Arkansas Sports 360 - ArkansasSports360.com

9/2/2010 at 5:51pm

Thumbing through the August 23-29 issue of Street & Smith’s Sports Business Journal, I came across a graphic that lends additional perspective on just where the University of Arkansas athletic department ranks financially when compared with its peers. Under the heading of “Football’s Financial Powerhouses” SBJ lays out the Top 20 richest programs, numbers gleaned by analyzing U.S. Department of Education reports.

Arkansas makes the list at No. 18 thanks to football revenues of $38.6 million — more than half the department’s $63.9 million total revenue. (All of these are in line with numbers we’ve reported before either through our own digging or as provided by the Razorbacks’ athletic department).

Being ranked so high on the list titled “Financial Powerhouses” seems to weaken the argument that the Razorbacks need more money, right? Surely, this shows Arkansas really doesn’t need Razorback RSVP and whatever additional facets of its “decade-long” initiative are in the works to increase revenue.

Well, not really.

Ranked ahead of the UA are seven other SEC schools. (It’s much like what Arkansas faces in recruiting).

And there’s the problem Arkansas and Jeff Long face: If the Razorbacks were in any other conference, their financials would stack up right alongside the biggest and best in the country. Yet, if the Razorbacks were in any other conference, their financials wouldn’t be as strong as they are now.

---

Editor’s Note: Here’s a link to Sports Business Journal and the article referenced, but it is a subscription-only site. 

Tagged: Street & Smith's Sports Business Journal, Arkansas Razorbacks, Jeff Long, Razorabck RSVP