Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

8/12/2010 at 9:42pm

According to the 24-page pamphlet illustrating the changes coming to the Arkansas football ticket distribution program -- termed the Razorback Seat Value Plan, or RSVP -- there is a $100 difference in the value of a seat on the 50-yard line and one on the 5-yard line at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

The minimum contribution to retain seats approximately between the 40-yard lines on both the east and west lower sections of the stadium will be $300 per seat. Arkansas officials have illustrated how until this change, being put into effect in early 2011, the minimum donation for one 50-yard line seat was $150, the lowest charge among all SEC teams and top power teams around the region. Even Vanderbilt, according to the literature, requires a $325 donation to its athletic fund per 50-yard line seat.

On average, according to the UA information, in section 104 (west side, seats between the 40s) the donation per seat is $311. With some Razorback boosters contributing thousands of dollars in the Broyles-Matthews Scholarship Fund or in high levels of Razorback Foundation donor program, seats in that choice location are the priciest among Hog boosters.

Arkansas officials, led by Athletic Director Jeff Long, sought information from peer programs around the nation to contrast Hog fans' giving with that of, say, Texas A&M's or Alabama's. The pamphlet says that for having seats on the 50-yard line, A&M requires $3,500 per seat in addition to the cost of ticket; Alabama commands $1,300 per seat; Tennessee gets $1,250 per, and Florida brings in $1,000 per seat.

In planning RSVP, the Arkansas brain trust invested many hours and much discussion among the hierarchy to determine the price points.

Our opinion is, the price point of donations for tickets in and around the 50-yard line at Arkansas are still too low. The fans who buy tickets in that area of the stadium should feel some relief that the boost in donation minimum starting in 2011 was only double what was already a low figure. The folks sitting in that area and contributing on the Broyles-Matthews level won't blink at the bump. The people only donating the minimum $150 per seat now likely are benefactors of longtime family giving, else they wouldn't be on or near the 50-yard line and parking within a block or two of the stadium.

The crunch will be felt toward the ends of the stadium. Arkansas may equally feel a hit with those seats being the first to likely be surrendered by current foundation members. Chris Bahn illustrates today how South Carolina has seen a drop in donation contributions since it implemented its ticket distribution plan in 2008. Coincidentally, Chris Wyrick, who is overseeing Arkansas' new plan, put that program at South Carolina, as well as one at North Carolina State.

There was fear among some fans that contribution requirements to maintain seating in the 40-to-40-yard-line area would resemble what's seen at Tennessee, or at least at Auburn ($500 per seat for the 50-yard line ). Ole Miss asks for $625 per seat; Georgia just $400 for midfield in its now-100,000-seat stadium. Even Mississippi State requires just $350 per seat.

So, from that aspect, many Arkansas fans who worried about the rising costs of supporting the Razorbacks could breathe easier. Arkansas will still be at the bottom in what it asks its richest fans to pay. Some just pay thousands anyway. They pay for $300 tickets at Arlington, Texas, to see the UA-A&M game, and they pay anywhere from $50 (e.g. Liberty Bowl, a steal) to $125 for the usual holiday bowl game. Some shell out $150 a night for a two-night minimum stay in Fayetteville on game weekends. Some spend $100 per person in their party per dinner at Fayetteville's nicer restaurants. Some have the best TVs and satellite hookups around for their pre-game tailgates in the scholarship lots.

Long, plan coordinator Wyrick and others should have aimed higher and had a wider range of requirements for the Fayetteville stadium. We'd say $400 minimum for 40-to-40-yard line seating, at the least, dropping to $150 per seat for the sections near the goal line.

Now, what you're not specified until looking deep into the pamphlet is that, if you don't already sit in the priciest section, between the 40s, but you want to move into there, it will cost more than just a $300 per seat donation. The pamphlet specifies that the prospective high-dollar section fan must also become a Broyles-Matthews silver level donor, which costs $5,000.

The UA is locked into this plan until 2014, according to the pamphlet. Ticket prices won't rise for 2011, it says. It doesn't say if they'll rise in 2012, though.

We still want to visit with the Texas A&M fans who, the pamphlet claims, donate $3,500 per seat to the Aggies private athletic fund to buy 50-yard line tickets. Somebody's got more money than he or she knows what to do with. But they are Aggies.

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Arkansas already has a website dedicated to its Razorback Foundation. Now it will have a completely new URL for the new plan, AnswerTheHogCall.com.

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As for the fan we mentioned in yesterday's column about the changes in the ticket priority, he sits on about the 5-yard line in Razorback Stadium, and in section 23 of War Memorial Stadium. He says he has donated $500 a year for many years for four seats in Fayetteville and four in Little Rock.

He calculates now that in Fayetteville, his donation requirement will rise from $500 to $800 a year, PLUS now he'll be required to donate $115 per seat in Little Rock, or $460. His donation will jump in total from $500 to $1,260 in one year, a 150 percent increase. Add in the ticket price for seven Razorback games, just two in Little Rock for that somewhat exorbitant personal seat license fee, and you can see why fans such as this guy might consider other options, such as cutting back on tickets or not going at all.

The argument we've noticed on here and on message boards is that, if fans surrender their tickets, others will jump in to claim them. Will that truly be the case? Or will Arkansas see the kind of reaction that's occurred in South Carolina or that greeted Jeff Long after he instituted a ticket plan at Pitt.

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Even after the St. Louis Cardinals had completed a three-game road sweep of pretender Cincinnati on Wednesday, Reds second baseman Brandon Phillips couldn't shut his mouth. According to the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Phillips grudgingly admitted that the Cardinals "do have good pitching."

It was Phillips' mouth running on about how he hated the Cardinals and how they were whiners (and worse) that served as impetus for the Cardinals to put together their best three consecutive road games of the season and to win their first road series in more than a month, taking over first place in the National League Central.

At some point, Reds manager Dusty Baker should have said "enough is enough." Instead, it appears Baker was glad Phillips shot his mouth off, even if it inspired the Cardinals to slap the Reds in the process. Baker even got into a war or words on the field with Cardinals manager Tony La Russa in the first inning of Tuesday's game, and another incident started when Phillips tapped the shinguard of Cardinals catcher Yadier Molina. You don't viciously rip a team in the media and then try to play all friendly with that team's catcher like it's all cool. Molina was all man in standing up to the barking dog with no bite.

Baker's done great things with the Giants, Cubs and now the Reds as a manager, but he could have done more to quiet his immature second baseman in the middle of a pennant race. When you're leading a tight race, you don't get the sleeping bear (the Cardinals) agitated with childish comments one might expect from the likes of Terrell Owens. It was almost a "look at me" moment for Phillips, and with the Reds playing so well as a team for the past two months, that's the last thing Baker needed. He goofed. And the Cardinals' Tony La Russa played it from his end perfectly.

Both were sent to an early shower after the Tuesday fracas spilled over into a complete bruhaha.

All Baker could say early on about Phillips' mouth was that he had a constitutional right to say what he wanted. What Baker doesn't understand is that Phillips all but yelled "fire" in a crowded theater, which isn't free speech. And the Reds got trampled.

Phillips, for all his brashness, had just two meaningless hits in the series. He made the last out in the first two games. But he may have assisted the Cardinals on their way to 21 runs and 35 hits and a pennant race-turning sweep.

Tagged: Brandon Phillips, Cincinnati Reds, St. Louis Cardinals, Ole Miss Rebels, Tennessee Volunteers, Vanderbilt Commodores, Auburn Tigers, Alabama Crimson Tide, Texas A&M Aggies, Chris Wyrick, Jim Harris, Razorback RSVP, Jeff Long