FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas expects to allow at least 4,000 fans per baseball game at Baum-Walker Stadium this season, but officials have not determined a final number.
The stadium has a listed capacity of 10,737 that is expected to grow slightly with the addition of 14 loge boxes in right field. The four- and five-seat loge boxes have been sold for the 2021 season.
The Razorbacks capped attendance at 16,500 for football games in 2020 and 4,400 for basketball games this season. The football cap was 21% of the listed capacity at Reynolds Razorback Stadium, and the basketball cap 23% of the listed capacity at Bud Walton Arena.
In an email, UA deputy athletics director Rick Thorpe said the capacity percentage for baseball will be different than the other sports due to multiple factors. The baseball stadium — which includes 34 suites — has a higher percentage of private premium seating than the football stadium or basketball arena, Thorpe said.
Suite holders are permitted to use all of the permanent tickets associated with their suite, but standing room only tickets in those areas will be eliminated this season.
Thorpe also said the Hog Pen — a grass berm beyond the left-field wall — and outfield bleachers offer “types of seating inventories that don’t exist elsewhere."
"Even as recently as last week we received an interpretation that is allowing for adjustments to the entire seating manifest," Thorpe wrote. "That said, we'll ultimately land in the 4,000+ range."
It is not known whether attendance policies might be relaxed later in the baseball season once covid-19 vaccinations are more widespread. The Razorbacks’ attendance caps have been determined based on guidelines from the Arkansas Department of Health, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, and the Southeastern Conference.
“While we would love to have a packed stadium and welcome all interested fans to each game, we’re not in a position to speculate on such adjustments to state/national/conference covid protocols at this time,” Thorpe wrote.
In an email to baseball season ticket holders last week, the UA said there will be no traditional season-ticket renewal process this season and tickets will be made available based on annual fund membership status with the Razorback Foundation.
"With limited ticket availability, stricter ticket limits per account will be in place this season," the email said. Ticket holders were told their seat locations would likely be somewhere different in the stadium due to distancing requirements.
Other changes outlined to ticket holders were a requirement to wear a face covering to games and the prohibition of tailgating in university parking lots.
Asked for details on what the process would look like for season-ticket holders to purchase tickets, Thorpe said, “Instead of partial season packages with pre-selected games being made available (as was the case with football and basketball), season ticket holders (in baseball) will be provided more flexibility to select some of the games they wish to attend from various groupings of games. More details will be forthcoming, once schedules are finalized and announced.”
In the email to ticket holders, the UA said the schedule is expected to be released in mid-January. On Wednesday, SEC athletics directors approved a traditional 56-game schedule, D1Baseball.com reported.
Several of the Razorbacks’ nonconference games are already known, and SEC spokesman Ben Beaty said the conference schedule will include the same opponents and playing sites as the 2020 schedule.
Arkansas was scheduled to host Florida, Georgia, Auburn, Alabama and Texas A&M in SEC play last year, and play at LSU, Ole Miss, Mississippi State, Tennessee and South Carolina. The 2020 baseball season was suspended one day before conference play was set to begin.
Like with football and basketball, baseball season-ticket holders were given the opportunity to opt out of purchasing tickets this year without it affecting their ability to buy tickets in 2022.
Baseball season-ticket sales have increased significantly at Arkansas in recent years as the Razorbacks have become one of the nation’s most successful teams. Arkansas was national runner-up in 2018, played in the College World Series again the following year and was ranked as high as No. 5 before the 2020 season was canceled.
The Razorbacks sold at least 6,710 season tickets last season, a 13.2% increase over the amount sold in 2018. In addition to season tickets, nearly 300 complimentary tickets have been given to families and friends of players, and athletics department personnel in recent years.
Thorpe said baseball players would continue to receive four complimentary tickets for each game this season.