Greg Byrne calls for Alabama fans to 'fight back'

[CB4]

I understand the position against donating to the collective.

I also understand that the reality of today's college sports is that you pay players or you don't get them. If you don't get them, you don't win.

So if you (however grudgingly) accept the reality that schools have to pay players to field competitive teams, and you don't think fans should provide the funds, who do you think should, and how should it happen?

4Q I think, at least for myself, there is a larger question: Now that NIL and open transfer has killed collegiate sports as we use to know it, should institutions of higher learning be involved in professional/semi professional sports? Especially if you are a public institution.

In essence, isn’t that where all this is going? A professional team wearing a university brand?

I love sports. But mostly I love sports of the University of Alabama. I’m of the opinion I would much rather tie my fandom to a group of true students that play the game than professional mercenaries.

So let the Phil Knights, Dave Portnoys, and Jimmy Ranes of the world have this version. Let it be their personal sandbox to build the castles to massage their egos.

 

[TideMan09]

I'm not donating squat either, I'll take up watching Bama B'ball, better yet I'm ok watching, Ladies Gymnastics & Softball those gals are fun too watch..

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Personally I think if a player is making millions, they don't really need the scholarship too.

 

[rjtide]

I understand the position against donating to the collective.

I also understand that the reality of today's college sports is that you pay players or you don't get them. If you don't get them, you don't win.

So if you (however grudgingly) accept the reality that schools have to pay players to field competitive teams, and you don't think fans should provide the funds, who do you think should, and how should it happen?

each football scholarship is an annual commitment.......includes obviously tuition, room and board, food etc.....the usual stuff per years before......it also includes incentives for production: starters get $5k/game, 2nd team guys get $2500/game, 3rd team and practice squad guys gets $1k/game. punters and kickers get $2k/game (those guys dont take the aggregate hits/wear and tear on their bodies but do play an important role). if a guy gets promoted or demoted during the course of a season his game day check gets promoted or demoted accordingly

individuals that are upper level players and NFL draft graded get automatic insurance policies in case of injuries that may derail their CAREER: 1st round graded guys get a $10 mil insurance policy, 2nd round graded guys get $7.5 mil, 3rd round $4 mil, 4th round $2 ml, 5th round and below $1 mil. these policies start at the beginning of a player's 3rd year in college and are instituted ONLY if the player has stayed with his college that he ORIGINALLY signed with........players who transfer to another college do NOT get this option.

a player may transfer only ONCE during his college football career and HAS TO SIT OUT for a year upon transfer to another institution

a player may sign a NIL deal with any private company/business/corporation of his choosing

the collectives go away

this has to be collectively agreed upon and be put in writing by a players' union and the colleges

the costs for the above could be paid for i would think by a combo of TV rights money and an upcharge on gameday ticket prices of say $7-10/ticket

something like the above would have my support

 

[BamaNation]

Here's the thing, for me. If the players were staying for their entire playing career at Alabama or Ohio State, I would do this. But I am not paying for this swinging gate plan. Fix it or I will keep my money out.

bingo. Playing this game without any structure is a fool's errand. Lots of fools created the situation and lots of fools are perpetuating it. The ones who aren't fools? The players who are making millions playing the fools against each other.

 

[cdub55]

Not going to donate to a fund where college kids make more than me. This is out of hand and I am not going to participate.

I was at a red light going to work this morning and rolled my window down and asked the guy begging for money if I could borrow a hundo. Told him I had a feeling red was going to hit on roulette and if it did I'd cut him off a slice of the proceeds.

In all seriousness, this is basically what Byrne is asking of most fans. It no longer is enough to root for your team, buy trademarked clothing, attend a game here and there, and buy a $15 BBQ nacho at a game. Imagine going to an NFL game and paying $100 for a ticket, $20 for parking, and another $50 for food and beverage and at some point in the 2nd Quarter the guy next to you hands you an offering plate to pay the players you are watching. I'd throw that offering plate so far I'd make a Texas water bottle thrower blush

 

[Cruloc]

 

[colbysullivan]

I gotta admit, it's embarrassing how this has come across on social media. I don't care what the facts are, he's made Bama look like a 'poor' athletic department.

“we can haz cash?” From the Alabama AD in 2024 simply can’t be allowed.

 

[bamamc1]

I have some pretty strong thoughts about this. But, at this juncture, I'm going to just say what Gen McAulliffe told the Germans in Bastogne 80 years ago this week...

NUTS!

I watch Band of Brothers (all episodes) each Memorial Day. What those men suffered through at Bastogne is hard to fathom.

 

[RammerJammer14]

Well he has a long history of doing the wrong thing that is overshadowed by his hiring of Nate Oats.

I mean he has consistently believed that the Alabama booster clubs are comparable to Ohio State booster clubs and constantly made each club some of the biggest Greg Byrne haters because of it. I mean he started his tenure with this massive plan to give BDS a face lift and downsize it known as the Crimson Standard, but the REC and the non club boosters told him “we don’t want to pay for this” and it got put in limbo. Then when he tried to push it anyways and started telling charter TP members they would have to move in order to make room for fat cat boxes it created even more pain. Then he thought putting a $25 dollar fee to remain on the season ticket waiting list was going to be a thing…. Well he is starting to find less and less people that survive 2 years of commitment to TP once they realize what Charter members and their children were willing to pay.

He has also had a consistent war with the REC since coming on. One REC perk is two scrimmages per year that aren’t open to the public. Well in the past 2-3 years at these REC events he has set up YEA Alabama stations but absolutely no one goes to them. Well GB has been preaching to REC to contribute with every event but he hasn’t got much bites. Well this year he decided the week before the fall scrimmage to cancel the scrimmage and send a threat to every REC chapter under X amount of members that they won’t get any university speakers at their meetings.

Ofcourse this is all his right as a business man and an AD to do, but it is a massive misunderstanding of what Alabama boosters actually are. TP and REC boosters are generally working class members who are barely financially able to pay for what they actually do pay for each year for Alabama. We aren’t some rich alumni base that constantly can give back to athletics like OSU or Michigan either. We don’t have whales who can write a check and we don’t have mega corporations willing to pay without their name being on the stadium either. Honestly we live off TV and conference revenue mixed with fan excitement. I think GB is constantly trying to fit a round peg through a square hole and is constantly getting mad when boosters don’t back him.

Honestly, the football alumni who made it in the NFL are probably some of our wealthiest alumni. What are these guys donating? Or is it “Bueller?”

 

[cdub55]

Greg Byrne’s new book “Undertow: Getting Swept Away By Tone Deaf Statements” will be available on Kindle by Christmas…

I have already purchased the book and used it as kindle...

 

[lowend]

Greg Byrne’s new book “Undertow: Getting Swept Away By Tone Deaf Statements” will be available on Kindle by Christmas…

Is it ghostwritten by Writer Mike??

 

[DzynKingRTR]

Even if I were super rich, I still wouldn't give one cent.

 

[Slowpoke Catracho]

The reality is that Public Universities already receive $$$ from our taxes. Not a cent more from me, unless I decide to buy a ticket!

 

[81usaf92]

Honestly, the football alumni who made it in the NFL are probably some of our wealthiest alumni. What are these guys donating? Or is it “Bueller?”

Well I think Deboer has been angling more in that direction especially after seeing people like Tom Brady being able to buy a quarterback for Michigan. However Byrne has been adamant about boosters and average fans to pay for everything and for corporate sponsors to get cuts and boxes by paying for very little.

I mean seriously ask yourself… how many big plans for BDS and Coleman have been unveiled since Byrne has been here, and how many actually got off the ground. Then figure in how many of these renovations were for corporate sponsors compared to the average fan.

 

[bamaga]

It is, schools with big money spending boosters and allumni got “smart” and thought that buying players would make their teams better. Texas A&M’s 2022 class is sole proof it doesn’t necessarily work that way.

That class changed everything though . Bama was showing players how players in similiar positions at Alabama earned NIL money through ad agencies , endorsements and such. Fisher was showing contracts to be signed. That Aggie class and the Miami class changed NIL forever. It led to the mess we have now.

 

[BamaBoySince89]

I’d rather sponsor a regular student who has to take out student loans and work a 40-hour work week as well as balance a full work load of classes before I give to a athlete that has a full ride scholarship, high-quality nutrition at their disposal, free room and board, and a million dollar per year payment to play football on top of that. I have a niece that attends UA and the amount of help she has to receive from home is astounding only for the AD to come begging fans to pay for something you generate annually. Priorities are definitely messed up in this world of CFB.

 

[BamaNation]

Not wanting to be too philosophical or flippant here, but if it is NIL, why are schools paying players anything? Shouldn't the players' name, image, likeness actually generate money for them through commercials they appear in, sponsorships from advertisers, podcasts they create, etc.?

I do but I don't understand why schools should have any involvement in the transfer of money to players if this is about NIL.

On the other hand, there will most likely be a ruling that players are employees of the college and then collective bargaining will be done. That may be the only way to have structure across the CFB landscape. And then the players may wish they weren't employees and subject to everything that means.

 

[CrimSonami]

I’d rather sponsor a regular student who has to take out student loans and work a 40-hour work week as well as balance a full work load of classes before I give to a athlete that has a full ride scholarship, high-quality nutrition at their disposal, free room and board, and a million dollar per year payment to play football on top of that. I have a niece that attends UA and the amount of help she has to receive from home is astounding only for the AD to come begging fans to pay for something you generate annually. Priorities are definitely messed up in this world of CFB.

Have a Granddaughter who graduated last Saturday. So very proud of her accomplishment because she did exactly what you described relative to working full-time and balancing classes. To watch her struggle and know how much $$$ my son threw in the pot just magnifies my resentment for how the institution of Bama Football has devolved along with CFB in general. If something doesn't change really soon, I can see a total collapse of the model we're now forced to stomach just to support our team(s).

 

[GP for Bama]

I reality it is a matter of staying competitive with our rivals.
If we don't keep up... we fall behind.
i don't like it.... but is reality.
( I hope we keep up)