BamaMoon said:

I'm not a UAB apologist, but downtown Birmingham is actually showing great signs of revitilizaiton, especially around the UAB campus. Now, where Legion Field is located is not desirable at all, near UAB the downtown is doing quite well.

Again, not arguing that UAB is financially sound at all, but if they played near downtown it would help their attendence....not sure how much...but it would help.

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This is a point that many either are ignorant of, or simply want to ignore. While I'm not a big believer of "if you build it, they will come", UAB would have greatly benefited from a new facility of some sort, even if it was a city facility (and I don't necessarily mean a dome). On or very near campus. I grew up in Birmingham. I've seen and dealt with Legion and the surrounding parking. And the training facilities?

Plus I was around when the program was born. TONS of excitement surrounded it. Now, whether you believe that they should have ever risen above I-AA means nothing to me, for the simple reason that they could have made it. People coming to see you and recruits jumping on board are what I call a ROI (Return on Investment). How do you get an ROI, if you never truly invest?? There has not been an investment to truly compete in a long time for UAB. And when you don't invest, you won't compete. We have Saban, and we have Avery, and we are reaping benefits. But we invested. You can win and succeed at D-1 football, albeit on a much smaller scale, if you want to. All I hear is talk about "wasting money". This is a case of they needed to spend some to make some, and it just wasn't done. UAB football could've thrived, again, on a small scale, if the right people wanted it to. It is not the fault of the UAB football team that money was "wasted". Heck, if you have people that don't know how to get money turned around, and how to market, etc., fire 'em and hire someone else! This is not that difficult. Donors were being turned down. Facility upgrades were OK'd, then turned down. That program could've succeeded.

I'm not saying that Bama fans should cheer for UAB, or even care, but I do not understand the kicking of a down (and now dead) program. Enough, already.

UAB report reveals costs to reinstate football; decision now rests with Ray Watts

UAB's athletic department would have an annual deficit of $3.165 million if it reinstated football, rifle and bowling, according to a school commissioned report, obtained by AL.com.

The report, produced by College Sports Solutions, was presented to the UAB Athletic Assessment Task Force on Friday and is scheduled to be released to the public on Monday. Watts has revealed that he will announce his decision about whether to reinstate football, rifle and bowling by June 1.

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CSS report goes MythBusters on the anti-UAB football crowd

That mythbusters article is just a joke. If there is so much UAB support then why is the stadium empty on Saturdays? Because almost all those who claim to support them are in Tuscaloosa or Auburn or watching the Tide or Tigers at home.

I hope they bring it back now, just so we can see an empty Ligon Field again and ask "where did all those cry babies go?"

It's very easy to write an article saying there is a lot of support but, the rest of us sane folks saw the TV broadcast and pictures of the empty stadium. You can claim that you have all the support in the world but, if no one shows up for the game then you have nothing.

81usaf92 said:

The Hoover met would've probably have been their best option, but 459 would be worse than it usually is when them and bama both have home games on the same day

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I doubt 459 would feel much more impact from the 4 or 5 UAB fans going to the game.

They will get pretty good support for the first few games back.

You can say what you want, but there would have been more support, buzz, excitement and enthusiasm for this upcoming season than there has been in a long time for UAB football, if it hadn't been shut down. They had a lot returning, and a solid staff. Oh well...

JustNeedMe81 said:

Instead, after making the sort of adjustments suggested by the economics literature, we conclude that the three sports were effectively break-even to slightly positive. Football and bowling showed a modest positive return for 2013-14,

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WAT?

They may generate enough revenue to subsidize football one year, but the UA system will again have to fund them in future years when the well dries up , as it most certainly will when they lose 8 games in a season. Nip it in the bud now, and there will be less pain 3 years from now when UAB is losing millions again and begging for more.

Rama Jama said:

They may generate enough revenue to subsidize football one year, but the UA system will again have to fund them in future years when the well dries up , as it most certainly will when they lose 8 games in a season. Nip it in the bud now, and there will be less pain 3 years from now when UAB is losing millions again and begging for more.

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That's what the outside pledges (that are currently being taken) are for, or am I missing something?

bamahippie said:

That's what the outside pledges (that are currently being taken) are for, or am I missing something?

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Will the money continue to be donated, though? Yes, it's been donated to bring the program back, but will folks continue to give? They weren't giving when it was around.

So far they've raised just under $8 million, right? IIRC, the program was losing over $10 million a year. They haven't raised enough to break even for one year yet.

Don't forget they want a 75 million dollar stadium to (and both supporters and detractors seem to cite a need for that). I can't see how that would truly be revenue neutral, at least not anytime soon, so supposedly we're looking at UAB not only losing millions per year, but needing another 75. A few million in donations from local businesses just ain't gonna cover that, it's like putting a band-aid on a gaping wound.

RTR91 said:

Will the money continue to be donated, though? Yes, it's been donated to bring the program back, but will folks continue to give? They weren't giving when it was around.

So far they've raised just under $8 million, right? IIRC, the program was losing over $10 million a year. They haven't raised enough to break even for one year yet.

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I see your point... I don't know if it will be sustained. I did not realize it was 10 mil a year. But either way, they shouldn't need 10 mil a year from outside donors. I though it was is in the 2+ mil range per year.

Also, what was the actual amount that UAB was losing? Some reports say 3.75 mil. Some in the 7 mil range. I'm probably confusing some of the numbers that I've seen reported.

bamahippie said:

I see your point... I don't know if it will be sustained. I did not realize it was 10 mil a year. But either way, they shouldn't need 10 mil a year from outside donors. I though it was is in the 2+ mil range per year.

Also, what was the actual amount that UAB was losing? Some reports say 3.75 mil. Some in the 7 mil range. I'm probably confusing some of the numbers that I've seen reported.

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I think it's hard to get accurate numbers, reports have cited that most FBS programs actually lose money, but I suspect a big part of that is Title IX. What ever they spent on the football team, they had to match in spending in Title IX. I'd think based on basically being forced to give tickets away, they were losing money before Title IX even came into the picture.

I've posted here, well before the whole UAB football issue how their athletic department was just wasting millions of dollars every year. UAB generated 28 million in revenue annually, vs 27 million in expenses. That doesn't sound bad at all right? They were subsidized to the tune of nearly 18 million. So, they were losing around 17 million a year as an athletic program, and they were basically throwing a lot of their subsidy in the trash, getting a horrible return.

They ought to get the City of Birmingham to build them that dome

GP for Bama said:

They ought to get the taxpayers of Birmingham to build them that dome

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Fify

bamahippie said:

I'm not saying that Bama fans should cheer for UAB, or even care, but I do not understand the kicking of a down (and now dead) program. Enough, already.

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+1 All the UAB bashing around here is sickening. Save the bashing for Auburn!

Those numbers are pure fantasy. UAB sold almost no tickets for what is supposed the the sport that carries the athletic dept. The city of Birmingham bought a ton of the tickets and gave them away. ( I have a friend who works for the city and she took them for the coupon on the back and never attended a single game) My point is very few actual fans pay for tickets. They may have had 7 or 8,000 there, but how many of those people actually ponied up the cost of a ticket. UAB football is a total waste of money for the University system. It will never be anything more than something the politicians fight over.

GP for Bama said:

They ought to get the City of Birmingham to build them that dome

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You really want to go with the doom dome thing again. I say if we were to go that route they should forget about uab and petition for the nfl to come in. More profitable in the long run, but just as improbable

The proof to me was the fact that only 8,400 people showed up at the BJCC to see them play in the CUSA finals in basketball.

Whenever UAB comes up on Jay Barker's morning show while driving to work, I have to turn it off. The host guy (Tony) is one of those guys who says all the dumb arguments for UAB football.