The state of Arkansas can offer its fair share of exploits for locals and tourists alike yet there is still a noticeable absence of any major sporting presence located throughout the state at a professional level which could allow the possibility of a new sports expansion team to set up operation within this intriguing market.
Reasons Why Arkansas Should Have an NFL Team
There are many reasons why the state of Arkansas could potentially house a professional sports team with one of the main assets being the amount of support that the Arkansas Razorbacks collegiate program has garnered and which has enjoyed an impressive list of successful accolades throughout a range of sports.
The Razorbacks have always remained a top competitive team in football as well as making a strong case to become one of the best baseball college teams in the nation, with the team also being heavily involved in other sports such as basketball and ice hockey.
Given the success that the Razorbacks have enjoyed throughout their entire history as a collegiate program and the fact that they have a mass amount of fan support from residents from all across the state, there remains a daring question surrounding whether this state could support or welcome a professional sports team with football being a potential suitor.
- Why does Arkansas not house any major sporting franchises?
There is certainly a great amount of intrigue and investment from residents who live within the state lines that could certainly voice their appreciation to have an NFL professional sports team that may potentially be established and make an appearance in one of the nation’s most distinguished leagues and in the latest NFL odds ahead of Superbowl.
Most major leagues, including the NFL, have made it clear that they are open to the idea of expanding their current listings of organizations to other provinces around the nation and potentially in other countries, with Arkansas being a viable candidate.
However, while the state does have an overriding amount of passion directed toward football, it is very unlikely that the state will ever have the opportunity to host a major professional football team or any notable franchise from other sports.
To put it bluntly, Arkansas is not a particularly large sports market to operate out of and can often be placed in the same category as other states such as Kentucky and Alabama as sports markets that value their college programs over a professional team.
Alongside the market size setback, the state also does not have a mass capacity venue that is capable of hosting an NFL club with the Razorbacks already playing out of their 76,000 stadium, which is closely followed by the 53,727 War Memorial Stadium located in Little Rock, which unfortunately does not meet the NFL’s guidelines of minimum capacity size.
Finally, the region at which the team is located is already surrounded by other NFL clubs that locals may already be supporting, which includes the likes of the Dallas Cowboys, Tennessee Titans, New Orleans Saints, LA Rams (who formally played in St. Louis Missouri) and the Kansas City Chiefs who all operate close to the state borders.
While there is certainly a viable spot in Arkansas for a professional football team to operate out of, there are a number of factors that could likely impede any developing progress for an NFL club to play host to the state, as well as other markets also competing for the chance to have an NFL team compete in their state/city.
- What benefits could an NFL team bring to the state of Arkansas?
Adding a professional sports team from virtually any major sporting league could help greatly increase the fanfare and overall economy for a market of the size featured in Arkansas.
It could also bring a greater amount of wealth in terms of tourism numbers as more groups of travelers may be interested in catching a glimpse of what the state offers to its visitors alongside the football action that can so often be on display.
The construction of a home stadium could also offer even greater opportunities for leisure events and other sporting contests, which will help increase the marketing options for such a state to continue to exploit for the foreseeable future.
It would also create even more employment opportunities for the state to incorporate but would also require a lot of maintenance for such a small market to uptake meaning that there could be plenty of challenges that may prevent such an asset from coming to fruition. The state’s population has great admiration for the sport of football which is greatly represented in the support that is often provided for their Razorbacks college team yet the concept of welcoming an NFL club to the state of Arkansas seems to be a large long-term project that may be currently out of the depths for the time being due to the various scenarios affecting this progress, with natives still being more than contempt to cheer on their local college teams at this current juncture.
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