Thanks A Million

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. – Arkansas topped one million in paid attendance for home events in 2014-15, an increase of more than 10 percent from the previous year in ticketed Razorback sports. The increase in paid attendance came in conjunction with what proved to be the most successful year ever for the Razorback program, both academically and athletically.

A total of 1,062,572 Razorback fans purchased tickets for home events in football, men’s and women’s basketball, baseball, gymnastics, soccer, softball, men’s and women’s track and field and volleyball, marking a 10.1 percent increase from the 964,909 fans who represented paid attendance for the same events in 2013-14. Eleven of the 12 sports saw increased paid attendance this year. Football netted a 17.9 percent increase in attendance last season, while soccer (13.4 percent) and volleyball (11.3 percent) also enjoyed double-digit percentage attendance increases.

“We are grateful to the more than one million Razorback fans that cheered on our programs at home this past year,” Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long said. “With the tremendous support our more than 460 student-athletes receive from the passionate fans of our program, we were able to record the most successful year in the history of Razorbacks Athletics. Thank you to all those who cheered our teams on this past season and we look forward to seeing you at a Razorback event in 2015-16.”

Arkansas recently finished the 2014-15 year ranked 16th in the Learfield Sports Directors Cup, a competition that tracks the nation’s most successful intercollegiate athletics programs for their performances throughout the year. The 16th-place ranking was the best national finish since the current scoring format was adopted. Of the top-15 teams in the standings, 12 have 20 or more sports in their programs. Arkansas sponsors 19 varsity sports, 16 of those programs contributed to the record-breaking point total, tying a record also achieved in 2007-08.

The Razorbacks ranked fourth among Southeastern Conference programs. Arkansas is the only Division I school in the nation this year to have won a bowl game, games in both the NCAA Men’s and Women’s Basketball Tournaments and an NCAA Baseball Regional.

Academically, Razorback student-athletes posted a program record cumulative grade point average (GPA) of 3.24, with more than 60 percent of student-athletes achieving a 3.0 GPA or better.

Attendance 2013-14 2014-15
Football 338,618 399,124
Soccer 10,786 12,231
Volleyball 13,711 15,265
Men’s Basketball 269,838 283,485
Women’s Basketball 28,850 31,503
Track & Field 21,630 22,787
Gymnastics 14,533 14,750
Softball 11,669 9,822
Baseball 255,274 273,605
Total 964,909 1,062,572