Time to Open Up Bud Walton

Years of refusing to allow venue to host concerts, events has hurts students, hinders revenue

Justin Moore performs during the Tribute to Ronnie Milsap concert at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. / Andrew Nelles / The Tennessean / USA

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – At the Ferris Center at the University of Central Arkansas it has been possible to experience Beyonce back when she was in Detiny's Child, and more recently, Nick Jonas, and Kesha.

South Carolina's Colonial Life Arena has held the epic experience of Blue Man Group. One can head down to the Moody Center at the University of Texas about a week before football season kicks off and acknowledge "The Tribal Chief" Roman Reigns at WWE's Raw.

However, what someone can't do is go see Arkansas Razorbacks super fan Justin Moore and his country music star buddies perform at Bud Walton Arena. If a Hogs fan wanted to see that, he or she would have needed to travel to Rupp Arena at the University of Kentucky where he essentially served as the opening act to new basketball coach Mark Pope's introduction.

An image listing upcoming events at Bud Walton Arena online, of which there are none. / (SeatGeek.com)

Considering Arkansas has been so desperate to find sources of money to pay for things like the end zone project in Razorback Stadium and players to fill the sidelines on Saturdays, it makes little sense why the university isn't utilizing one of its biggest assets in Bud Walton Arena. Events bring rental fees, parking fees, and concession sales, all of which not only add up, but promote the university and increase quality of life for students and donors.

The lack of utilization as a revenue source is especially troubling because it's not like concerts and events like Monday Night Raw don't have an interest. They come to Little Rock quite regular despite the region being relatively the same size and less affluent.

What Central Arkansas definitely doesn't have is roughly 30,000 college students bored out of their minds within a couple of miles of a 20,000 seat venue. That's a valuable commodity when choosing places to host events.

It's somewhat hypocritical for Arkansas athletics to run around making fans feel bad because they're not digging into their pockets for whatever pennies haven't already been plucked away by seat licenses, parking, season tickets, merchandise, hotels and gas on top of other donations when the the program isn't putting its best foot forward by trying to profit off Bud Walton Arena.

For those in the ticketing office muttering about not having a seat license, it might not be specifically called that, but that's what it is. Requiring a specific donation to the Razorback Foundation to acquire the rights to a seat as a season ticket holder is a seat license.

There's probably what is believed to be a good reason for excluding Bud Walton as an entertainment venue, but if Beyonce could famously accidentally split her skirt dancing on stage at what was a crumbling Ferris Center at UCA at the time before renovations, then it's hard to imagine why a facility like Bud Walton can't do the same.

There was a story written last year that lamented the idea of allowing something in Bud Walton other than basketball as sacrilege. The writer not only didn't want concerts at "The Basketball Palace of Mid-America," he hated the idea of gymnastics taking place in the arena.

Never mind gymnastics is outdrawing basketball throughout much of the SEC and is on its way to being the second most attended sport in the SEC on average. Ignore Arkansas having a Top 10 program at Arkansas led by an Olympic hero that is in the national semifinals this week.

Such archaic thinking that keeps events from coming to Bud Walton is not only short-sighted, it's selfish and unfair to students and Razorbacks fans. Rupp Arena didn't suddenly stop being Rupp Arena because Justin Moore played a concert there.

It's still as nationally revered as Bud Walton, if not more.

Also, the university's prime mission is to serve its students and keep their best interest at heart, so providing entertainment options while also bringing much needed money is a great way to maintain the school's primary mission.

Foolishly only playing basketball at Bud Walton doesn't make it more special. It makes it less relevant because it's out of sight, out of mind at both the national and local consciousness for seven months out of the year

Besides, the athletics program owes the region. Terrible seasons in football and basketball spread over the past decade or so along with home football games being shipped to Little Rock and Arlington have hurt local businesses that support the university.

Having concerts and big events goes a long way in stabilizing that impact when coaches flounder, players quit, or athletics directors make poor choices. It's the responsible thing to do.

Besides, it's just wrong to keep asking good, hard working people to pay the bills when not everything is being done at the campus level to bring in revenue also. Knowing how forward thinking Hunter Yurachek tends to be, it's unlikely he disagrees, which means there's probably some curmudgeon out there trying to keep fun and money from happening.

If that person or group of people happen to be reading this, you're wrong. All you're doing is hurting the students, the people of Arkansas and the athletics program, so stop making it about you and do the right thing.

Free Bud Walton.

HOGS FEED:

• Calipari lands Hogs' first scholarship player for next season

• First Razorback scholarship player arrives under Calipari-era

• Kentucky doing its best to show Arkansas who's tops in the SEC

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