Long wants decision soon on future of War Memorial games

Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long speaks to the Northwest Arkansas Touchdown Club on Wednesday, Sept. 6, 2017, in Fayetteville.

— Arkansas athletics director Jeff Long said Wednesday that he hopes to have a decision soon on the future of the Razorbacks' games at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

"We've got to make decisions about scheduling teams," Long said. "You have to offer up to teams where they're going to play, and they need to be able to make the decision whether they're going to be playing the games in Fayetteville or Little Rock.

"It doesn't need to be made in a week or a month, but hopefully, in my view, it needs to be made in the course of this season so we can continue to schedule our future games."

Long said the attendance for Arkansas' season opener against Florida A&M would be one of multiple variables he considers before he makes a recommendation on whether to extend the contract for games in Little Rock. The announced attendance for the game last Thursday was 36,055, although it wasn't specified whether that figure was for actual attendance or tickets sold. The attendance figure was the lowest for an Arkansas game at the stadium in 21 years.

War Memorial Stadium's seating capacity is 54,120. Arkansas has sold-out once in its past six games there and four crowds have totaled fewer than 47,400 since 2013.

The quality of competition has accompanied the smaller crowds. Arkansas has not played an SEC team at the stadium since Georgia in 2014 and its two opponents preceding Florida A&M were Alcorn State and Toledo.

"We had hoped for more," said Long, who acknowledged a poor weather forecast might have kept some fans away for the opener.

"We were disappointed there weren't more fans. We thought that moving the game to Thursday night would create an energy on opening night of college football and create a little more juice to the game against an FCS opponent."

Long said his recommendation will be made to University of Arkansas chancellor Joe Steinmetz, but the ultimate decision on games in Little Rock will be left to UA president Donald Bobbitt and the 10-member UA Board of Trustees.

Arkansas is under contract to play one game per year at War Memorial Stadium through next season. According to its contract with the stadium, the 2018 game must be against an SEC opponent — likely Vanderbilt.

"We believe in honoring the contract," Long said. "We have a contract through '18 and we have a contract to play an SEC game in '18, so I fully intend ... to honor that contract."

Arkansas has played games annually at War Memorial Stadium since 1948, but the number of games has decreased gradually over the past quarter-century.

In the 1990s, the Razorbacks played as many as four games per season in the state's capital city. But as new roads and airports made traveling to the UA campus easier and Arkansas made upgrades to Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium, a greater emphasis was put on playing more games in Fayetteville.

Arkansas is the last major college team to play an annual home game away from campus. Other SEC schools like Alabama and Ole Miss stopped playing games in regional metropolitan areas in the 1990s.

"I hope we don't turn it into a statewide debate or referendum," Long said. "There are certainly people who can make the decision and make it in the best interest of the university and the state, and the system."