Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

Lost revenue wasn’t the ultimate factor in the recent Arkansas basketball coaching change. It was, however, on the list of reasons given by Athletic Director Jeff Long, who begins Week Two of a search for a new coach today.

This is a topic I explore in a cover story today in Arkansas Business. The full article is available online at ArkansasSports360.com, but let’s pull out a portion of it to focus on here:

What can Arkansas do for the future to pull in some of that money left on the table? Spending money on a coach is a start.

Long said what Arkansas spends would be impacted to some degree by the "marketplace." Let's look at that marketplace:

Here’s more from my analysis piece in Arkansas Business:

Potentially, a hire that energizes the fan base can help increase revenue through ticket sales. Outside marketing opportunities through Razorback Sports Properties could also increase with a better on-court product.

But to make money, Arkansas will most likely have to spend money.

Attracting a coach that can bring the Razorbacks back to national prominence doesn’t figure to be an easy or cheap process. Salaries have increased in the marketplace, and the Razorbacks were already on the low end when Pelphrey was hired from South Alabama in 2007.

Pelphrey’s base salary was less than $800,000, and he made a little more than $1.25 million this year with outside payment and incentives. Replacing Pelphrey with a proven winner will likely take more money than Arkansas was spending.

It’s doubtful the Razorbacks are willing to spend like Kentucky and Florida, which are paying in the $3 million to $4 million range, but Long said the program would be able to pay enough to attract strong candidates.

Long said he would be conscientious with the school’s money. Currently, the school is scheduled to pay football coach Bobby Petrino an average of $3.5 million until 2017. Arkansas is not expected to get quite that high for a basketball coach.

Pelphrey is being paid $600,000 a year for the next three years as part of a buyout. Should he find a job, Arkansas will only have to pay the difference in salary up to $600,000.