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‘Sabanomics’: How Nick Saban’s Alabama football tenure boosted Tuscaloosa as a city
Here's how Nick Saban's tenure helped boost the city of Tuscaloosa.
Having Nick Saban’s Alabama football dynasty in town wasn’t the only thing Tuscaloosa had going for it as a city. But it didn’t hurt.
“There’s never been any quantitative analysis of what his impact would be,” Tuscaloosa mayor Walt Maddox told AL.com. “But certainly, as I’ve termed it, Sabanomics has been important to Tuscaloosa. The university has been able to grow its student enrollment by leaps and bounds. The success of the football program has certainly contributed to that, and that’s just not me theorizing.”
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Maddox took over as mayor in 2005, while Mike Shula was head coach of the Crimson Tide. He saw one successful year under the former Tide coach, before things went south in 2006 and Saban took over.
Tuscaloosa’s mayor credited former UA president Bob Witt and late athletics director Mal Moore for helping grow the city with the choice to woo Saban.
The U.S. Census Bureau estimated Tuscaloosa’s population at just over 111,000 people in 2023. That’s a sizable jump from 90,468 residents listed on the 2010 census, and an even larger boost from 77,906 in 2000, the final pre-Saban census.
Obviously not all of the growth came because of the Alabama football program. But it didn’t hurt.
“The modern-day success of the city of Tuscaloosa is tied to the growth of the University of Alabama,” Maddox said. “Coach Saban’s success has put us on a platform that wherever we go recruit new business and industry, they know the success of the University of Alabama, in large part due to what coach Saban has accomplished.”
UA recently announced its total enrollment was over 40,000 students for the first time, 40,846 to be exact. In 2007, that number was 25,580, an increase of 59.7%.
In the 17 years prior to Saban’s arrival, enrollment increased 20.4%, a far cry from the boost during his tenure. Again, not all due to Saban’s influence, but being on national television regularly dominating the college football world certainly helped.
Tuscaloosa isn’t the only place that’s seen a boost from an elite football program. According to Athens-Clarke County, Ga. mayor Kelly Girtz, his community has also been helped by the rise of Kirby Smart’s Bulldogs.
“Having a very successful football program at UGA has an impact on the town,” Girtz told AL.com. “What I’ve observed, probably as much as anything, is that there’s sort of this symbiosis between all of the strengths that a city has, and if you add one more strength then that makes the whole thing better.”
The football programs were drivers for the city outside of the university, helping the food and beverage, hotels and other small businesses. Maddox said that on Crimson Tide home game days, Tuscaloosa grows to be the largest city in Alabama.
Girtz also mentioned some intangible benefits.
“I think it puts a spring in everybody’s step,” he said. “There’s no doubt people are really excited to be in Athens.”
Saban retired in January. Whether the Alabama dynasty will continue is up to Kalen DeBoer, who faces Georgia in his first SEC game on Saturday, on the field named after his predecessor.
Theoretically, a less-successful football program could adversely affect Tuscaloosa. However, Saban is still on TV, on ESPN’s College Gameday, which will be in town Saturday, not to mention a host of commercial appearances, including ads for VRBO, Home Depot and Aflac, something Maddox said he believes can still help the town.
Saban and his wife Terry still live in Tuscaloosa, when he’s not flying around the country for ESPN, speaking to lawmakers in Washington D.C. or relaxing at one of his homes near a large body of water. The Saban Center, currently under construction, is another part of his Tuscaloosa legacy, and the city will likely name a street after him at some point in the future.
According to Maddox, what Saban built in Tuscaloosa could well go beyond his time as head coach.
“When people are looking at making investments, they’re doing it over the lifespan of, most likely, the risks they’re borrowing on,” Maddox said. “With coach Saban, you knew the consistency was there and it was going to continue. That was the beautiful thing about Sabanomics. Ultimately we’ll all find out together, but I think he’s made winning at Alabama something that’s been institutionalized, and I think something that will bec consistent moving forward into the future.”
