In welcoming a newfangled Southeastern Conference football schedule, Hunter Yurachek, athletics director at the University of Arkansas in Fayetteville, seemingly fired a shot across the bow of those hoping to keep the Razorbacks at Little Rock’s War Memorial Stadium, even if just for one game a season.
When SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey announced on Aug. 21 that the conference would tack an additional conference game onto each team’s schedule starting in 2026, Yurachek quickly followed up with a written statement applauding the move and welcoming “five Power 4 games every season at Razorback Stadium.”
Therein lies the message. Take nine SEC games — four or five home SEC games, depending on the year, and up to three nonconference games in Fayetteville, and it is clear that the math does not add up for Little Rock. The Hogs’ lone scheduled game at War Memorial as of press time was a Sept. 6 matchup with Arkansas State. The university was in an agreement with the Arkansas Department of Parks, Heritage and Tourism — which operates the stadium — to maintain a football presence through 2025, and there has thus far been no indication the contract will be renewed.
The stadium hosts the occasional major concerts such as Guns ‘N Roses. (Photo provided)
Asked about the future of Little Rock games, Yurachek appeared to walk back his earlier statement and was noncommittal about the Razorbacks’ future in Little Rock. War Memorial has not been sold out for the Razorbacks in many years, and recent years have seen games against weaker nonconference opponents struggle to draw 40,000 fans.
“We’ve kind of put on hold what the future of games in Little Rock looks like until we’re able to solidify our SEC schedule,” he said. “The fact that we don’t have any future games on the schedule right now doesn’t mean that there’ll never be another game played over there. We just need to make really smart decisions with our football schedules moving forward.”
The scheduling of Arkansas State in Little Rock galvanized some considering the state’s largest Division I institutions had never played each other in football’s modern era, but an uneasy silence looms over the game, neither the UA nor the stewards of War Memorial Stadium saying much about any future agreement.
If the future of Little Rock Razorback games is left to wither in uncertainty, it would represent an ignominious end to a relationship that stretches back to 1948. The stadium itself lost a bargaining chip when it was unable to meet new requirements for hosting SEC games, creating the current relationship in which War Memorial has hosted a single nonconference game per year.
An old clipping from the Hogs’ first game at War Memorial in 1948. (Photo provided by
War Memorial Stadium)
“The decision will not be made by an athletic director,” said Rex Nelson, Arkansas Democrat-Gazette columnist and Little Rock Touchdown Club co-founder, who serves unofficially as the state’s sports historian. “Athletic directors are always going to go in the area where they can make the most money, and that is obviously going to be Fayetteville. Any decision now will be made by the [UA] board of trustees. We know what Hunter Yurachek thinks, but he’s not going to be the one to make the decision.”
The stadium has taken hits outside of the Razorback realm, as well. In March, the Benton and Bryant school districts announced the annual “Salt Bowl,” pitting the Saline County rivals, would be moved to school campuses and no longer be played at War Memorial, where the game annually drew close to 30,000 fans. Unofficially, concerns over security may have driven the issue.
“I think they’re going to find that those stadiums in Saline County are totally inadequate for the number of people that want to see that game,” Nelson said. “I think that was a huge strategic mistake that was driven by things that just aren’t true. That, I think, will be back on the table.”
Aerial view of the stadium from the milestone LSU game in 2010. (Photo provided by
War Memorial Stadium)
It all prompts questions about what the future holds for the venerable Little Rock landmark.
“We see it continuing to be an important part of central Arkansas,” said Shea Lewis, director of Arkansas Parks, Heritage and Tourism.
Lewis said he feels the stadium has kept pace with technology, as well as the expectations of patrons, noting recent improvements to security systems, the scoreboard and video board plus deals with David’s Burgers and Ol’ Bart Southern Eats to bolster concessions.
“We’ll continue to work with the university in any way possible,” Lewis said. “We’re an open door, and we’re ready to have discussions at any time.”
Other stadium tenants are considering their long-term options. The University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff last played at War Memorial a year ago, a 70-0 loss to the Razorbacks before an official crowd of 40,127. The Golden Lions faced the Hogs in Little Rock in 2021, as well, losing 45-3 before 42,576. UAPB also hosted conference rival Grambling at the stadium during the early 2000s, an event that attracted fans from both schools, but the last of those came in 2010.
UAPB did not return emails asking for comment on their relationship with the stadium. Division III Hendrix College in Conway began playing a single conference game per season at War Memorial but has not scheduled any game there for 2025, although the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference, of which Hendrix is a member, will hold its championship game in Little Rock Nov. 15.
Another resident of War Memorial, the Little Rock Rangers Soccer Club, is stuck between a rock and a hard place. The organization has called the stadium home since its inception in 2016 and has a small but loyal following throughout the central Arkansas area.
Jonathan Wardlaw, president and general manager of the Rangers, said his club is happy at War Memorial, but the future is uncertain. The Rangers currently play in USL League Two, which calls for strictly amateur players.
Little Rock Rangers USL 2 soccer team
“Our league wants Little Rock to move up to the professional side of things very badly,” Wardlaw said.
Wardlaw said a move up to the professional tier would lead to more games and more fan support, but it requires an ownership group of 35 percent or more that is willing to provide $25 million in financing. Finding investors would not be too difficult, Wardlaw said, but the move up means stricter requirements for field dimensions and host-site amenities.
“As crazy as it sounds, there is no place in Little Rock or North Little Rock that meets the field dimension requirements,” Wardlaw said. “War Memorial Stadium is the closest, but they just don’t meet the field requirement.”
Wardlaw said that at the beginning, the club paid $500 to reserve the field and $300 for stadium lights. He estimated that the total cost per match came to about $3,000.
That cost, Wardlaw said, is now closer to $4,000 per match. He does not blame stadium management, saying the rising costs are reflective of current economic conditions, but with the path to an upper division shut unless a new facility is built, Wardlaw said the Rangers are trying to hang onto War Memorial as the price of doing business goes up.
“It’s not like it’s gone up every year crazy high,” Wardlaw said, “but what we pay has gone up every year. It’s not crazy, but I’m still running a minor league soccer team in Little Rock, Arkansas, so fans are not necessarily growing as rapidly as the rent is.”
Today, the stadium serves as the home field for the football teams at Little Rock Parkview and Little Rock Catholic.
The stadium’s more traditional relationships appear solidified. Steve Straessle, head of school at Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock, said the school is happy to continue playing football games at War Memorial, calling the stadium part of the fabric of the school itself.
“It’s business as usual for us,” Strassle said. “We’ve had a long relationship with the stadium, and it’s been positive throughout that time. Their staff to this day is just extraordinary and very kind in all respects, and they’ve treated us very well.”
Today, the stadium serves as the home field for the football teams at Little Rock Parkview and Little Rock Catholic.
The Arkansas Activities Association is also a happy tenant, according to assistant stadium manager John Latch. The AAA has traditionally used the stadium for all seven of its high school football championships, and Latch said the coming years will bring new turf and new LED lights to further enhance the experience.
“We have a long-term contract with them,” Latch said. “We love hosting those games. When those players walk onto the field for the first time to play a state championship game, their faces just light up.”
As for the future of Razorbacks football, Nelson said the fallout from ending the relationship would go beyond economics and impact the state’s culture as a whole.
“To be a statewide program in football, I think giving those people from east Arkansas and south Arkansas who can’t afford to go to Fayetteville is important,” Nelson said. “I think the passion in those areas of the state that you used to see for Razorback football has diminished considerably the past few decades.”
Nelson said it will not be the fault of the stadium’s controlling interests if a deal with the university does not get done.
“You have an athletic director and a head coach [Sam Pittman] that don’t want it to succeed and be an annual thing in Arkansas,” Nelson said.
Yurachek said he holds no such animosity and understands “how important War Memorial Stadium has been throughout the years.”
The stadium was dedicated to the memories of the men and women who lost their lives serving the country in World Wars I and II.(Photo provided)
Yet college football is in the midst of warp-speed change. The players are now able to cut themselves a slice of the game’s ever-growing profits thanks to name, image and likeness legislation, and a June settlement from the House vs. NCAA lawsuit opened the door to schools sharing revenue with their athletes.
The stakes have gone up in an already high-stakes game, and until a decision comes from the university, War Memorial Stadium remains caught in the middle.
“It’s not all about dollars and cents,” Yurachek said, “but when you’re in this era of sharing 20 1/2 million dollars of revenue with student athletes and providing 2 1/2 dollars of new scholarships to student athletes, you really have to look at the bottom line and what venue gives you the best opportunity to maximize your revenue for a specific game.”
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