Part 4: Culprit to Razorbacks' Financial Woes Rears Its Head
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – In what has turned out to be a four-part deep dive into the athletic finances at Arkansas, the Razorbacks got off to a surprisingly strong start.
The Hogs destroyed the league in ticket revenue, proving the fans are doing their part. They did the same when it came to corporate revenue by way of sponsorships, licensing and advertising, although the margin wasn't quite as big in that category over the rest of the league.
Other schools caught up when it came to money generated through media rights, although Arkansas remained part of a small elite billionaire's club after the first three categories were combined. Only Alabama had put any distance between itself and the Razorbacks as the Hogs essentially tied the biggest brands the SEC has to offer in total revenue.
However, much like in sports, money is a four quarters game, and, as Arkansas fans have come to expect on the field, everything blows up down the final stretch in most spectacular fashion. The Razorbacks have all the ingredients but one to be the most successful athletics program in all of college sports and the gap is so wide Hunter Yurachek might as well be trying to make a cake with no flour.
That's because the final major source of revenue comes from donors, long a sore subject among the Hogs' athletics administration. Fans traditionally have a warped view as to where Arkansas stands in terms of potential big donors.
In their minds they tick off names like Jerry Jones, Tyson, Wal-Mart, JB Hunt and Stephens and picture that as a deep roster both willing and capable of funding the wildest dreams of Razorbacks fans. However, in comparison to the rest of the SEC, Arkansas fields a couple of four stars and maybe a three star or two with the rest of the donor line-up full of walk-ons while stepping on the field with rosters starting five stars and four stars with a sideline packed with more four stars behind them.
Donor money isn't the sword Arkansas falls upon. It's the high dive from which the Razorbacks leap into a pool filled with swords all firmly anchored with the points skyward.
It's not a fair fight. The people of Arkansas have heart and passion, but very few of them have millions of dollars in disposable income. It's just not that kind of state.
There are more millionaires and billionaires in a single block of Highland Park in the Dallas area than all of Arkansas. As will be seen, competing with schools like Texas A&M and its diverse bevy of high end donors is virtually impossible for the Hogs.
Ticket sales and corporate money built a big lead for the Hogs with numerous first place finishes over the years in comparison to the rest of the SEC since 2005. However, as large as that gap is, Arkansas is at such a big disadvantage in terms of donations that it's largely wiped out in one, maybe two years once donor money is calculated.
After that, teams start boat racing the Razorbacks at a clip of $60-$80 million per year. Even lowly Missouri, which sits at the bottom of nearly every financial category, slides past the Hogs rather easily in terms of revenue from donors.
Of the 13 schools required to file public financial reports (Vanderbilt is private so it doesn't have to disclose finances), Arkansas typically finishes somewhere between 11th and last as its counterparts regularly quadruple whatever the Hogs can scratch together. SEC teams drew more than eight times than the Hogs in the Frank Broyles era.
Below is a list of where the Razorbacks finished each year. Also included is which team led the SEC and how much more money than Arkansas it collected in donor revenue.
2005: No. 13 (Georgia / $24.99 million)
2006: No. 11 (Georgia / $22.43 million)
2007: No. 10 (Florida / $24.63 million)
2008: No. 10 (Florida / $29.86 million)
2009: No. 12 (Florida / $33.14 million)
2010: No. 13 (Florida / $39.35 million)
2011: No. 8 (Alabama / $22.04 million)
2012: No. 10 (Texas A&M / $ 30.48 million)
2013: No. 8 (Florida / $28.97 million)
2014:No. 10 (LSU / $28.05 million)
2015: No. 9 (Texas A&M / $67.67 million)
2016: No. 10 (Texas A&M / $49.6 million)
2017: No. 11 (Texas A&M / $68.22 million)
2018: No. 11 (Texas A&M / $69.93 million)
2019: No. 11 (Texas A&M / $61.97 million)
2020: No. 13 (Georgia / $45.77 million)
2021: No. 7 (Georgia / $25.36 million)
2022: No. 13 (LSU / $53.76 million)
2023: No. 11 (Texas A&M / $81.65 million)
Source: Knight-NewHouse College Athletics Database
During this time, only once has Arkansas managed to collect overall in a single year the amount of money it trailed Georgia in donations in 2005. The Razorbacks drew their highest total of just over $25 million in 2021, placing them slightly above the $25 million by which the Bulldogs bested the Hogs back in the Houston Nutt days.
Of course, when adjusted for inflation, Georgia's amount blows Arkansas away. Keep in mind, this is just how much more the Bulldogs had in donor revenue than the Razorbacks, not how much was collected in total.
Here it is 20 years later and Arkansas still can't compete with the SEC elite from the turn of the century. Competing with them in a climate where college sports is now hyper-focused on donations has created a revenue stream that completely drowns Razorback athletics.
Revenue from first three categories over past 10 years:
Texas A&M ... $1,086,807,044
Arkansas ... $958,946,956
Revenue once donations added in:
Texas A&M ... 1,850,446,265
Arkansas ... 1,197,689,295
Money from donors takes the Razorbacks from being essentially tied with the Aggies to falling behind by over $650 million dollars over the course of a decade. Arkansas can't even get in the parking lot of the ballpark when it comes to traditional donations, so imagine how big the gulf is between the Hogs and the elites of the SEC when it comes to NIL.
It's not a fair fight. That Yurachek has managed to lead an athletics program that is as successful across the board as Arkansas has been mind-blowing.
Schools can scoop up the donations that fell in the cracks of the seat cushions and out-fund all of the Hogs' non-football sports, yet Arkansas remains dominant under the leadership of a Who's-Who of great coaches. However, the idea that the Hogs can compete in SEC football with that much of a financial disadvantage goes beyond naive.
The donors clearly made the smart move. There's no way guys like John Tyson and Warren Stephens can give enough to help the Razorbacks be competitive in football, but basketball, a high profile sport that proved to be enough to outpace football in media rights when following the Kentucky model, can be funded well enough to consistently be a national power.
Bringing in Calipari and his knowledge of how the Wildcats manipulated media money in their favor to close the gap with SEC programs that have bigger donor bases is wise beyond measure. Winning increases small level donations, so if Arkansas can win while getting a big boost in media money, the Razorbacks still won't be able to compete with the big football brands in the SEC, but there will be enough there to avoid losing seasons on a regular basis.
Chasing national titles in basketball and baseball is the lot set forth for Arkansas and there's nothing that can be done to change that. The fans have more than done their part, far above what nearly every SEC school was capable. Same goes for businesses and organizations.
It's just not possible to manufacture millionaires and billionaires at the rate the Razorbacks would need to keep pace for football to be a viable playoff candidate possibly ever, much less on a regular basis. Financially, Arkansas is competitive with only two or three SEC schools in overall revenue among the four categories analyzed.
Unfortunately for the Razorbacks, one of those schools, Missouri, appears to have tapped into an NIL source that tips the scales in its favor also, leaving only Mississippi State and Vanderbilt as schools over which the Hogs have a decided financial advantage.
There's simply nothing Yurachek, Pittman, nor anyone who eventually follows them can do to change that. Arkansas is maxed out and because of a shortage of potential donors, maxed out means kicking it down in the SEC cellar from a revenue standpoint for the foreseeable future.
HOGS FEED:
• Razorbacks football season will hit breaking point earlier than usual
• Part 3: First chink in Hogs' financial armor reveals itself
• Calipari puts college basketball world on notice during Pat McAfee Show appearance
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KENT SMITH
Kent Smith has been in the world of media and film for nearly 30 years. From Nolan Richardson's final seasons, former Razorback quarterback Clint Stoerner trying to throw to anyone and anything in the blazing heat of Cowboys training camp in Wichita Falls, the first high school and college games after 9/11, to Troy Aikman's retirement and Alex Rodriguez's signing of his quarter billion dollar contract, Smith has been there to report on some of the region's biggest moments.