LITTLE ROCK, Ark. — Fans who attended the Arkansas game against Western Carolina Saturday at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock left with concern.
Although the Razorbacks won 56-13, the team's play on the field seemed to be overshadowed by the issues around the stadium.
Lasheena Johnson was one of 44,397 fans in attendance. She went to the game with her family.
"The atmosphere was great," Johnson said. "It was just the end of being prepared for it, being prepared for the tickets, the concessions, the water issues."
Those issues have her and hundreds of other fans talking on social media. A lack of water and ticket problems were some of the main complaints we saw on Facebook through the weekend.
"I went to the restroom and saw people filling up their bottles in the restroom sink," Johnson said. "They were so thirsty."
We contacted Arkansas Parks, Heritage and Tourism, which operates War Memorial Stadium.
"Like any large-scale event, issues did arise, but the department's command center alerted each one appropriately, and staff addressed those concerns in real-time," Secretary Shea Lewis said in a statement.
Staff with the department told us water was available at cooling and first aid stations, and the stadium had water filling stations. Johnson said a concession stand she visited had Gatorade, but it was warm.
Regarding tickets, we were referred to the University of Arkansas Athletics. A spokesperson said confusion over digital tickets led to congestion, and network connection problems slowed their ticket scanners.
That spokesperson told us they then decided to do visual checks of tickets to ensure fans could still get into the game.
According to Johnson, only one ticket in her group was looked at.
"She saw a ticket, she said how many, we said three, and she said, 'OK, you're good to go," Johnson said. "I'm kind of like, what, are you going to check the other tickets to see if we actually have tickets to the game?"
Johnson said the issues are hard to ignore, but hopes fans will continue to support games at War Memorial Stadium in the future.
"I love the game being in Little Rock," Johnson said. "There needs to be a committee of some sort to ensure that things like what happened Saturday never happen again."