We need 3 things. !!!!!!!!!!

[The Pocahontas Porker]

1.  A new coach. !!!!     2.   Most of you won't agree with me on this--- but we need to make all the lower level seats for the college kids only .   3.    Get the craziest , wildest band director you  can to bring back the fun.

[WSPHOG]

If the lower level was left to college kids it would look a whole lot worse. Trust me I actually go to the games!

[hogsmash12]

Move back to Barnhil.

[razorbackfan5591]

I go to all of the games as well and it seems to me the college kids could care less about razorback basketball. I am 55 years old and I look around during the games and see many, many many older fans than I am. Nolan captured magic in a bottle and fans came from everywhere to the games. Now the students do not even attend in significant numbers. It is sad but this will probably be my last year as a season ticket holder. It is neither fun or entertaining any longer.

[Hogs958]

I go to all of the games as well and it seems to me the college kids could care less about razorback basketball. I am 55 years old and I look around and see many, many many older fans than I am. Nolan captured magic in a bottle and fans came from everywhere to the games. Now the students do not even attend in significant numbers. It is sad but this will probably be my last year as a season ticket holder. It is neither fun or entertaining any longer.

definitely not the same compared to when I went. It used to be brutal for the visiting team.

[hogsmash12]

Folks would have been throwing their cokes and popcorn on the floor if a Hogs team played like that back in the Barnhill days.

[HawgAdvocate]

What we NEED is one of them gosh dern, rootin tootin practice facilities!

Wait...

[JayBell]

It's a vicious cycle for the students.  Poor performance -> low demand -> not treated overly well by the athletic department -> poor performance -> low demand -> not treated overly well by the athletic department ->

Get a new coach in, make the tickets way cheaper, build some excitement and you can get more students there.  I don't know the best solution for how many seats to allocate or where to put them, but it can be handled better than it has been for the last 15 years.

[JayBell]

One problem is that Bud Walton is just way too big for modern college sports.  Aside from marquee weekend games, it's tough to fill the arena when people can just as easily stay home and watch.

Florida recently renovated their arena and took out about 1,000 seats.  They only had about 11,000 to begin with!  Arkansas is doubling down on suites and club seating at the football stadium.  It couldn't hurt to take a similar approach in the arena.

Take out a couple thousand seats and get some more premium seats in and prioritize student attendance and things could turn around immediately with a new coach next season.

[King Kong]

What we NEED is one of them gosh dern, rootin tootin practice facilities!

Wait...

Recruiting has been significantly better since we got that

[The_Iceman]

1) a new coach

2) a point guard

3) a power forward

[LRSmitty79]

Hell, I'll take just starting small and getting a new coach.  The rest will come, but not with the poor leadership we currently have.

#FireMike

[Razorbackers]

1.  A new coach. !!!!     2.   Most of you won't agree with me on this--- but we need to make all the lower level seats for the college kids only .   3.    Get the craziest , wildest band director you  can to bring back the fun.

You are 100% on the money here. The cheers, chants, and songs that we have are straight from the 1980s.

[Jim Harris]

One problem is that Bud Walton is just way too big for modern college sports.  Aside from marquee weekend games, it's tough to fill the arena when people can just as easily stay home and watch.

Florida recently renovated their arena and took out about 1,000 seats.  They only had about 11,000 to begin with!  Arkansas is doubling down on suites and club seating at the football stadium.  It couldn't hurt to take a similar approach in the arena.

Take out a couple thousand seats and get some more premium seats in and prioritize student attendance and things could turn around immediately with a new coach next season.

Good point on BWA. The problem was, the forward thinkers weren't forward thinking about, "what will fans do when we're not winning like we are now?" in 1990-96. They just worried about the demand at that moment and thought the good times would last forever. I remember Orville Henry writing, not necessarily about the arena but about not being very forward thinking in your planning, noting that when Rice was at its football heyday in 1947-52, they finally built a 75,000-seat stadium. For RICE UNIVERSITY. It was the right size sometimes when Texas or A&M came to Houston to play. And it was good to have to bring Super Bowl to Houston the first time. Otherwise, it was a lot of empty seats to view the Owls.

[JayBell]

Good point on BWA. The problem was, the forward thinkers weren't forward thinking about, "what will fans do when we're not winning like we are now?" in 1990-96. They just worried about the demand at that moment and thought the good times would last forever. I remember Orville Henry writing, not necessarily about the arena but about not being very forward thinking in your planning, noting that when Rice was at its football heyday in 1947-52, they finally built a 75,000-seat stadium. For RICE UNIVERSITY. It was the right size sometimes when Texas or A&M came to Houston to play. And it was good to have to bring Super Bowl to Houston the first time. Otherwise, it was a lot of empty seats to view the Owls.

So true.  Arkansas could do very well in attendance and atmosphere at about 15,000.  There's still interest there, but Bud Walton is just way too big.  HD broadcasts and SEC deals with ESPN have only exacerbated the problems.

[Razorbackers]

Good point on BWA. The problem was, the forward thinkers weren't forward thinking about, "what will fans do when we're not winning like we are now?" in 1990-96. They just worried about the demand at that moment and thought the good times would last forever. I remember Orville Henry writing, not necessarily about the arena but about not being very forward thinking in your planning, noting that when Rice was at its football heyday in 1947-52, they finally built a 75,000-seat stadium. For RICE UNIVERSITY. It was the right size sometimes when Texas or A&M came to Houston to play. And it was good to have to bring Super Bowl to Houston the first time. Otherwise, it was a lot of empty seats to view the Owls.

I agree, and I think it's a pretty easy schematic fix, but obviously it will cost a lot of money haha.

Reduce the overall number of seats, create 1 or 2 mezzanine areas with better food (and beer), maybe even make seating more comfortable all across the arena.

I don't think it's reasonable to expect BWA to sell out period, even when we're good, on Tuesday nights.

[tasteslikechicken]

I read a story one time that said the reason Frank Broyles built BWA so big was because it didn't cost that much more to add the upper seats.  I say close the upper deck off completely and move season ticket holders to the lower level and be done with it.  And I could not agree more about getting the band more involved, it used to be a real asset.

[navyhog24]

1. A new AD
2. A new Head Coach
3. Basketball players...not athletes playing basketball

[HawgAdvocate]

Recruiting has been significantly better since we got that

Has it though? By comparison of prior years, it really hasn't. What has helped is a better crop of in-state players, though at best they're still rated as back-end 4* players like Anton Beard and Hunter Mickelson were. Perry and Gafford are top 50 players, like Moses. Where are the 5* instant impact players like Portis?

[cityhog]

One problem is that Bud Walton is just way too big for modern college sports.  Aside from marquee weekend games, it's tough to fill the arena when people can just as easily stay home and watch.

Florida recently renovated their arena and took out about 1,000 seats.  They only had about 11,000 to begin with!  Arkansas is doubling down on suites and club seating at the football stadium.  It couldn't hurt to take a similar approach in the arena.

Take out a couple thousand seats and get some more premium seats in and prioritize student attendance and things could turn around immediately with a new coach next season.

BWA was built during the age of Walmart super center explosion. Not hard to wrap your head around why they built it that big.

[King Kong]

Has it though? By comparison of prior years, it really hasn't. What has helped is a better crop of in-state players, though at best they're still rated as back-end 4* players like Anton Beard and Hunter Mickelson were. Perry and Gafford are top 50 players, like Moses. Where are the 5* instant impact players like Portis?

It has. We have had like 16 top 100 prospects on campus since it opened.

[HawgAdvocate]

It has. We have had like 16 top 100 prospects on campus since it opened.

How many weren't from the state of Arkansas? List them, please.

[King Kong]

How many weren't from the state of Arkansas? List them, please.

Cook, Fisher, Curry, Hunter and McGriff off the top of my head

[Inhogswetrust]

BWA was built during the age of Walmart super center explosion. Not hard to wrap your head around why they built it that big.

One of the conditions for getting Bud's money was to have Walmart yearly stockholders meeting. The required a certain size.  Might be a problem to get them to agree to reducing the number of seats. I still think doing something like Tennessee did with Thompson-Bowling would help. Even so IF they were still considered a national power then BWA would be full.

[HawgAdvocate]

Cook, Fisher, Curry, Hunter and McGriff off the top of my head

Point being, none of those guys liked it enough to want to stick around. Coming to see it/campus/BWA is one thing. Being so impressed that they agree to sign up to make use of it is quite another (and far more important).

[Inhogswetrust]

Point being, none of those guys liked it enough to want to stick around. Coming to see it/campus/BWA is one thing. Being so impressed that they agree to sign up to make use of it is quite another (and far more important).

Maybe they didn't sign BUT maybe they wouldn't have considered us without it and not even have visited. At some point someone will sign. IF you don't show a commitment to facilities and everything then there's no sense in having a program. You have to keep up with the Jones. If you have a dilapidated house in a neighborhood with a lot of other good ones for sale then you can't sell your house.

[phadedhawg]

I think we are stuck with Bud Walton Arena in it's current form til it reaches end of life.  Maybe instead of another remodel down the road we will just build a new basketball arena and use Bud Walton Arena for something else?

The new coach is obvious but I don't ever see Bud Walton being full most nights...maybe once or twice a season if we are playing great.

[King Kong]

Point being, none of those guys liked it enough to want to stick around. Coming to see it/campus/BWA is one thing. Being so impressed that they agree to sign up to make use of it is quite another (and far more important).

Didn't like my answer so you are changing what you want the point to be? Some things never change

Since we got the practice facility we are getting more high caliber kids on campus and we have had high caliber commits.

[lstewart]

I work on campus, and my son is an Engineering student. Students pay $100 for a student season pass that gets them into every home football and basketball game. So, if you are going to reserve all the lower seats for students, you better hire a coach for about $75,000 a year. I have season tickets and have been to every home game. One of the issues is that 13,000 tickets have been sold, but 8,000 show up. So you kind of need to sit in your assigned seat, as you are not sure what seats will be empty if you move out of yours. If it was a way to move the 8,000 people all down to the seats closest to the court, it would seem like a good crowd. Barnhill held 9,000, so that would be close to full in there. Not sure about that solution, but if all the crowd was in the bottom deck close to the court, it would solve the problem without spending $15,000,000 to make the arena only hold 10,000. Having more student would be good. They try... they had a group out of campus at lunch yesterday giving students free pizza and trying to get them to come to the game. They also give students free pizza at the game. A lot of the students just are not that interested in sports, have part time jobs, need to study, whatever. But if the team ever got really good, you would have a pretty good bump in student attendance. I don't really think there is much you can do to get more people to come to the game, other than for the team to get a lot better, and competitive on a national level.

[TushCrush]

1 - New Coach

2 - New Fan Experience

And a bunch of big bosomed All Star type cheerleaders.

[HawgAdvocate]

Didn't like my answer so you are changing what you want the point to be? Some things never change

Since we got the practice facility we are getting more high caliber kids on campus and we have had high caliber commits.

I didn't change any point. You named some kids that didn't want to be Hogs after they visited. We've brought in a lot of good recruits over the years, even before we had a practice facility (Adonis Thomas, Jarnell Stokes, DeRon Davis, King McClure, etc). That's nothing new. I understand and agree that we needed one, but let's not pretend that it's proven to be the 'state-of-the-art' recruiting piece that put us back on the map that many claimed/hoped it would be. We've had one now for multiple seasons. Are Memphis kids lining up to be Hogs again? Dallas recruits? St. Louis? It's not getting any newer. Look at the title of this thread. We needed it. We got it. Now what?

Higher caliber commitments? They look to be on par with the 2011 class. Mostly in-state kids. Though we couldn't land Monk or Allen, right?

[Inhogswetrust]

I didn't change any point. You named some kids that didn't want to be Hogs after they visited. We've brought in a lot of good recruits over the years, even before we had a practice facility (Adonis Thomas, Jarnell Stokes, DeRon Davis, King McClure, etc). That's nothing new. I understand and agree that we needed one, but let's not pretend that it's proven to be the 'state-of-the-art' recruiting piece that put us back on the map that many claimed/hoped it would be. We've had one now for multiple seasons. Are Memphis kids lining up to be Hogs again? Dallas recruits? St. Louis? It's not getting any newer. Look at the title of this thread. We needed it. We got it. Now what?

Higher caliber commitments? They look to be on par with the 2011 class. Mostly in-state kids. Though we couldn't land Monk or Allen, right?

Coaches have to have the facilities........THEN they have to have the ability to recruit AND sign them. That isn't happening enough and the coaching staff has to bear the responsibility burden. With the practice facility and support center then coaches no longer have ANY excuse recruiting wise.

[razoredge178]

And a bunch of big bosomed All Star type cheerleaders.

Love it.

[JayBell]

BWA was built during the age of Walmart super center explosion. Not hard to wrap your head around why they built it that big.

I never said I didn't.

[JayBell]

I think we are stuck with Bud Walton Arena in it's current form til it reaches end of life.  Maybe instead of another remodel down the road we will just build a new basketball arena and use Bud Walton Arena for something else?

I hope all of this is wrong, but who knows.  Barnhill is still over there and I don't think it's in terrible shape (?).  They already use it for other events on campus.  You don't need another large event center right there.

The new coach is obvious but I don't ever see Bud Walton being full most nights...maybe once or twice a season if we are playing great.

Me neither.  I think a lot of folks ignore the impact of television and the availability of Arkansas' games.  It's the same reason (among others) we have seen attendance dip in football.

[JayBell]

A lot of stadiums have gone to tarping off sections to cover up empty seats and/or create demand.  They often look really cool.  I think it would be in Arkansas' best interest to tarp off the upper deck and only sell tickets for the lower bowl most of the time.  Then any excess can be moved upstairs for big games.

Florida's renovation cost almost $65 million.  The football stadium's renovation is slated to be $160 million.  I think Arkansas could take out some seats and provide more premium options in a project of about $50 million.  I think that'd be worth it.  Bud Walton is still in good shape.  $50 million would not be a bad investment to spruce it up for another 30 years.

[HawgAdvocate]

A lot of stadiums have gone to tarping off sections to cover up empty seats and/or create demand.  They often look really cool.  I think it would be in Arkansas' best interest to tarp off the upper deck and only sell tickets for the lower bowl most of the time.  Then any excess can be moved upstairs for big games.

Florida's renovation cost almost $65 million.  The football stadium's renovation is slated to be $160 million.  I think Arkansas could take out some seats and provide more premium options in a project of about $50 million.  I think that'd be worth it.  Bud Walton is still in good shape.  $50 million would not be a bad investment to spruce it up for another 30 years.

Problem is, there are quite a few fans who prefer to pay for (cheaper) upper deck season ticket seating. The ticket office/RF would have to find a way to politely tell these dozens/hundreds of people that they could no longer renew their upper deck season tickets without turning them and their money away completely, and that's not likely to happen.

[Ex-Trumpet]

Jim Robken ain't coming back.  And, there's still too many of us around that remember what an atmosphere he created and will always compare it to.

I was talking to Jim a couple months ago, asked him how he did it...he credited Eddie Sutton.  Sutton wanted an atmosphere like Houston had back in the day and had Jim travel to some games there to observe.  Jim also said ES wanted him to watch the coaches...everything from taking off his jacket to drawing a technical foul was scripted to a degree--to get the fans absolutely rabid!!  Jim had meetings with Coach Sutton before big games and he would let him in on some tells and actions to expect during the game--and reactions from the band/crowd that the team should expect in return.  It was genius. 

Maybe we can catch lightning in a bottle again, but it's gonna take the perfect storm...and it ain't happening with the current staff--coaching or musical.

[phadedhawg]

Jim Robken ain't coming back.  And, there's still too many of us around that remember what an atmosphere he created and will always compare it to.

I was talking to Jim a couple months ago, asked him how he did it...he credited Eddie Sutton.  Sutton wanted an atmosphere like Houston had back in the day and had Jim travel to some games there to observe.  Jim also said ES wanted him to watch the coaches...everything from taking off his jacket to drawing a technical foul was scripted to a degree--to get the fans absolutely rabid!!  Jim had meetings with Coach Sutton before big games and he would let him in on some tells and actions to expect during the game--and reactions from the band/crowd that the team should expect in return.  It was genius. 

Maybe we can catch lightning in a bottle again, but it's gonna take the perfect storm...and it ain't happening with the current staff--coaching or musical.

That's awesome.  Those were the best memories I had of watching games on TV (I was pretty young at the time).  He could whip the crowd into a frenzy.

[Inhogswetrust]

A lot of stadiums have gone to tarping off sections to cover up empty seats and/or create demand.  They often look really cool. I think it would be in Arkansas' best interest to tarp off the upper deck and only sell tickets for the lower bowl most of the time.  Then any excess can be moved upstairs for big games.

Florida's renovation cost almost $65 million.  The football stadium's renovation is slated to be $160 million.  I think Arkansas could take out some seats and provide more premium options in a project of about $50 million.  I think that'd be worth it.  Bud Walton is still in good shape.  $50 million would not be a bad investment to spruce it up for another 30 years.

No they don't. It's not to create demand either. It's only to cover up empty seats so it won't look so bad.

[Tejano Jawg]

Jim Robken ain't coming back.  And, there's still too many of us around that remember what an atmosphere he created and will always compare it to.

I was talking to Jim a couple months ago, asked him how he did it...he credited Eddie Sutton.  Sutton wanted an atmosphere like Houston had back in the day and had Jim travel to some games there to observe.  Jim also said ES wanted him to watch the coaches...everything from taking off his jacket to drawing a technical foul was scripted to a degree--to get the fans absolutely rabid!!  Jim had meetings with Coach Sutton before big games and he would let him in on some tells and actions to expect during the game--and reactions from the band/crowd that the team should expect in return.  It was genius. 

Maybe we can catch lightning in a bottle again, but it's gonna take the perfect storm...and it ain't happening with the current staff--coaching or musical.

During the MANY Eddie Sutton shows I watched, Eddie spoke of Robken many times. And how that was an extension of the home court advantage. It was strategy. And you're right Ex Trumpet, it WAS genius.

And Robken's "run" to the sections of Barnhill (when he saw anyone sitting down) was always a highlight. How often do you look forward to what the band director does? This was so great...saw him do it a few times in Reunion Arena too.

[nobballconcept]

We also need a big nice practice facility!!

[Hoggish1]

Move back to Barnhil.

Bingo.  And while we're at it, take out the top 20 rows in that place...

[Hoggish1]

Move back to Barnhil.

Bingo.  And while we're at it, take out the top 20 rows in that place...

What we NEED is one of them gosh dern, rootin tootin practice facilities!

Wait...

Wait, what?  We need a better one...

[swineology]

Good point on BWA. The problem was, the forward thinkers weren't forward thinking about, "what will fans do when we're not winning like we are now?" in 1990-96. They just worried about the demand at that moment and thought the good times would last forever. I remember Orville Henry writing, not necessarily about the arena but about not being very forward thinking in your planning, noting that when Rice was at its football heyday in 1947-52, they finally built a 75,000-seat stadium. For RICE UNIVERSITY. It was the right size sometimes when Texas or A&M came to Houston to play. And it was good to have to bring Super Bowl to Houston the first time. Otherwise, it was a lot of empty seats to view the Owls.

With that being said are the forward thinkers overthinking the North end zone expansion

[The Pocahontas Porker]

Has anybody seen anyone in todays basketball games that would remind them of a Jim Robken.. I seen Jim at the ball games  several times in my life an to this day have never seen anyone quite like him. If that had a spot for band directors in the hall of fame---he would 100%  have to be in there, he was so so special, ONE OFA KIND !!!!!

[swineology]

Jim Robken ain't coming back.  And, there's still too many of us around that remember what an atmosphere he created and will always compare it to.

I was talking to Jim a couple months ago, asked him how he did it...he credited Eddie Sutton.  Sutton wanted an atmosphere like Houston had back in the day and had Jim travel to some games there to observe.  Jim also said ES wanted him to watch the coaches...everything from taking off his jacket to drawing a technical foul was scripted to a degree--to get the fans absolutely rabid!!  Jim had meetings with Coach Sutton before big games and he would let him in on some tells and actions to expect during the game--and reactions from the band/crowd that the team should expect in return.  It was genius. 

Maybe we can catch lightning in a bottle again, but it's gonna take the perfect storm...and it ain't happening with the current staff--coaching or musical.

Jean Nail said  NO!

[RedRock]

Coach that can coach wins. Wins lead to attendance. Attendance leads to resources. Resources leads to band leader. So ultimately it all goes back to coaching.

[hulk hog]

If the lower level was left to college kids it would look a whole lot worse. Trust me I actually go to the games!

We would lose money on all the free pizza we would need to get to have them show up.  Now free beer and its a sellout every night.

[JayBell]

No they don't. It's not to create demand either. It's only to cover up empty seats so it won't look so bad.

One of the first sports teams to utilize tarps was the Seattle Sounders in MLS.  They were selling out at around 35,000 in the Seahawks' stadium for 67,000.

Basically every year since they started in 2009, they've opened up more of the stadium because demand keeps outpacing the supply........which they have managed by placing tarps over most of the upper decks.  They open up the entire stadium for a few games a year.

And yes, they do look cool.  Sooooo, basically exactly what I said earlier.