FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long said Thursday that he is still exploring the possibility of a neutral-site football game for the 2020 season.
Long said Houston, Orlando, Fla., and Kansas City, Mo., remain viable locations for the Razorbacks to play a game that season.
"Those doors are open...but we're still working on viable opponents in those situations," Long said. "Those neutral-site games only make sense if they're a very attractive opponent and will bring something to our schedule, and bring something to our fans."
Neutral-site games pay millions of dollars to participating teams and are often played the first week of the season. Arkansas is already under contract to play one neutral-site game in 2020, against Texas A&M at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas.
The Razorbacks and Aggies are under contract to play their annual game there through 2024 with a payout of around $3 million per year.
Long did not reveal any potential opponents for another neutral-site game, but indicated he has had discussions with several schools. In the past, Long has acknowledged discussions about such a game with Baylor, but the Bears have since scheduled a 2020 neutral-site game against Ole Miss in Houston.
The Tulsa World reported in May that Long had sent an email to Oklahoma athletics director Joe Castiglione in 2014 to gauge his interest in playing at a neutral-site. Long said Thursday that email constituted "one of hundreds of conversations that have taken place between 2012 and 2016," and a game against the Sooners was not in the works.
"It wasn't on the table for more than a heartbeat," Long said.