By: Josh Droll
(FAYETTEVILLE, Ark.) — Arkansas Athletics is hoping to turn what is usually an empty Razorback Stadium this time of year into something new. In a partnership with Oak View Group, the stadium will host Post Malone and Jelly Roll during their stadium tour in July. Oak View is a global leader in live event production, partnering with other Division I schools, like the University of Tennessee and Arizona State University.
It’s the latest push by the athletic department to generate revenue in the ever-changing landscape of collegiate sports. Kyle Parkinson is the senior associate athletic director with the department, and he said that this move comes with successful financial precedent, referring to a sold-out Garth Brooks concert in 2018.
“It was literally the most people that have ever been in this stadium,” said Parkinson. When talking about profiting from a concert, the revenue is shared between the artist, the bookers, and the stadium. The incentive for all parties involved is to sell out all 76,000 seats at the bottom of the hill to maximize revenue.
However, in a region that already has venues like the Walmart AMP in Rogers and The Momentary in Bentonville, it can be hard to imagine the necessity for another concert venue just 30 minutes south in Fayetteville. One reason is name, image, and likeness, as many teams across the nation fight to keep up with the increasing amount of money offered to student-athletes.
According to a 2024 report by the Equality in Athletics Disclosure Act, Arkansas football generated $86.8 milllion, but that number pales in comparison to the revenue garnered by Southeastern Conference rival Alabama football, topping $142 million in that same year.
The more money a school generates, the more money it can turn around to give prospective players, and the athletic department looks to Oak View Group as a long-term solution to their revenue deficit compared to programs like Alabama.
Another reason is simply the difference in size and thus, revenue. Compared to the 76,000 sets in Razorback Stadium, the Walmart AMP, which hosted notable artists like Hozier and Chappell Roan, can only seat a maximum of 11,000 people.
Hypothetically, if each ticket costs $100, the difference is between a maximum profit of 1.1 million dollars and 7.6 million dollars. Stadium tours offer more seats for both the local and out-of-state communities to convene in a new way in the region.
Jeff Cooperstein is a senior research assistant with the Center for Business and Economic Research within the Walton College of Business, and he said that stadium tours of venues cast a much wider net for people hoping to catch their favorite artist.
“So if Jelly Roll is only performing here and he’s not going to perform in Dallas,” Cooperstein said, “then that becomes, you know, an incentive for people from Dallas to come to Northwest Arkansas. And perhaps even if he is performing in some of these other major metros, if those shows sell out, his fans might say, ‘Hey, I can still get a ticket in Northwest Arkansas.’”
Parkinson said he expects the partnership between Razorback Stadium and Oak View Group to be a long-term solution to advance sports at the university. This partnership is not anticipated to affect ticket prices for future games.