War Memorial Stadium prepares for Razorbacks vs. UAPB Golden Lions

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – A stadium that’s usually quiet and empty will soon be full of Hog calls and roaring Golden Lions as college football kicks off for many fans in the Natural State.

The Arkansas Razorbacks will face off against the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff Golden Lions in War Memorial Stadium on Thursday.

A lot of updates have happened in preparation for this year’s season opener, especially after the fan response from last year’s game in War Memorial. Officials say the updates were made to keep everyone in the stadium safe.

General manager John Latch said they’ve “learned from last year’s game,” starting with improvements to hydration areas for fans.

“We’ve tripled our inventory of water,” he said. “We’ve loaded up concession stands so the less of a need to try and run water to those stands.”

They added four 250-gallon water containers and cups to go along with their water fountains to provide free water. Stadium officials are encouraging fans to bring in their own clear empty bottles to fill up, with the option to buy water too.

War Memorial staff is also working to improve the process of getting fans into the game.

“This year we requested from the University of Arkansas that they send down 60 ticket scanners instead of the original 30 that we’ve used every year,” Latch said.

Officials said these scanners will be split among the stadium’s six entrances. Add that with a network speed that’s almost 10 times faster and the long lines that were seen last year will hopefully move quicker this time around.

“There is no reentry so once you walk through there, you’ll have to buy another ticket to get back into the game,” Latch said.

Latch said the stadium is ready for fans.

“We’re just excited about this every year for central Arkansans to come and enjoy an awesome razorback game,” Latch said.

When it comes to ticket sales, he noted that the university said they’re on track to have about the same amount of people they did last year which was around 40,000 to 45,000. The total capacity of the stadium is around 54,000.

For more information on War Memorial’s game day security policies, visit WMStadium.com .

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