Why does arkansas play in two stadiums

Arkansas has played on a part-time basis in War Memorial Stadium since A presence in central Arkansas was considered crucial to former athletic director Frank Broyles' vision of the Razorbacks becoming the dominant athletic program in the state, a plan that's held to form.

The number of games in Little Rock, however, has dwindled since the turn of the century, thanks to a 19,seat expansion of Razorback Stadium in Fayetteville in That expansion fueled discussion about whether Arkansas should drop Little Rock altogether. The agreement comes with conditions in the form of improvements and enhancements to the year-old stadium.

Those include replacing the worn artificial turf along with updating the stadium's speakers and out-of-date broadcast and wireless infrastructure. The stadium debate was thought to have played a significant role in the firing of former athletic Jeff Long last year.

Long had echoed former coach Bret Bielema's thoughts about Little Rock games being more difficult in terms of travel; he had the team fly back to Fayetteville after games rather than traveling by bus. Also, the Razorbacks are unable to host recruits in War Memorial Stadium because the game is off campus and several former players have spoken out in recent years about their dislike of games in Little Rock.

They also did this with basketball. They use to play a lot of basketball games in Little Rock and Pine Bluff until Bud Walton arena was built in the early 90's. War Memorial in Little Rock was also the better stadium and better experience until around the early 's. It's also easier to tailgate in Little Rock because they have a golf course for everyone to park on and drink.

Little Rock also had more hotels and restaurants. NW Arkansas also just recently built a large airport. Little Rock use to be the only city with a major airport in the state.

Fort Smith had a bigger airport, than Fayetteville. Now that people can watch every game on tv and it is easier to travel to Fayetteville, there is no reason to have more than one game in Little Rock.

Aside from all of that, there are Arkansas boosters in Little Rock, too. I hope the University of Arkansas finds a way to keep sharing the wealth of excitement, tradition, and fun that is the Arkansas Razorback football team with the rest of the state in Little Rock beyond I think it would be sad to lose a good and worthwhile tradition of sharing the state's favorite team beyond the confines of Fayetteville.

Sharing after-all is a virtue in and of itself. In the s, the school sometimes played four games in Little Rock, but the games have become less frequent. In , the team and the War Memorial Stadium Commission updated their contract , dropping the Hogs from two games a year in Little Rock to one. Arkansas has held some massive games in Little Rock. The last was in , when a 10th-ranked Georgia visited and won. Still, though: two home fields!

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