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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