UAB attendance back to normal

[KrAzY3]

Last 3 home games they averaged roughly 20k. That’s going 25000, 14000, and 21000

My bad, I accidentally took a road number. Not used to a team that plays only 6 home games, heh. Specifically it is 20,346. The numbers were heavily skewed in particular by a big home opener which they won't be repeating anytime soon. Even then though, their second and third home games they averaged 26,001 and the fourth and fifth games they averaged 23,266. So the downward trend was there even without the big opener and weak finish.

It is also worth pointing out it wasn't like they were terrible, they made a bowl game, so the waning interest is more indicative of a regression to the mean than anything else. People just can't bring themselves to care much about UAB football for very long. So despite my inaccurate numbers, we're still seeing UAB football going back to being... UAB football.

 

[B1GTide]

It cannot pay for itself....not even close, and not even if it came in non budget.

It will not come in anywhere near budget. There will be a huge amount of corruption, graft, payoffs, and shoddy work that will have to be re-done to prevent what happened at FIU x 1,000.

This is nothing more than a boondoggle, and the only ones who benefit will be the Birmingham City Council and the dozens of "contractors" and "consultants" who have no qualifications, but will get huge contracts, but deliver nothing but broken promises and poor product.

Doesn't matter what color their skin is, what party they belong to, or what their personal plumbing is -- they're crooks every single one.

Did I get across the point that these guys aren't trustworthy?

LOL, what elected official is trustworthy? Pretty much a given, no matter the project or locale.

 

[CrimsonProf]

UAB is indeed exceeding those attendance figures. My deeper question is this - is someone actually paying for those tickets? Or are they being handed out for free to UAB or BHM city employees?

 

[CrimsonProf]

https://twitter.com/RedditCFB/status/979075761587007490

 

[Sterling91]

I can think of many worse ways the Alabama state government is spending my tax dollars than as a secondary investor in a whole entertainment complex that will generate jobs and revenue. Once again, this project is about so much more than 6-8 days a year.

 

[4Q Basket Case]

LOL, what elected official is trustworthy? Pretty much a given, no matter the project or locale.

Sadly, you're right, not many are trustworthy.

The difference is that the Jefferson County Commission, the Birmingham City Council, and the Birmingham Water Works Board have literally double digits of recent alumni either currently in prison, or out after serving time.

They make Chicago, Detroit and New Orleans look like brownie scouts in comparison.

It just never ends, and is why we'll never have efficient use of taxpayer money on anything, let alone a project big enough to hide and/or launder tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.

Lest you think I'm being hyperbolic, remember that the Water Works Board squandered over $2 billion (yes, with a 'b'), and the citizens have literally nothing to show for it.

 

[B1GTide]

Sadly, you're right, not many are trustworthy.

The difference is that the Jefferson County Commission, the Birmingham City Council, and the Birmingham Water Works Board have literally double digits of recent alumni either currently in prison, or out after serving time.

They make Chicago, Detroit and New Orleans look like brownie scouts in comparison.

It just never ends, and is why we'll never have efficient use of taxpayer money on anything, let alone a project big enough to hide and/or launder tens or hundreds of millions of dollars.

Lest you think I'm being hyperbolic, remember that the Water Works Board squandered over $2 billion (yes, with a 'b'), and the citizens have literally nothing to show for it.

Don't disagree with the thought process, just the idea that this project will see more waste and corruption than others like it all over America. Birmingham may be very corrupt, but this kind of $$$ project makes even the less corrupt politicians forget their ethics.

This is just a part of our society. But we can't stop building. I know of no way to unplug this type of communal facility construction from political corruption.

 

[KrAzY3]

I know of no way to unplug this type of communal facility construction from political corruption.

Simple, don't build it. They don't have the SEC Championship game anymore. They don't have the Iron Bowl anymore. The truth is they probably should have torn down Ladd after UAB football died a much deserving death, and be done with that nonsense. Now? They're trying to figure out how to get over $100,000,000 from taxpayers, and we know how this goes. It never comes in under budget...

 

[B1GTide]

Simple, don't build it. They don't have the SEC Championship game anymore. They don't have the Iron Bowl anymore. The truth is they probably should have torn down Ladd after UAB football died a much deserving death, and be done with that nonsense. Now? They're trying to figure out how to get over $100,000,000 from taxpayers, and we know how this goes. It never comes in under budget...

Don't build anything communal anymore?

 

[CullmanTide]

It looks like the Alliance of American Football and the XFL will have a new sandbox to fight over. LOL

 

[KrAzY3]

Don't build anything communal anymore?

If it's not necessary, exactly! Don't build unneeded hundred million dollar things to appease a vocal minority. That's a good start.

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Simple, don't build it. They don't have the SEC Championship game anymore. They don't have the Iron Bowl anymore. The truth is they probably should have torn down Ladd after UAB football died a much deserving death, and be done with that nonsense. Now? They're trying to figure out how to get over $100,000,000 from taxpayers, and we know how this goes. It never comes in under budget...

Why do you hate architects, engineers, and contractors so much?

 

[4Q Basket Case]

....I know of no way to unplug this type of communal facility construction from political corruption.

I don't either. But then, I don't ask for virginal purity. The problem comes in that the history these guys have in the sheer degree of graft is jaw-dropping.

In a parallel: Nobody really cares if a Publix stock boy pinches a box of Oreos. But when he wipes out the meat and wine shelves, then holds the manager hostage until he opens the night safe, it's a different story.

Both are theft....it's a matter of degree.

 

[TRU]

This is the reincarnation of the domed stadium bag of goods that the county and Bhm tried for years to foist on the population back in the 90s. I hope the voters recognize it for the con it is and vote it down again. It will cost $400 million and in the end there will not even be a functional stadium to show for it.

 

[bama2112]

Maybe if all the county sheriffs donated all the money they are saving on feeding prisoners instead of buying houses in Gulf Shores Birmingham could afford a stadium. At least spend the money on the good of the many not of the 67 sheriffs in Alabama

 

[drwho]

Simple, don't build it. They don't have the SEC Championship game anymore. They don't have the Iron Bowl anymore. The truth is they probably should have torn down Ladd after UAB football died a much deserving death, and be done with that nonsense. Now? They're trying to figure out how to get over $100,000,000 from taxpayers, and we know how this goes. It never comes in under budget...

Ladd? Isn't that in Mobile?

 

[Elefantman]

I hope it works out for BHM and JeffCo. Far more practical than a dome stadium. Obviously they do not envision UAB football becoming a major program that can support itself. They better make sure it new stadium can be multi functional and handle a variety of events like soccer, jousting, chariot races, tractor pulls.

 

[KrAzY3]

Ladd? Isn't that in Mobile?

I should pay more attention, conflating things again, heh. Legion Field... Ladd isn't in great shape either but at least it gets one game a year that matters. I'm not very pleased with how South Alabama basically wants us to pay for a fancy new stadium for them to, I guess if you get a program you just inherently deserve 100 million bucks or so.

 

[Rama Jama]

My understanding is this is to be paid for by raising the hotel and rental car taxes. I don't know about you, but I can't see there being close to enough additional revenue to pay the bonds for this thing. B'ham is not exactly a tourist destination so it seems extremely unlikely those taxes will come close to producing enough revenue to break even. So that begs the questions "Where does the additional money come from and who pays for it"?

I've always felt UAB should have played at the FCS level, built their program, and at some point if they were successful they could move up if their attendance and REVENUE was enough for it to make sense. Instead they want to be on Alabama and Auburns level when there is zero evidence they deserve it. Ten years after this stadium is built, it will be a monument to the idiocy of our elected officials.

 

[B1GTide]

My understanding is this is to be paid for by raising the hotel and rental car taxes. I don't know about you, but I can't see there being close to enough additional revenue to pay the bonds for this thing. B'ham is not exactly a tourist destination so it seems extremely unlikely those taxes will come close to producing enough revenue to break even. So that begs the questions "Where does the additional money come from and who pays for it"?

There is a lot more revenue here than you may be considering. In a city like B'ham, business travelers account for most hotel stays (not tourism).