Like It Is

Broyles, Stephens meet, work on healing wounds

WALLY HALL
ARKANSAS DEMOCRAT-GAZETTE

FAYETTEVILLE -- A little more than a month ago Frank Broyles asked for and got a meeting with Warren Stephens.
The two had been on opposite sides for more than a year over the moving of Arkansas Razorbacks games from War Memorial Stadium.
Stephens is the CEO of Stephens Management, a business that has been as deeply involved with the Razorbacks programs as any in the past four decades.
In an effort to keep the games in Little Rock, Stephens spent $150,000 out of his own pocket to develop a bond issue that would have expanded War Memorial to 64,000 seats, if the Razorbacks agreed to play three games there each of the next 25 seasons.
The Board of Trustees voted to go with two games for 11 of the next 15 years and three the other four.
That ended Stephens' plan to remodel and enlarge the second home of the Razorbacks.
It also ended, as promised, some of Stephens' financial involvement with the UA, such as sponsoring the coaches' (Houston Nutt and Nolan Richardson) shows.
The meeting between Broyles and Stephens went better than most might have expected.
Broyles offered an apology and listened to Stephens' arguments about moving the games.
"I thought the meeting went well," Broyles said. "We need Warren and his company involved in our program. They have been an important part of Razorback athletics for a long time.
"We are too small a state to be divided."
Last week Broyles might have curried some favor with Stephens, but chose to make the decision that was best for the Razorbacks.
Not get involved.
Kevin Scanlon, who works for Stephens Inc., and heads the almost defunct Stephens Sports Management, sent Broyles a letter offering to help compensate the packages of Nutt and Richardson by $25,000 each.
All they had to do was write an exclusive column for the Donrey Media newspapers.
Stephens owns Donrey Media.
Donrey declared war on this newspaper and other newspapers in the area a couple of months ago when it announced it would be hiring more writers and going to what is called zoned editions (people in Fayetteville would supposedly get more Fayetteville news from the Springdale-based newspaper than it would Springdale news).
Would having weekly columns by Nutt and Richardson help?
Definitely.
Would it have alienated the other newspapers in the state and set up the possibility of exclusive radio or television interviews, too?
Definitely.
Was it a good idea?
Definitely, if you are Donrey and Stephens.
Not sponsoring the shows of the coaches and then asking them to write a column was a gutsy move.
It may not have ever entered Broyles' mind that such a proposal would be a huge conflict of interest.
All Broyles had to do was recall that when this newspaper was engaged in a war with the old Gazette it offered Broyles compensation to write a weekly column.
He declined because he didn't feel a state employee should be taking sides in those types of issues.
Besides, coaches' plates are overflowing during the season. The first time the Razorbacks lost there would be fans who pointed at a Nutt column and said he should have spent that time reading defenses instead of writing sentences.
Broyles said no thank you to Scanlon's offer.
The NCAA requires athletic directors' approval of coaches' outside income.
It was just a business proposal that Broyles acted on quickly and efficiently and one that really should have no effect on any healing that might be taking place.
Understand, Warren Stephens was always for expansion of Reynolds Razorback Stadium.
He just wanted to do the same thing for War Memorial Stadium.
It is said time heals all wounds. It just doesn't say how much time.
The most clear message that has been left in the wake of the stadium debate is the passion for the Razorbacks runs deep throughout the entire state.
Stephens might have cut back its financial support, but it didn't give up its tickets or luxury suite.
And Warren Stephens and Frank Broyles had a meeting.

This article was published on Thursday, August 31, 2000

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