FAYETTEVILLE — The University of Arkansas will play its annual Red-White spring football game at Reynolds Razorback Stadium on April 25 instead of in Little Rock.
SEC commissioner Greg Sankey sent UA deputy director of athletics Jon Fagg a letter dated Feb. 20 denying the school’s request for a waiver to play the game off campus, as the Razorbacks did in 2018.
UA officials wrote to the conference on Feb. 1 asking for the waiver. The Razorbacks played their 2018 Red-White game at War Memorial Stadium with construction to the Razorback Stadium’s north end zone project still underway.
In Fagg’s request for waiver letter, he wrote, “With the shift to one War Memorial home game every other season, the university feels it is important to maintain a presence in Central Arkansas in years in which we do not hold a regular season competition in that stadium. Utilizing the stadium to hold our spring game is a wonderful opportunity to maintain that presence.”
Fagg also argued War Memorial is a “home” stadium for the Razorbacks that should be treated as part of campus, and that the Razorbacks gained no competitive advantage by playing a spring game there.
Wrote Sankey, “After review of the information provided by the institution, the institution’s request is hereby denied due to a lack of extenuating circumstances which warrant relief from the normal application of the Conference’s on-campus practice requirements.”
The Razorbacks agreed to play their home game against Missouri every odd-numbered year as it did last season, and had hoped to play their spring game at War Memorial during even-numbered years.