium and its history while also seeing the first ever game against Arkansas State in almost impossibly perfect weather for this time of year. That meant higher attendance that would be hard to replicate with just a normal, run of the mill regular season game against the Red Wolves.

"I think it's good for people from around the state to have access to Razorback games, and not everybody can afford to take the weekend and go to Fayetteville," Gov. Sanders said. "You know you're coming from Texarkana or El Dorado or Lake Village or West Memphis or Jonesboro, it's a lot harder to get to Fayetteville, but you may be able to get to Little Rock and you can get back home. You're not paying the cost of a hotel either, to stay overnight."

One game she wants to potentially target is the Thanksgiving week game when students are gone home in Fayetteville. However, right now, that is an SEC game against Missouri.

SEC games are forbidden to be played in Little Rock by the conference because of how poor and unreliable the facility is, which continued to show with internet issues throughout the game Saturday. Therefore, that would require convincing the SEC to allow the Razorbacks to move Arkansas State to the end of the season as a rivalry game and end the conference season a week early like Florida and South Carolina.

"I don't want to be overly prescriptive, but traditionally, the Thanksgiving game is really poorly attended in Fayetteville, and I think that doing this over Thanksgiving, where you have a lot of students from around the state that are home, helps us build out and make this game what we got to see on Saturday," Gov. Sanders said. "And another way that we helped replicate that level of attendance and enthusiasm. I mean, we've been playing, we've, out of the last, I think, 78 football seasons of the Razorback. Seventy-six of them have been played in War Memorial Stadium, and it's a tradition. I just hope we don't lose without at least having a really serious discussion about how we make it work."

Another argument in regard to continuing to play Arkansas State is the old Frank Broyles stance that the Razorbacks have nothing to gain from playing the Red Wolves. For Sanders, the thought is why should it matter if the Hogs lose to Arkansas State every now and then.

"I know some people are worried about what happens if they lose?" Gov. Sanders said. "I think the same argument could be made. What happens if they lose to Missouri State? What happens when they lose a UAB? Those are all things nobody wants to happen, but you're going to play a game 10 times, nine times they're going to win, once they might lose, but that's going to happen to one of those other outside of conference teams at some point. I'd rather keep the money, the excitement and building the fan base here in Arkansas."

She also had a response to the question of the damage playing in Little Rock does to recruiting. It guarantees Arkansas a week where not only are the Razorbacks not on television, but they can't have recruits in to visit.

"I don't think that you can make the argument that there's not some recruiting that can take place by seeing the crowd come together and cheer on two Arkansas teams and high school students that might not have the chance to go up to a Fayetteville game, may have the chance to get to a Little Rock game in a way that they wouldn't otherwise, and see the Razorbacks take on another team," Gov. Sanders said. "And I certainly think that the energy and the enthusiasm showed us that this is something that people want."

In the end, Gov. Sanders spent her 10 minutes making points that this is best for the state and the city of Little Rock. No real effort was made to make an argument as to how this is best for the Razorbacks football program.

That being said, she is the governor of the state and also has an innate responsibility to protect the capital city which also happens to be where she spent much of her childhood. Therefore, her perspective and reasoning for trying to keep the game there rather than at least playing the Red Wolves in Fayetteville makes sense.

"That opportunity to bring some tourism and excitement to our largest city, to our capital city, that frankly, the success of our capital city impacts all of our state," Gov. Sanders said. "And it matters for Fayetteville, it matters for Jonesboro. It matters for Mena, for Little Rock, to do well. And so it is a catalyst for many other things. And so I think that is a part of the conversation not to be ignored or left off of the table. But it also gives a neutral site to two Arkansas universities to come together, but still have a huge fan base in that location. And it allows, again, I think people from every corner of our state to come together to celebrate our state's two biggest universities, our two most competitive football programs, and do so in a way that benefits our entire state, including our capital city."

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