Well, there'd be a lot more interesting games on ESPN on Thursdays, and then there's high school football on Fridays.
UAB attendance back to normal
- Thread starter bamafaninbham
- Start date
I'll never understand the disdain Alabama fans have for UAB football. Nor do I understand the arguments. I also don't agree with UAB fans randomly blaming Alabama
However, UAB athletic ticket sales, donations, rights, etc are all higher than any other athletic program in this state that isn't Alabama or Auburn so any sort of argument about wasting taxpayer dollar simply doesn't fly, unless you want to disband all of the other programs in the state. May as well disband a majority of high school athletics while we are at it since they won't be turning a profit. We can watch just a few schools play each other repeatedly on Friday nights.
Troy's entire athletic department hovered around 500k revenue from ticket sales a few years ago and no one cried about shutting them down. South Alabama, Jacksonville State, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, etc all run large athletic deficits if you look at things strictly by the raw numbers. Troy and USA both run larger percentages of their athletic budgets as deficits/subsidies.
As far as blaming Alabama...well, no one blames "Alabama" or alabama fans outside of people who are misinformed. However, it would be highly disingenuous to think that a majority of the BOT members are not first and foremost loyal to UA even at a detriment to the other schools.
The Board of Trustees are supposed to represent all of their schools equally. UAB fans being upset at a few specific BOT members over the years should not upset any of you. They are *our* board members too afterall and people have a right to be upset with them. They are supposed to be the ones actively making all of the universities better, not doing things like: threatening a self imposed death penalty (2004...yeah I'm sure that helped with recruiting hearing that in the media), nixing smart hires (2006), and trying to kill any possible growth for one institution's athletic department (never building a single football building until this practice facility donors raised money for).
And I get it, UAB is never going to be an Alabama in football, but there is no reason a school in Birmingham, AL can't have a football program...not even to mention the kind of conference affiliation drop UAB has gone through in the past decade due to not putting anything into its football program. And if the football program had not come back, a much further drop would've happened to the basketball program. Not to mention that UAB dropping it's football program would *not* have helped the athletic departments bottom line...so again, the money argument doesn't really work there. Football and men's basketball are generally the only real revenue in an athletic department
Regardless, UAB donors have raised 50 mil in the past 2 years and attendance at the last game was fine. Stadium holds 72k and there were about 24k there for a noon kickoff which was 2nd highest in CUSA. Average attendance is ranked 7th right now out of the 60+ G5 schools. Record season tickets sold that puts UAB near the top of CUSA. Those are tangibles.
UAB *would* benefit from a stadium, anything outside of Legion field, but who knows if that will ever happen. I imagine it does keep your casual fans away.
It seems like BOT members are at least starting to come around some. Hopefully Alabama and UAB fans can mend things a bit
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However, UAB athletic ticket sales, donations, rights, etc are all higher than any other athletic program in this state that isn't Alabama or Auburn so any sort of argument about wasting taxpayer dollar simply doesn't fly, unless you want to disband all of the other programs in the state. May as well disband a majority of high school athletics while we are at it since they won't be turning a profit. We can watch just a few schools play each other repeatedly on Friday nights.
Troy's entire athletic department hovered around 500k revenue from ticket sales a few years ago and no one cried about shutting them down. South Alabama, Jacksonville State, Alabama A&M, Alabama State, etc all run large athletic deficits if you look at things strictly by the raw numbers. Troy and USA both run larger percentages of their athletic budgets as deficits/subsidies.
As far as blaming Alabama...well, no one blames "Alabama" or alabama fans outside of people who are misinformed. However, it would be highly disingenuous to think that a majority of the BOT members are not first and foremost loyal to UA even at a detriment to the other schools.
The Board of Trustees are supposed to represent all of their schools equally. UAB fans being upset at a few specific BOT members over the years should not upset any of you. They are *our* board members too afterall and people have a right to be upset with them. They are supposed to be the ones actively making all of the universities better, not doing things like: threatening a self imposed death penalty (2004...yeah I'm sure that helped with recruiting hearing that in the media), nixing smart hires (2006), and trying to kill any possible growth for one institution's athletic department (never building a single football building until this practice facility donors raised money for).
And I get it, UAB is never going to be an Alabama in football, but there is no reason a school in Birmingham, AL can't have a football program...not even to mention the kind of conference affiliation drop UAB has gone through in the past decade due to not putting anything into its football program. And if the football program had not come back, a much further drop would've happened to the basketball program. Not to mention that UAB dropping it's football program would *not* have helped the athletic departments bottom line...so again, the money argument doesn't really work there. Football and men's basketball are generally the only real revenue in an athletic department
Regardless, UAB donors have raised 50 mil in the past 2 years and attendance at the last game was fine. Stadium holds 72k and there were about 24k there for a noon kickoff which was 2nd highest in CUSA. Average attendance is ranked 7th right now out of the 60+ G5 schools. Record season tickets sold that puts UAB near the top of CUSA. Those are tangibles.
UAB *would* benefit from a stadium, anything outside of Legion field, but who knows if that will ever happen. I imagine it does keep your casual fans away.
It seems like BOT members are at least starting to come around some. Hopefully Alabama and UAB fans can mend things a bit
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My take....
Should UAB have a football team? Yes
Should they be FBS? Not right now
I think UAB should be treated like how Auburn treats AUM, but the biggest problem is that being FBS is seen as more of an advantage and teams that are just starting out are putting their newly formed teams in a meat grinder and are losing the small fanbases that they had due to the many Ls that they are experiencing. I believe Troy , NDST, and UNA have loyal enough fanbases to be able to withstand the first few years of beatings. I still think the non power 5's should regionally have a method similar to European Soccer to ensure growth of these fanbases. Yes it has to be tweaked to accommodate scholarships in the lower tiers but it is doable.
Before Krazy goes off on the attendance thing. Consider Kentucky has had better attendance than Oregon. I really think the attendance argument is a policy that the NCAA has no intention of enforcing or it's more of a sign that the NCAA has become a ceremonial power with the emergence of the Power 5.
Also consider that UA and Auburn are very hard schools to get in. UA has the 3rd lowest acceptance rate in the SEC. Meaning many great athletes in Alabama can't get in. So unless you want them go play for a maniac like Buddy in the middle of nowhere Mississippi then it is probably better to keep them in an institution in which they closely monitor academic success more than football performance.
So why would they choose Buddy over UAB??? Two words... Legion Field. No one wants to play in that derelict anymore, nor does anyone want to go. So UAB really needs to either build capital or have Bham build a new stadium. Until then they need to use Homewood's stadium or the Hoover Met as a temporary place to play.
But UAB really needs to build the fanbase before jumping into the FBS
Should UAB have a football team? Yes
Should they be FBS? Not right now
I think UAB should be treated like how Auburn treats AUM, but the biggest problem is that being FBS is seen as more of an advantage and teams that are just starting out are putting their newly formed teams in a meat grinder and are losing the small fanbases that they had due to the many Ls that they are experiencing. I believe Troy , NDST, and UNA have loyal enough fanbases to be able to withstand the first few years of beatings. I still think the non power 5's should regionally have a method similar to European Soccer to ensure growth of these fanbases. Yes it has to be tweaked to accommodate scholarships in the lower tiers but it is doable.
Before Krazy goes off on the attendance thing. Consider Kentucky has had better attendance than Oregon. I really think the attendance argument is a policy that the NCAA has no intention of enforcing or it's more of a sign that the NCAA has become a ceremonial power with the emergence of the Power 5.
Also consider that UA and Auburn are very hard schools to get in. UA has the 3rd lowest acceptance rate in the SEC. Meaning many great athletes in Alabama can't get in. So unless you want them go play for a maniac like Buddy in the middle of nowhere Mississippi then it is probably better to keep them in an institution in which they closely monitor academic success more than football performance.
So why would they choose Buddy over UAB??? Two words... Legion Field. No one wants to play in that derelict anymore, nor does anyone want to go. So UAB really needs to either build capital or have Bham build a new stadium. Until then they need to use Homewood's stadium or the Hoover Met as a temporary place to play.
But UAB really needs to build the fanbase before jumping into the FBS
UAB has something like 4-5 times the student population as AUM and something like 35 times the budget...not sure that's a good comparison. Beside the fact that UAB is ranked well in college academic rankings in general and in the top 200 in the world in research rankings.
And again, Troy's athletic revenue is a good bit lower than UAB's so not sure that makes sense either.
UAB and Troy are already FBS and have been for years now. UNA is division 2 and moving to FCS and average about 7,000 fans a game so not sure where that's coming from. NDST would be fine at FBS if they wanted to move up
Agree about the stadium if Birmingham ever gets its crap together
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I don't understand why Bama fans waste seven pages of posts talking about something as insignificant as UAB.
First post on this page attemptsto explain my disdain
https://www.tidefans.com/forums/showthread.php?t=289197&page=4
Well some use it as a platform of " why are there such teams in FBS that aren't power five schools"
Some believe that UAB is a waste of the tax payer's money
Some feel that UAB should be punished for their slight at UA
Some feel that UAB should exist just because
Some feel that UAB was mismanaged and would like to see if they would be a better product under better circumstances
On and on and on. Point is there is a lot of interests amongst Bama fans because UA is always drawn into these affairs due to it being a satellite school. So there is some feelings about the program. It mostly revolves around them being a FCS team.
That is what it started out to be. How does that mean it merits a FBS football program?
It doesn't.
Now, it has morphed into a commuter college, partly because it is harder for in-state students to get into UA. How does that mean it merits a FBS football program?
It doesn't.
They don't have a decent stadium. They have to give tickets away, to fill the stadium (calling it "paid attendance"), but that means they should get a break, and have a FBS football program?
It doesn't.
We already have enough "East Popcorn State" FBS programs. There simply is no need for one more, at UAB. Despite what what you want us to believe.
As for Birmingham (and Jefferson Co.) getting their act together: don't hold your breath.
No, only the thought it will take $20-50M to make a decent FBS program.
Or, maybe some of us got our MBA from there.
Correct.
I see some of my fellow Bama fans are still hurt that UAB whipped that tail in the NIT tournament some 25 years ago.
Because a kid in this state's only options are instate schools and JUCO, right? Give me a break.
The thing that would really be best for most of the schools in our state would be this:
FBS - Alabama, Auburn
FCS - UAB, Troy, USA, JSU, AAMU, ASU (with them all playing each other)
D2 - UNA, UWA, Samford, Tuskeegee, Miles, Stillman, Montevallo, Spring Hill, UAH (with them all playing each other)
D3 - Birmingham-Southern, Huntingdon
Various other small schools in their respective conferences. Larger schools scheduling down in-state for the cupcake games. In-state schoools all playing mostly in-state schools to create natural rivalries, increased gate receipts, etc.
FBS - Alabama, Auburn
FCS - UAB, Troy, USA, JSU, AAMU, ASU (with them all playing each other)
D2 - UNA, UWA, Samford, Tuskeegee, Miles, Stillman, Montevallo, Spring Hill, UAH (with them all playing each other)
D3 - Birmingham-Southern, Huntingdon
Various other small schools in their respective conferences. Larger schools scheduling down in-state for the cupcake games. In-state schoools all playing mostly in-state schools to create natural rivalries, increased gate receipts, etc.
For at least the next 3 years the program is entirely covered by donor money and doesn't pull from taxpayer anything. So if someone feels like UAB football's existence hurts them they can come back and complain about it in 2020
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First it was nice of you to show up and defend the honor of UAB. We really appreciate it. I'm sure UAB appreciates their fan speaking up for them to.
Secondly, I know about a lot of money being promised, but I also saw a report specifically complaining about that money not materializing. But sure, I'll wait until they start whining that the reason no one shows up is because they don't have a brand new stadium that costs tens of millions of dollars...
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I grew up an Alabama fan and have never wavered in that. My dad went to UAB, and my family, mostly Auburn fans, has supported Auburn and UAB athletics significantly over the years.
I did not go to Alabama, but I got my MBA from UAB, and married an Auburn fan.
There are a few things that I would recommend to UAB people if they want to see success.
1) Accept that you will never enjoy the level of support that Auburn and Alabama have.
2) Stop trying to stick your thumb in the eye of Alabama people
Choosing to compete at a different level would get UAB the support of some of the people who actually do have some civic pride, want a Birmingham school to succeed, but whose primary loyalty is to Alabama. UAB should embrace its identity and focus on its strengths, and not try to go up against Alabama in football.
I did not go to Alabama, but I got my MBA from UAB, and married an Auburn fan.
There are a few things that I would recommend to UAB people if they want to see success.
1) Accept that you will never enjoy the level of support that Auburn and Alabama have.
2) Stop trying to stick your thumb in the eye of Alabama people
Choosing to compete at a different level would get UAB the support of some of the people who actually do have some civic pride, want a Birmingham school to succeed, but whose primary loyalty is to Alabama. UAB should embrace its identity and focus on its strengths, and not try to go up against Alabama in football.
I am sorry - given my distrust of the uab - City alliance, and given the proven malfeasant track record of the City especially, I would actually have to see proof before I believe that. In fact, I would likely need a top-notch, extremely reputable outside accounting firm to perform a detailed independent analysis and give a "tru dat" before I believe any of that rhetoric.
I'm curious. How much do you even think UAB football costs to run? How much do you think the recorded subsidy even was in a yearly basis?
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If only someone did some detailed accounting and specified how much money the program was loosing and would lose in the future.
We know they were losing money, and wasting money, and if you want to claim that subsidy was the extent of that you are deliberately trying to mislead us.
A bunch of different people have done that, so quote whatever you believe to be true
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Oy vey.................someone might need an API avatar...............
(I'll shut up now, and go take another nap.)
(I'll shut up now, and go take another nap.)
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