3/22/2020 basketball Edit

Hogs' attendance increases in Year 1 of Eric Musselman era

Arkansas fans packed Bud Walton Arena this season. (Nick Wenger)

Andrew Hutchinson • HawgBeat

Managing Editor

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FAYETTEVILLE — Arkansas experienced an uptick in attendance for Eric Musselman’s first season as the men’s basketball coach.

Highlighted by five sellouts, the Razorbacks averaged 15,487 fans for their 19 games at Bud Walton Arena during the 2019-20 season. That is a 1.4 percent increase over last year’s average.

“The crowds that we had… It was amazing,” Musselman said. “Most, I mean, almost all programs, you can’t fill a 12,000-seat arena, let alone one that is close to 20 (thousand). It’s unheard of.

“It motivates us. It motivates our players, it motivates our coaching staff to continue to try and connect with our fans in every way possible to not take any of that for granted because it’s so unique.”

Only two SEC schools - Kentucky (20,160) and Tennessee (18,990) - drew more fans per home game this season. Arkansas’ average also ranked 12th nationally, while its total attendance of 294,262 ranked eighth.

The Razorbacks capitalized on their 11-1 start in non-conference play - which was capped by a comeback win at Indiana - by selling out all five Saturday home games in 2020.

Those games were against Texas A&M (Jan. 4), Kentucky (Jan. 18), TCU (Jan. 25), Mississippi State (Feb. 15) and Missouri (Feb. 22) and Arkansas went 3-2. It let a second-half lead slip away against the Wildcats and lost to the Bulldogs on a last-second put back.

“When you drive up to Bud Walton two hours before a game as a coach, you can feel the passion is going to be in that building,” Musselman said. “Whether it’s a midweek game or whether it’s a weekend game… I’ve never experienced anything like it from a whole season. I mean, everyone can have one or two great crowds, but to do it night after night, it’s really cool to be a part of it.”

It is the sixth straight season the Razorbacks have eclipsed the 15,000 mark for attendance after five consecutive seasons under it. This year’s average is the third-highest during that 11-year span, behind 2014-15 and 2017-18 seasons.

Both of those teams were coming off 20-win campaigns and had high expectations leading up to the season because they returned multiple key pieces, resulting in attendance spikes of 10.9 and 6.1 percent, respectively.

That could be the case for 2020-21 depending on what Mason Jones and Isaiah Joe decide. Even if one or both of them opt to go pro, the Razorbacks have four Rivals150 recruits set to join the team next year.

Couple that with the fact that half of Arkansas’ losses this year came in overtime or by one possession and there is a palpable buzz surrounding the program heading into the offseason. It isn’t much of a stretch to think ticket sales could jump by 10.7 percent, which would give the Razorbacks their largest average attendance in more than two decades.

“If we play really really hard, if we compete, our fans will come and support us…with incredible enthusiasm,” Musselman said. “So we could not feel more fortunate to be in that situation.”

This chart shows Arkansas' average attendance at Bud Walton Arena since the building opened in 1993-94. (Andrew Hutchinson)

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