Arkansas

Razorbacks NIL Raffle Bill Hits Minor Snag, Still On Track For Baseball Season

Published

1 year ago

January 30, 2025

Razorbacks NIL Raffle Bill Hits Minor Snag, Still On Track For Baseball Season

FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The 95th General Assembly is now in session in Little Rock. Arkansas fans will be watching closely the movement of House Bill 1044, which would allow the University of Arkansas and other state schools to set up a 50/50 raffle to support NIL. Read the full bill here.

Schools are scrambling to stash away as much money as possible both in terms of the foundation fundraising, as evidenced by athletic director Hunter Yurachek’s recent Bud Walton “reseating” announcement. The Hogs are also looking to beef up NIL.

Schools across the state would be able to run a hybrid 50/50 raffle at athletic events that would allow fans at the game and people online with an Arkansas IP address to participate in a raffle pool in which half of the funds will go to a lucky winner and the other half to NIL efforts. The structure is similar to a promotion run by Florida Victorious during football season, the NIL arm of the Florida Gators.

The bill, filed initially in November, is still in the House Rules Committee and is sitting on the deferred bills list. There are minor changes to the language bill, due to potential legal concerns.

“There’s no substantial changes,” lead sponsor RJ Hawk (R-Bryant) said. “It’s just making sure that this thing, if it were ever to get challenged in a court that it would hold up. We’re just making sure all our I’s are dotted and T’s are crossed.”

Despite the minor hold-up, Hawk remains optimistic that not only will the pass the rules committee and the legislature, Fans will be able to still see the benefits of the bill this baseball season.

“As long as we can get it out [of the rules committee] in the month of February,” Hawk said. “We’ll be good to go.”

There is confidence that not only will the bill will pass, but also that schools will be ready to hit the ground running once they get the final green light because of the emergency clause attached to the bill. The clause allows the bill to go into effect immediately after the governor’s signature instead of the traditional 91 days after the end of the legislative session.

“From my understanding not just the UA [will be ready to go],” Hawk said. “All parties involved [will be ready] that the minute this becomes law they’re they’re ready to roll. I can’t speak for them as far as where they are in the process, but based on my conversations it seems like that once this becomes law, they’ll be ready to rock and roll.”

If the bill passes the House Rules Committee, it will go to full floor vote in the House before heading off to the senate. Hawk expects no changes between the bill passed in the House and the Senate. The Senate bill’s sponsor is Jonathan Dismang (R-Searcy).

The House Rules Committee meets every Wednesday in Little Rock. The Razorbacks start its baseball season 3 p.m. Feb. 14 against Washington State.

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Arkansas

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

Published

8 hours ago

June 25, 2026

Press Room

Arkansas Governor joins national A.I. workforce initiative

LITTLE ROCK, AR (KATV) — Governor Sarah Huckabee Sanders has joined a new national artificial intelligence initiative that launched Thursday, June 25.

RAISE US, started by former Governor Eric Holcomb of Indiana and Gina Raimondo, former U.S. Secretary of Commerce is a nonpartisan national organization that will partner with governors, employers, workers and training organizations to help the workforce transition to an AI economy.

“As artificial intelligence transforms America’s economy, we have one clear message: technology should empower people, not replace them. By leveraging our Arkansas LAUNCH initiative, and with the resources and expertise provided by RAISE US, Arkansas will turn that mission into reality. We want the Natural State to be a leader on education, workforce training, and up-skilling, and this new partnership gives us the tools we need to build a model for the entire nation.”

The organization will design and pilot incentives to retrain workers, new approaches to support job transitions, and training models tied to employer demand.

RAISE US launches with more than two dozen American companies and philanthropies and initial state partnerships in Connecticut, Maryland and Utah.

“America has a technology strategy for leading the global AI competition. It does not yet have a people strategy — and we cannot lead without one,” Raimondo, who will serve as CEO of RAISE US, said.

“If we build the best AI systems in the world and leave millions of Americans behind, we won’t have won anything; we’ll have automated our own decline. I believe AI will create new jobs and industries over time, but the transition could be disruptive, and it’s already underway. We shouldn’t fearmonger, but we can’t pretend our training and worker support systems are ready either. It’s time for innovative and practical solutions. This moment demands ambition, urgency, and creativity. We’ve assembled the country’s top companies, best economists, and bipartisan governors at a scale rarely seen — all to advance new ideas and incentives, pilot them with governors and business, and scale what works.”

Governor Sanders is partnering with RAISE US to support Arkansas LAUNCH, an AI-powered career navigation platform that connects students and jobseekers to personalized learning and employer-linked career pathways.

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