Legislators Take Second Shot at Passing Arkansas Raffles Act

Razorbacks, state schools wait as state capitol tries again to get 50/50 raffles up and running

Arkansas Razorbacks athletics director Hunter Yurachek calling the Hogs at a basketball game against Texas A&M. | Craven Whitlow-Hogs on SI Images

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — Take two. State Rep. RJ Hawk (R-Bryant) filed a new bill Friday afternoon to try and jumpstart a raffle for Arkansas schools to help with funding in a new era of college athletics.

House Bill 1634, still named the "Arkansas Sports Raffle Act" is the second attempt to start a 50/50 raffle after House Bill 1044 failed to get out of committee.

You can read about the key testimony from among others, Arkansas Athletics director Hunter Yurachek that ultimately sunk the bill here.

The new bill has a few major key differences. The bill makes explicitly clear that any raffle will be proctored under the guidelines of Amendment 84 of the Arkansas Constitution, an amendment passed in 2007 that regulates charity bingo and raffles.

You can read the language of Amendment 84 here.

"A raffle conducted under this chapter is governed by Arkansas Constitution, Amendment 84."

House Bill 1634

Another key difference is the difference in language of who is allowed to conduct these raffles.

House Bill 1044 specifically outlined that casinos cannot operate on behalf of the schools, but HB1634 has much more broader language on who is not allowed to run a raffle.

The new bill bans all third parties, meaning that the universities will have to produce the logistics to operate by themselves.

"A third party shall not conduct or otherwise administer a raffle on behalf of a qualifying organization."

House Bill 1634

You can read both the old version of the bill and the new version in full.

Another key change is that the secretary of the Department of Finance and Administration has been given jurisdiction to set rules on the raffle and address the geolocation and age verifications that were raised during the initial committee hearing.

Perhaps the two biggest changes comes away from the particulars of the bill. First, former Speaker of the House, Matthew J. Shepherd (R-El Dorado) is a new cosponsor on the bill.

Second, Carlton Saffa, chief market officer at Saracen Casino Resort, will testify in favor of HB1634 after testifying against HB1044.

In an interview with Razorbacks on Sports Illustrated, Saffa says that the scope that the two bills covers is vastly different.

Because the bill specifically outlines Amendment 84, Saffa says that the new bill restricts the ability to directly pay players. Saffa points to the verbatim language of the amendment.

"No receipts shall be used to compensate in any manner any person who works for or is in any way affiliated with the authorized bingo and raffles organization."

Amendment 84

He also points to an opinion authored by then-Attorney General Dustin McDaniel in 2007, answering a hypothetical about whether a janitor could receive compensation from the proceeds of a raffle that his organization ran. You can read the full opinion here.

"I will note that the language of the prohibition restricts the receipt of compensation to any person 'in any way affiliated with' the organization.(Emphasis added). In my opinion, the phrase 'in any way' has the effect of expanding the phrase 'affiliated with' to its broadest reasonable meaning."

Dustin McDaniel, Former Arkansas AG

The bill, however still includes language for the possibility that players could be paid. That language from HB1044 remains unchanged. All seven subsections of what the funds can be allocated towards are the same in both bills.

"Compensation of a student-athlete for the commercial use of his or her publicity rights in accordance with the Arkansas Student-Athlete Publicity Rights Act."

Although it remains a possibility, Saffa maintains that fans should not expect to see money from these raffles go towards the NIL arm of the athletic department, something that will be a key part of his testimony in front of the committee Wednesday.

"Amendment 84's language with affiliation and compensation prohibitions makes it unlikely to happen," Saffa said. "Regardless of what is in the bill. Given the strict and broad definitions in Amendment 84 coupled with historic interpretations of it, we have a clear obligation to be clear that it's highly likely these raffles will never fund NIL."

Saffa still believes that on balance that the bill will help the universities with general funding and help Arkansas schools as they continue to adapt, but also believes that more work needs to be done to specifically address NIL.

The committee hearing is scheduled for 12 p.m. Wednesday and will be streamed live here.

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