Player Lawsuit Highlights Hogs’ Position in NIL Competition
The Arkansas Razorbacks are fortunate to have boosters who recognize the importance of sports beyond football.
FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — As Arkansas fans track the baseball team’s quest for a national championship during regionals and observe John Calipari’s deliberate first recruiting cycle for basketball, it’s evident how successful the Razorbacks can be in both sports in the NIL era.
However, a lawsuit filed last week highlighted the challenges ahead for football. Razorbacks coach Sam Pittman would have needed to persuade boosters to provide over $13.85 million to secure quarterback Jadan Rashada out of high school.
That’s not about securing a Heisman frontrunner from the transfer portal. That’s the price for a 17 or 18-year-old kid who hasn’t played a single college game, let alone successfully read an SEC defense.
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/72619973/1654125478.0.jpg)
If Arkansas had somehow gathered the money, it would have been for a quarterback who only played in three games, threw four touchdowns and three interceptions, and had a QBR of 23 with just one Pac-12 appearance. A complete waste of money.
For that same amount, a potential Top 10 basketball team could be easily assembled. In baseball, only an injury or a team-wide case of the yips could prevent a legitimate run at the College World Series with that kind of money in the NIL coffers.
The value boosters get from investing in baseball and basketball makes it an obvious choice.
Arkansas fans are more passionate about basketball than any other SEC fan base except, perhaps, Kentucky. In terms of baseball passion, only Mississippi State rivals Razorbacks fans.
Investing tens of millions in an unproven high school quarterback is less effective compared to other options. For the same price, one could double the monthly paychecks of 3,378 teachers in Arkansas or double the salaries of every teacher in a 4A school district like Warren for three years.
This approach would generate positive publicity and goodwill. Relying on a teenager with millions to deliver on and off the field is a risky bet.
Arkansas has a limited NIL budget. There’s enough to build potential national champions in basketball and baseball, but not enough to consistently build a winning football team. The spending in football is excessively high and often unwise.
Although Razorbacks fans love football, the team’s financial limitations are evident in the past four years’ performance. However, other schools that focus all their resources on football often achieve similar results to Arkansas but lack competitive basketball and baseball programs.
Arkansas fans enjoy following two of the best college sports programs for 10 months a year, while much of the SEC has only a few months of excitement. This is important to remember if football struggles in November, as basketball will be gearing up for March Madness and baseball will be preparing for another run to Omaha.
It’s fortunate to have boosters who recognize the value in spreading resources across sports rather than investing heavily in a single, unproven football player. Remember this as the Razorbacks’ star pitcher, Hagen Smith, takes the mound in the Fayetteville Regional winner’s bracket today.
