[Trending News] 
New Study: Arkansas Absolutely Crushes Rest of SEC In Ticket Price for a Family of 4 

If college basketball was the stock market, Ryan White believes now is the time to invest in Arkansas.

Fresh off a bounce-back win at Vanderbilt, the Razorbacks have worked their way back on the bubble and have a chance to solidify their resume for March Madness when Mississippi State visits Bud Walton Arena at 11 a.m. CT Saturday, a game that will be televised on SEC Network.

Most bracketologists now project Arkansas in the field of 68, but it is far from a lock to make the NCAA Tournament, much less avoid the First Four in Dayton, Ohio. (It should be noted, however, that ESPN’s Joe Lunardi currently has the Razorbacks getting one of the “Last Four Byes,” meaning they wouldn’t have to go to Dayton.)

White — the executive director of the Razorback Foundation — made the stock market analogy on the Feb. 11 episode of Razorback Daily, but Arkansas basketball bottomed out a couple weeks earlier, around the same time as the UA’s announcement to which he was actually referring.

The Razorbacks were sitting at a lowly 1-6 in conference play after dropping a winnable home matchup with Oklahoma in their second game of the post-Boogie Fland era. National media was piling on and the NIT even felt out of reach.

Needless to say, it was an unfortunate time for Arkansas’ unveiling of the first re-seating plan in Bud Walton Arena’s 32-year history.

While he acknowledged the poor timing, White — as you’d expect from a person in his position — found the silver lining during his podcast appearance and sold it to fans as a chance to “buy in low” for season tickets.

“If you don’t decide to get involved this year, and let’s say the team does really well next year and you want to get involved, it’s going to be a lot harder,” White told co-hosts Matt Zimmerman and Quinn Grovey. “That’s where people see this re-seating as an opportunity.”

It’s a compelling argument, especially given John Calipari’s track record and the active four-year streak of season sellouts at Bud Walton Arena. In fact, the Hall of Fame coach has already shown he’s capable of turning the program around, as evidenced by wins over Kentucky, Texas (twice), Missouri and Vanderbilt over the last month or so.

The UA is hoping the rekindled excitement translates into the 300-400 new season ticket accounts it’s aiming for with the new ticket limits.

They’ll also have to make up for the loss of some disgruntled fans strongly considering dropping their tickets altogether in response to the re-seating plan. They are upset about being forced out of their current seats, some of which have been occupied by the same fans since the building opened in 1993, or being asked to significantly increase their donation to retain the same number of seats.

“I wasn’t buying premium tickets for 22, 23 years,” said Kyle Helms, 62, of Clarksville, who has had season tickets since 1998. “I was buying tickets nobody else wanted. Now that basketball has picked up and they need more money…I’m likely to be a casualty of the increase that they’re asking for. I don’t think that’s right. I don’t think they should just dismiss the 20-something years of giving for nothing really.”

(READ NEXT: “I Hate the Situation It’s Created”: Hog Lifers on Bad & Good of UA Policy Change)

Where Arkansas Basketball Ranks in SEC

Despite the messaging from the top of the Razorback Foundation, Arkansas basketball fans won’t exactly be “buying in low” when compared to the rest of the 16-team SEC.

For a family of four to purchase season tickets in 2025-26, it would require a minimum $3,000 donation, plus the cost of the tickets themselves. At $365 per seat in the upper deck, that’s at least an additional $1,260 — bringing the total to a whopping $4,460.

That is believed to be the largest price tag for four season tickets in the conference, according to research by Best of Arkansas Sports.

Using information both posted publicly online and received by reaching out directly to the other 15 SEC programs, we found that the next-most expensive set of four men’s basketball season tickets belongs to Kentucky. The Wildcats’ cheapest tickets are $850/seat and don’t require a donation, meaning four would cost $3,400 — more than $1,000 cheaper than at Arkansas.

Auburn is the third-most expensive. The Tigers actually combine the cost of the ticket and required donation, marketing it as $550 per seat price. That brings the Tigers’ total to $2,200 — less than half of the price at Bud Walton Arena.

Those two schools being at the top of the list makes a lot of sense given Kentucky’s status as a blue blood program with a massive following. For Auburn, a Final Four appearance in 2019 and multiple No. 1 rankings since then – along with a relatively small arena (9,121 capacity) – have created more demand than supply.

It’s worth noting that nearly all of the season ticket prices listed in the chart behind the registration wall below are for the 2024-25 season, as most schools have yet to announce their plans for next season. There’s a chance some could increase because of the same financial stressors that led to Arkansas making changes at Bud Walton Arena.

Schools in the midst of great seasons and consistently selling out their buildings – like Tennessee, Auburn, Florida and Alabama – would presumably be the top candidates to raise their prices, as they would have leverage similar to the Razorbacks.

Impact of Changes

As for those financial stressors, Arkansas is trying to account for an additional $25 million in expenses beginning with the 2025-26 school year because of increased scholarships and revenue sharing.

The Bud Walton Arena re-seating plan will help because it’ll result in an uptick in Razorback Foundation membership from new season ticket holders. Even existing members may give more to ensure they get a certain number of tickets and/or a better spot in line when it comes to picking seats.

That revenue comes at a cost, though.

By making a set of four season tickets so expensive, the Razorbacks are pricing some fans – many of them families – out of Bud Walton Arena.

“I went to every game with my dad in Barnhill as a kid,” said Mark Anderson, a fan whose family has had Arkansas basketball season tickets since 1976. “Then I took my own son to every game as he grew up in Bud Walton, but my son won’t have the opportunity to do the same with his son. This is just a horrible way to build a generational fanbase.”

Another fan, Craig from Fayetteville, told BoAS that he understood the UA’s need to bring in more money in the current college athletics environment.

As someone who brings his two young children to games with him and his wife, though, he would have to donate six times his current level to retain his four season tickets – which he can’t do.

In his eyes, the dramatic increase he and other families are facing is an example of athletics director Hunter Yurachek not weighing the potential trickle-down effect that may not show up until he’s long gone.

“He’s gone all in on the other direction of this, on the money side of it.. I don’t know that it’s a long-term plan for him,” Craig said. “I think he doesn’t really see the long-term of this. He’s all about the here and now. He’s got to be a mover and shaker now to improve his resume for whenever the next job opens.”

Men’s Basketball Season Tickets in the SEC

Below is look at how much a set of four season tickets costs at each SEC school, based on the latest available data compiled by Best of Arkansas Sports. If you are already a BoAS email newsletter subscriber, you won’t be double-emailed.

Team	Total Cost	Breakdown
1. Arkansas	$4,460	$365/seat for ticket + $3,000 donation
2. Kentucky	$3,400	$850/seat for ticket (no donation)
3. Auburn	$2,200	$550/seat for ticket/donation combined
4. Texas	$2,000	$500/seat for ticket (no donation)
5. Missouri	$1,920	$355/seat for ticket + $125/seat donation
6. Ole Miss	$1,900	$350/seat for ticket + $125/seat donation
7. Georgia	$1,440	$285/seat for ticket + $75/seat donation
8. Alabama	$1,400	$350/seat for ticket (no donation)
9. Tennessee	$1,260	$250/seat for ticket + $65/seat donation
10. Florida	$1,200	$300/seat for ticket (no donation)
11. Mississippi State	$900	$125/seat for ticket + $100/seat donation
12. Vanderbilt	$820	$125/seat for ticket + $80/seat donation
13. Oklahoma	$796	$199/seat for ticket (no donation)
t-14. South Carolina	$580	$90/seat for ticket + $200 donation + $20 fee
t-14. Texas A&M	$580	$145/seat for ticket (no donation)
16. LSU	$400	$100/seat for ticket (no donation)

***

More coverage of Bud Walton Arena and Arkansas basketball from BoAS…