Arkansas
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
OPINION | WALLY HALL: Arkansas will need more than Robinson’s coerced contribution | Arkansas Democrat Gazette
Wally Hall
Wally Hall is assistant managing sports editor for the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette. A graduate of the University of Arkansas-Little Rock after an honorable discharge from the U.S. Air Force, he is a member and past president of the Football Writers Association of America, member of the U.S. Basketball Writers Association, past president and current executive committee and board member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, and voter for the Heisman Trophy. He has been awarded Arkansas Sportswriter of the Year 10 times and has been inducted into the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame and Arkansas Sportswriters and Sportscasters Hall of Fame.
Will Garrett Nussmeier’s size hold him back in the NFL?
LSU QB Garrett Nussmeier will look to impress scouts at the NFL Combine despite size concerns.
Move over, Anthony Richardson. There’s a new quarterback athletic marvel at the NFL scouting combine.
On Saturday in Indianapolis, Arkansas’ Taylen Green broke Richardson’s top marks at the position since 2003 for both the vertical leap and broad jump. Green’s 43½-inch vertical topped Richardson’s previous high by three inches, while his 11-2 broad jump beat the Indianapolis Colts signal-caller’s measurement by five inches.
Then, Green reeled off a 4.36-second 40-yard dash time. That stood as the second-best time for any quarterback since 2003, trailing only Reggie McNeal in 2006 (4.35 seconds). Richardson, for comparison, logged a 4.43-second mark in 2023.
Green didn’t even bother with a second attempt after his initial time.
The testing profile created quite the stir around the 6-6, 227-pound passer, who had widely projected as a developmental option for teams on Day 3.
NFL Network’s Charles Davis said Green told him that no teams had approached him about working out as a receiver, adding that he would not be interested in a position switch.
Green started for the Razorbacks for the last two seasons after playing the first three years of his career at Boise State. Known for his running ability and ample arm strength, Green threw for 2,714 yards and 19 touchdowns last year while adding 777 yards and eight scores on the ground.
It was a banner day for Arkansas, as running back Mike Washington Jr. also stood out among his peers with a group-leading 4.33-second 40-yard dash as well as strong marks in the vertical leap (39 inches) and broad jump (10-8).
Rex Nelson
Rex Nelson has been senior editor and columnist at the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette since 2017, and he has a biweekly podcast called “Southern Fried.”
After graduating from Ouachita Baptist University in 1981, he was a sportswriter for the Arkansas Democrat for a year before becoming editor of Arkadelphia’s Daily Siftings Herald. He was the youngest editor of a daily in Arkansas at age 23. Rex was then news and sports director at KVRC-KDEL from 1983-1985.
He returned to the Democrat as assistant sports editor in 1985. From 1986-1989, he was its Washington correspondent. He left to be Jackson T. Stephens’ consultant.
Rex became the Democrat-Gazette’s first political editor in 1992, but left in 1996 to join then-Gov. Mike Huckabee’s office. He also served from 2005-09 in the administration of President George W. Bush.
From 2009-2018, he worked stints at the Communications Group, Arkansas’ Independent Colleges and Universities, and Simmons First National Corp.
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