Arkansas Athletics Department Knows Fans Will Pay Despite Posts

Even financially strapped Arkansans who will never see game in person will abandon charities to offer tribute to Razorbacks' new NIL collective

Author:
Kent Smith
Updated:
Nov 28, 2023 2:53 PM EST
Original:
Nov 28, 2023

In this story:

Arkansas Razorbacks

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Over the past few weeks there has been a lot of bluster among Razorback fans in regard to the football program and the administrators who oversee it.

So many people put out public statements about how they weren't going to give a dime toward the athletics program since no one bent to their will and fired Sam Pittman. Never mind that half the presents under the tree are Razorback memorabilia and there's tickets of some sort to Arkansas basketball or baseball tucked away in the stocking and everyone will be crowded around the TV to drive up the ratings on Arkansas vs. Duke tomorrow night.

These people are serious. So, the Arkansas athletics department went to some guys in Las Vegas and said "Hold my empty bank account. We got this." Then promptly did what so many Razorback fans said the university had better not do. On the biggest charitable giving day of the year, it asked them for money.

Oh, and not only did athletics director Hunter Yurachek ask for money in the release announcing the Arkansas Edge collective from the usual donors, he called out the people who usually yap the loudest on social media – the 6 a.m. to 4 p.m. blue collar working types. He needs 5,000 of them to agree to make monthly payments of $50 and another 5,000 to willingly sign up for monthly payments of $100. Those who can't should commit to $25 per month.

After all, if Arkansas misses out on a quality lineman, it's going to be because Danny Ray in Johnsville climbed too far up on his high horse and opted to be able to afford a Pimento cheese sandwich in his lunch rather than give his food money to an athletic program five hours away. Of course, he could just dip into what he was going to give in the special missions offering at church each month or the money he was going to donate to help make sure kids had coats to wear on cold days at recess at his local school.

The university knows what we all know. A lot of the people who went nuts on social media when Pittman was retained will be the first to donate despite their rants. They know fans who live in areas of the state the department no longer visits will reach into their pockets and contribute because when it comes to Razorback tradition, fans are hypocritical. A lot of talk. Very little action.

Numerous desperately needed charities lost a lot of money today. Regular givers across Arkansas and in surrounding states where former Arkansans have moved for a better chance at scratching out a living will abandon their usual donations to support the one relationship they simply can't quit regardless of how bad it gets.

No matter how much chest thumping, bravado and vitriol has been spewed the last few weeks, the Razorbacks doubled down on what they know. They need a financial wall, and you're going to pay for it. And absolutely love getting to be a part of it while you're at it.