Alabama football will continue to avoid scheduling in-state schools

[TUSKtimes]

New Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne met with the media Wednesday in Destin while attending the Southeastern Conference’s 2017 spring meetings. Among the topics discussed by the Crimson Tide AD were the importance of college rivalries as well as Alabama’s future non-conference scheduling.
Judging by his Wednesday comments, Byrne fully understands the importance fans place on annual rivalries and will support any move to protect those games in the future.
“When you talk about the impact that rivalries have on college athletics,” Byrne said, “that’s one of the most special parts of intercollegiate athletics… I think it’s important to keep that in mind, how special rivalries are what it means to the fan base, what it means to the student-athletes and I hope we can make good decisions long term that have as positive impact on that as possible.”
While big rivalries may be important to Byrne, playing in-state teams outside of the SEC apparently aren’t much of a concern. Based on some of his other comments, don’t look for the Crimson Tide to be playing UAB, Troy or any other Alabama-based school in non-conference play anytime soon.

Alabama AD Greg Byrne eager to protect sacred rivalries, shoots down in-state non-SEC games

 

[50+yeartidefan]

Dont really understand.... why send 500k$ to chattanooga or western KY when it could be kept instate..... LSU plays La Tech... La Laffeyte .....Mc Neese....etc.
Tn plays Chattanooga... AU played Sanford...
Whatever!!!

 

[TerryP]

Dont really understand.... why send 500k$ to chattanooga or western KY when it could be kept instate.

For one, revenue for the city of Tuscaloosa.

 

[TUSKtimes]

For one, revenue for the city of Tuscaloosa.

Do you think the AD has the leeway to speak his own mind on the subject of in-state competition? Just sounds like what we have heard in the university charter for decades. I don't really blame him for wanting to keep his job and truthfully he may care less about what FCS team gets paid.

 

[TerryP]

Do you think the AD has the leeway to speak his own mind on the subject of in-state competition?

Why wouldn't he? After all, when it comes to football there's two voices that matter—his and Saban's.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Do you think the AD has the leeway to speak his own mind on the subject of in-state competition? Just sounds like what we have heard in the university charter for decades. I don't really blame him for wanting to keep his job and truthfully he may care less about what FCS team gets paid.

Is it possible he shares the same view instead of being told to parrot a previous position? Playing a mediocre out of state team brings more value than playing UAB or West Alabama. We're going to sell tickets, but what about total dollars spent in the city?

It may not be a conspiracy. It may be common sense.

RTR,

Tim

 

[TerryP]

We're going to sell tickets, but what about total dollars spent in the city?

That's a point often overlooked. A two night stay (which how many hotels require on game weekends) runs at least a C-note per night, right? 10K visiting fans...got to figure that's hitting around a 1.25 million mark in lodging alone.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Why wouldn't he? After all, when it comes to football there's two voices that matter—his and Saban's.

Saban played in-state competition at LSU. Why would it matter to him? The former AD for Arizona has scheduled North Arizona as the opening act this season for the Wildcats. Playing in-state competition doesn't seem to be bothering him before he got here.

I do know that the excitement level in Alabama of getting a UAB on the schedule would overwhelm anything we could possibly experience with a Chattanooga or Southern Charleston.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Saban played in-state competition at LSU. Why would it matter to him? The former AD for Arizona has scheduled North Arizona as the opening act this season for the Wildcats. Playing in-state competition doesn't seem to be bothering him before he got here.

I do know that the excitement level in Alabama of getting a UAB on the schedule would overwhelm anything we could possibly experience with a Chattanooga or Southern Charleston.

You didn't address the financial impact issue. Excitement level of UAB's 8,000 fans doesn't equate to full hotel rooms. They're going to drive over from Bessemer, Jasper and Centerville and watch the game for the day. Do we really care if we get opposing fans excited?

 

[TerryP]

I do know that the excitement level in Alabama of getting a UAB on the schedule would overwhelm anything we could possibly experience with a Chattanooga or Southern Charleston.

Who would be excited about playing UAB? Would you? I wouldn't. I probably wouldn't even watch the game live--didn't with Charleston Southern, didn't with Chattanooga.

You're jumping subjects here though. You asked if Byrne had the leeway to speak his own mind--why wouldn't he?

I can't see UAB bringing as many fans as a school like WKU--have you not seen their stadium on a game day? Same with Chattanooga. But, that's ignoring the elephant in the room.

It would do nothing for the city of Tuscaloosa. The others would bring in a lot of money.

 

[TerryP]

Oops...mirrored what Tim said.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Oops...mirrored what Tim said.

Let's not do that again. I've worked hard to keep from being accused of being your alias. Again.

 

[OldPlayer]

The AD is the athletic department CEO. He has to look at the revenue generation as a key performance measure. While the tickets will be sold regardless of who it is (season ticket holders have to order all the home games, not just the good ones), what is the cost to schedule at UAB, Troy or UAH? Secondarily, how does the schedule help, or hurt, potential rankings (for the longer term revenue opportunities)? Alabama already gets grief for scheduling a Chattanooga or Western Kentucky. Scheduling one of the other in-state schools isn't going to help.

 

[TUSKtimes]

Who would be excited about playing UAB? Would you? I wouldn't. I probably wouldn't even watch the game live--didn't with Charleston Southern, didn't with Chattanooga.

You're jumping subjects here though. You asked if Byrne had the leeway to speak his own mind--why wouldn't he?

I can't see UAB bringing as many fans as a school like WKU--have you not seen their stadium on a game day? Same with Chattanooga. But, that's ignoring the elephant in the room.

It would do nothing for the city of Tuscaloosa. The others would bring in a lot of money.

How many folks did Chattanooga bring last time? Lord, how many tickets are they allotted, to begin with? The reality is that it's Alabama fans spending money, tailgating and sleeping in local motels and filling up campgrounds, eating out in the local establishments for these home games. A lot of us don't live anywhere near Tuscaloosa.

And yes, the excitement level for UAB would be high, especially with the animosity being vented over the decades between the campuses. We do this same thing in basketball and UAB couldn't wait to get their hands on us in the NCAA tourney. Have we paid then back yet?

And yes, I would watch.

 

[TUSKtimes]

You didn't address the financial impact issue. Excitement level of UAB's 8,000 fans doesn't equate to full hotel rooms. They're going to drive over from Bessemer, Jasper and Centerville and watch the game for the day. Do we really care if we get opposing fans excited?

Sorry man. I thought I was quoting your post. But you and Terry are pretty close on this.

 

[Bamabww]

That's a point often overlooked. A two night stay (which how many hotels require on game weekends) runs at least a C-note per night, right?

Sorry :hijack:

@TerryP , it should be against the law how the hotel industry price gouges during football season. The Ambassador Suites hotel, a place we've stayed for 10 straight years for homecoming, quoted me $274 per night plus lodging tax and you're correct they require a two night minimum.

That's one reason I always hope homecoming will be an afternoon game, which most years it has been. I'm getting too old to drive 3 hours home after a night game.

 

[TerryP]

That's one reason I always hope homecoming will be an afternoon game, which most years it has been. I'm getting too old to drive 3 hours home after a night game.

And I'm assuming that's not including the time it takes just to get out of Tuscaloosa?

You bring something else to mind here—something @It Takes Eleven and I didn't mention. We mentioned the financial impact on Tuscaloosa. We didn't mention the financial impact on the state as a whole.

The last time I looked at the fiscal numbers was back after the back-to-back NC's. At that time Culverhouse released its report on UA Economic Impact(s) on the state and the home football games had a statewide impact of roughly 175 million (a little over 25 million per game.) In '15 it was estimated that Tuscaloosa saw an impact of over 18 million.

What I don't get is how some don't get there's a difference in money spent from people living in Alabama and money spent on people living outside of Alabama. The former is, for lack of a better word, recycling Alabama's residents money. The later is adding to that number—money that the state would not have seen if it wasn't for scheduling out-of-state schools.

I'll tell you one thing here, Wayne. One thing that really grates my nerves is when I see "Auburn scheduled Sanford." Since when do we follow the example of Auburn? Auburn, a school that's having financial issues as it is?

South Carolina started scheduling in-state schools when Spurrier took over. Why? It increased the schools football in the state. It also gave Spurrier a bit of a break when it came to recruiting. Do either of those fit UA?

 

[John Talty |]

Alabama football will continue to avoid scheduling in-state schools


Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne made clear that the Crimson Tide has no interest in scheduling Troy, South Alabama or UAB.

Don't expect Alabama football to play any in-state school not named Auburn.

That was the message new athletic director Greg Byrne delivered at the SEC spring meetings in Sandestin, Fla. Alabama hasn't faced a non-Auburn in-state opponent since 1944 and Byrne doesn't see any reason to change that.

"I think we have a very good model that's worked well for us and I don't see that changing," Byrne said.

Byrne squashed any hope that a new Capstone regime might mean good things for UAB, South Alabama, Troy and Samford. Alabama has long refused to play any of those non-SEC Alabama schools, yet the reasoning has always been ambiguous. Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who has won four national championships for the Crimson Tide, has previously stated it was above his pay grade.

Yup, the guy who will make $11 million next year apparently doesn't have enough juice to make scheduling decisions.

Even Byrne, who is known as media friendly and has quickly lived up to that reputation in Tuscaloosa, had no interest in delving into the specifics of why Alabama won't play any of those schools. I asked the Alabama athletic director one-on-one if there was a particular reason why Alabama won't schedule any of them.

Byrne repeated the same boilerplate answer.

"We have a really good model that's worked well for the University of Alabama, and we want to be very respectful of that," Byrne said.

It's hard to knock that perspective given it's factually accurate. The model has been "really good" to Alabama; just look at the Tide's trophy case if you need physical evidence. Why tamper with something that has been so successful -- and so lucrative -- to the university? It's a fair and legitimate argument.

But what about sharing the wealth? Shouldn't Alabama, with one of the richest athletic departments in the country, help the state's less fortunate? One could argue that Alabama has no moral duty to help the other in-state schools, and that's fine. But most importantly, does Alabama lose anything if it gives UAB $1.8 million to come to Tuscaloosa instead of Arkansas State?

The Crimson Tide would be heavily favored no matter what Conference USA or Sun Belt team comes to town, whether the school's zip code resides in Alabama or elsewhere. UAB head coach Bill Clark is on record that he'd love to play Alabama. Troy head coach Neal Brown recently told AL.com's Mark Heim on WNSP that the Trojans want to play the Crimson Tide but couldn't get any scheduling traction.

I floated this side of the argument to Byrne. Hypothetically, doesn't it make more sense to pay to play Troy than Georgia Southern? Especially if the costs are equal?

Byrne: "We have a really good model that works for the University of Alabama, and we want to be respectful of that."

Knowing that Byrne wasn't going to give anything up after back-to-back robotic responses, I wrapped it up with one final question: Do you foresee that changing going forward?

Byrne needed only one word to answer that one.

"No."

Continue reading...

 

[BamaFan334]

Sorry :hijack:

@TerryP , it should be against the law how the hotel industry price gouges during football season. The Ambassador Suites hotel, a place we've stayed for 10 straight years for homecoming, quoted me $274 per night plus lodging tax and you're correct they require a two night minimum.

That's one reason I always hope homecoming will be an afternoon game, which most years it has been. I'm getting too old to drive 3 hours home after a night game.

I know the hotel owners are on short term rental companies and owners tails about the amount of business they are losing to them. It's been in the Tuscaloosa papers for a while now. We had our rental put up for gamedays and did very well last Fall. We have since sold the property, and I lost interest in what the city decided, but it is a big market and deal in the Fall in Tuscaloosa. If they actually make it legal for Airbnb and short term game retals, tax revenues will soar for the city. I also think this will steady the hotel gouging as well due to more availability and options. The market will never flood with product, but it will allow for other options.

 

[alabama mike]

I am in the minority here but personally, I would like to see Bama schedule Troy, Jacksonville St., South Alabama and UAB for one home game a year.. This is one thing that Ohio St. does every year that I actually like, they always play one in state school at home. The visiting fans will still come to Tuscaloosa and spend money and the hotel rooms will still be used.