FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas has had fewer than 100 athletes or athletics staff members test positive for covid-19, according to figures provided by UA athletics director Hunter Yurachek on Thursday.
Speaking to the UA Board of Trustees, Yurachek said the Razorbacks’ positivity rate “sits below 3%” in 3,063 total tests performed. Yurachek did not provide a specific number of positive tests, but a 3% positivity rate would be less than 92.
The UA began testing athletes June 1.
Yurachek told trustees that Little Rock-based Natural State Laboratories is providing covid-19 test results in around 24 hours. A second lab, Virginia-based PAE which has a third-party contract with the Southeastern Conference, is providing results between 36 and 48 hours, Yurachek said.
The Razorbacks’ men’s and women’s cross country, and soccer seasons are scheduled to begin this week, and football season next week. Yurachek said the football, soccer and volleyball teams will be tested three times each week — on Sundays, Wednesdays and Fridays — and the cross country team will be tested 72 hours prior to its race days because it is considered a low-risk sport.
Yurachek said the low positivity rate would not have kept Arkansas’ football team from playing games the past two weeks had one been scheduled.
“We will play a football game Sept. 26 as long as Georgia shows up,” Yurachek said. “We are ready for our fall season.”
Yurachek said the UA was able to accommodate 15,815 ticket holders to attend its games this year and purchase five-, three- or two-game packages. That total includes seats sold in suites. Yurachek said 163 of 172 suites were sold this year.
When asked by trustee Kelly Eichler what kind of social-distancing guidelines would be in place for suites, Yurachek said standing-room-only tickets have been eliminated and suite-ticket holders will be asked not to roam around outside their box, a practice he referred to as “suite hopping.” Yurachek said plexiglass shields will also be placed between outdoor premium-seating areas known as loge boxes.
“When you’re in your private suite that is up to the suite owner if they make that a requirement for them and their guests to maintain wearing the masks,” Yurachek said.
Otherwise, masks will be required by spectators at all times while inside the stadium. Trustee Sheffield Nelson asked Yurachek what would happen if someone refused to wear a mask.
“I guess we’re going to ask nicely to begin with and then try to get some security,” Yurachek said. “We’re not going to be over the top with that. I think it’s just, there is going to be a great deal of education that goes out about the protocols over the course of the next nine or 10 days prior to everyone’s arrival to our stadium. There will be significant signage. We’re not going to remove someone from the stadium for not having a mask on, but again it is a requirement. It’s not necessarily required by law that you can arrest somebody for that, at least to my understanding.”
Yurachek told trustees that the department will come $17.5 million short of its projected football ticket revenue this year. He said the department had budgeted $26 million in ticket sales but will only reach about $8.5 million.
The Razorbacks had sold 32,667 season tickets at the time it ceased ticket sales in May, which would have accounted for around $18.9 million in revenue, Yurachek said. Last month, the UA offered all who had purchased season tickets an opportunity to opt in or out for the modified packages.
“Everyone who opted in got a minimum of two games,” Yurachek said.