Yurachek Has Chance to be Hogs' Hero with Bold Decision for Bud Walton

Glass LED basketball courts are slowly seeping their way into American culture after getting their start over in Germany.

The NBA has experimented with them and in a few weeks the Big 12 will give them a run at its conference basketball tournament.

Embracing innovation. Elevating the game. This is A Different League.

The 2026 Phillips 66 Big 12 Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments this March at the T-Mobile Center in Kansas City will mark the first time @asbglassfloor LED court technology will be used for official… pic.twitter.com/cteTPYpp1S
— Big 12 Conference (@Big12Conference) February 11, 2026

However. where most see a cool way to bring out the team, mind-blowing player introductions and highlights and stats showing on the floor during halftime, Arkansas athletics director Hunter Yurachek should see dollar signs falling out all over Bud Walton Arena

Yea, it would make Hogs head coach John Calipari happy to have Trevon Brazile and Billy Richmond introduced while their highlights play sharp and crisp on the arena floor with music and Chuck Barrett's radio call drape over the top of it while a 5-star recruit looks on.

However, a few feet away, it will make the Tyson family even happier to see their logo show up on the court tastefully on national television for extended periods of time. They will be thrilled when a 90-foot plus Tyson Chicken commercial runs during a timeout before some sort of promotion like the Chicken Dance.

The product push could even be part of a video that plays throughout the song as an animated Tyson Chicken leads the dance on the arena floor.

It's an invitation to print money. Ads become much more valuable when they are one of four on the floor at all times between stoppage of play.

Unlike the static WalMart logo fans often see during football, this allows the Razorbacks to promote numerous businesses at a premium price. It's a lot easier to rack up cash when everyone in the arena and at home can see it without having to be in the perfect seat.

Arkansas draws way over a million to over 6 million viewers per game as one of the three most watched college basketball programs in the country. That's a big step up in guaranteed ad viewership over the 15,000-19,200 who are legitimately present in the arena.

It makes the floor at Bud Walton some of the most valued real estate in all of athletics. And, unlike selling naming rights to a football stadium, there are far fewer complexities in installing a new floor, and it's a lot easier to explain return on investment to people considering opening up their wallets.

What's more is there's just not a lot left in the facilities arms race to separate the Razorbacks and teams like the Kentucky Wildcats from the rest of the college world at the moment.

Sure, they will probably become common place in five years, but if NIL should have taught Yurachek any hard lessons, it's how much of a disadvantage it is to not jump in and go all out from the beginning. Catch the juice while there is juice to be had.

American college basketball players report it squeaks like a traditional floor and isn't slick like one might expect.

It also isn't prone to dead spots like some hardwood floors and has a spring loaded sub structure that supposedly helps with wear and tear on players.

Right now, the only place it is being consistently utilized is in the Orlando Magic practice facility as part of a test run by the NBA that also included using it in the 2024 All-Star game. When former Razorback Anthony Black comes to practice, his coach can switch the floor to reflect what surface they are playing on next.

He can also set it up to show markers for practice drills, literally draw up plays on the floor and also set the floor to track made shots and attempts with a simple push of a button that most four-year-olds could execute.

The whole thing is run by a phone, tablet or computer and appears to be relatively simple to execute so long as the operator is paying attention.

The only question is whether Arkansas is going to seize this opportunity or watch it pass them by. There isn't time to figure out a marketing strategy and plan of operation first.

Arkansas needs to buy the floor, stir the buzz and figure out all the details while interest is hot from knowing this is happening.

If it goes the other way around, the Razorbacks not only lose a year of cash flow, but a season of recruits and national media talking about some other school.

This isn't the lame colored football field phase that had no value other than a few seconds of the national media saying look at the dumb thing this school did in a desperate grab for attention.

The glass LED floor is money and marketing set to explode the second it's installed.

Hogs Feed: