LITTLE ROCK – Over the next several months, Conventions Sports and Leisure will conduct a multi-faceted study in Arkansas to identify the start-up and on-going costs of sustaining a competitive football program at the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.
CSL, an advisory and planning firm based in Frisco, Texas, has been awarded the bid to conduct Little Rock's football feasibility study for the university. The Arkansas Legislative Council approved CSL's proposal in late October.
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The project will get underway in early December as CSL begins the comprehensive study into the feasibility of adding football and a marching band program. The study is expected to be completed in the spring 2018.
CSL specializes in consulting services to the convention, sport, entertainment, and visitor industries. CSL International has completed more than 500 consulting engagements throughout North America and abroad, focusing on a variety of event facility planning and economic development issues.
"We look forward to working closely with the UA Little Rock administration to evaluate the feasibility of bringing back football," said Jay Lenhardt, principal for CSL. "We have assembled a talented team with extensive intercollegiate athletic experience to provide Little Rock with a comprehensive and objective study so informed decisions can be made by campus leaders."
Lenhardt said his company will gauge the level of support from students, faculty, staff, alumni and the Little Rock community, quantify the economic benefits to the community and develop a strategic implementation plan if the university makes the decision to bring back football.
Founded in 1988, CSL has worked with clients throughout all levels of athletics, including a number of Major League Baseball, National Football League, National Basketball Association and National Hockey League franchises. At the collegiate level, CSL has experience working with over 50 Division I athletic programs, overseeing feasibility studies for programs such as North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Sun Belt Conference member Georgia Southern.
The study will be a collaborative effort led by CSL and involving CarrSports Consulting, LLC, Heery Sports and the Grant Group. CarrSports specializes in leadership placement and program advancement with Heery Sports overseeing architecture, interior design, engineering, program management and construction management. The Grant Group specializes in Title IX-Gender Equality issues–three components that will play a significant role in the study.
Little Rock fielded a successful football team back when the school was known as Little Rock Junior College. The program had many winning seasons, including a 25-19 victory over Santa Ana in the 1949 Junior Rose Bowl Game, claiming the national championship. The Trojans played in the Little Sugar Bowl in 1948 and captured the Mississippi Valley Conference championship in 1954 before disbanding after the 1955 season. The Junior Rose Bowl team was inducted into the Trojan Athletic Hall of Fame in 2006.
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