The unofficial online home for fans of the UAB Blazers. Part of Collegiate Sports Nation (CSN).

http://ftpcontent4.worldnow.com/wbrc/PDF...Report.pdf

Whoever made the coversheet needs to be fired...

Quote:Finally, our stated purpose was to interview a representative cross section of people, some in favor of
reinstating the affected sports, and some supportive of the decision to discontinue those sports. We
must candidly admit that we were impressed by the incredible response from the many people we
interviewed, from students to faculty to alumni and donors, to community leaders. With the exception
of only a very few, we noted the incredible passion for UAB athletics.

(05-18-2015 11:02 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  

Quote:Finally, our stated purpose was to interview a representative cross section of people, some in favor of
reinstating the affected sports, and some supportive of the decision to discontinue those sports. We
must candidly admit that we were impressed by the incredible response from the many people we
interviewed, from students to faculty to alumni and donors, to community leaders. With the exception
of only a very few, we noted the incredible passion for UAB athletics.

I wonder are the few not receptive of the three sports or sports/athletics in general.

Quote:There is little doubt that the strong consensus among the student body (graduates and undergraduates),
faculty, and staff was that the elimination of the three sports, particularly football, has been detrimental
to the University. Football is often part of campus life that students and faculty envision, and has indeed
been a part of campus life at UAB for more than two decades. These groups felt strongly that a wellrounded
athletics program is consistently a factor in the recruitment of students and faculty. We were
struck by the near unanimity of these campus groups in their opinion that the elimination of the sports
was damaging to the notion of a stimulating campus environment and detrimental to UAB’s own selfrespect.

Quote:It is evident that the UAB expense budget for athletics overall, including football, is currently
competitive within Conference USA, both as to salaries and operations. It is further evident that
current university-provided financial support, through student fees and other cash subsidies, is
not
extraordinary within Conference USA or compared to other peer universities, as is evident in the
benchmarking shown in this report.

"We would like to specifically thank Wes Smith, Chair of the Task Force, and Shannon Ealy, Interim Director of Athletics, for their tireless efforts in getting us in front of the requested people and in possession of the requested information."

Quote:x The Board of Trustees for the University of Alabama system would look favorably upon return of
football, bowling and rifle if such a return were made with sound financial considerations and
plans (Trustee Fess St. John interview).

Quote:x The UAB Administration would look favorably upon the return of football, bowling and rifle if
such a return were made with sound financial considerations and plans (President Watts interview).

Quote:x The UAB Administration would welcome, if passed, a student referendum providing substantive
additional funding for intercollegiate athletics through a designated student fee, including
specific funding for the sports of football, bowling and rifle.


x The UAB Administration would welcome additional funding assistance from other sources,
including the City of Birmingham, surrounding communities, alumni/donors and ticket holders, as a
source of funding to bring back the sports of football, bowling and rifle.

Apparently no interviews with Mackin or Garrison, even though CSS tried to interview them.

(05-18-2015 11:12 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  

Quote:x The Board of Trustees for the University of Alabama system would look favorably upon return of
football, bowling and rifle if such a return were made with sound financial considerations and
plans (Trustee Fess St. John interview).

Quote:x The UAB Administration would look favorably upon the return of football, bowling and rifle if
such a return were made with sound financial considerations and plans (President Watts interview).

Quote:x The UAB Administration would welcome, if passed, a student referendum providing substantive
additional funding for intercollegiate athletics through a designated student fee, including
specific funding for the sports of football, bowling and rifle.


x The UAB Administration would welcome additional funding assistance from other sources,
including the City of Birmingham, surrounding communities, alumni/donors and ticket holders, as a
source of funding to bring back the sports of football, bowling and rifle.

Check, check, check, ANNNND check that behind at the door!!!

Quote:An additional negative impact of discontinuing football is the impact the announcement had on other
sports with regards to recruiting and donor relations. One particular head coach provided us with emails
documenting both the loss of multiple recruits/commitments and multiple donors, including a $1 million
pledge (the last information we received is that relationships with these donors is being repaired).

As expected.

Regarding Legion Field:

Quote:Of great importance to our team was the previous lease arrangement with the City of Birmingham, which did not provide revenue for UAB from areas such as concessions or parking. In our discussions with Mayor Bell, there was a clear indication that the City would be willing to work toward a future lease agreement that would be more financially beneficial to UAB.

Quote:Finally, in our discussions with Coach Clark, he indicated that “he can win” at Legion Field.

Good LAwd Man!!!
This will make for interesting bedtime reading.

Quote:III. Lease of Legion Field
Our tour of Legion Field revealed a stadium, that although somewhat lacking and worn in
infrastructure (locker rooms, amenities, premium seating areas), it has an exceptional grass
surface and good general seating. We believe that it is probably too big for UAB, and we note in
that regard that new FBS stadiums built within the last several years do not carry the capacities
of previous stadiums, such as:
x University of Houston – 40,000 capacity
x Tulane University – 30,000 capacity
x University of Minnesota – 50,000 capacity
x Stanford University – 50,000 capacity
x University of Central Florida – 45,000 capacity

Finally, in our discussions with Coach Clark, he indicated that “he can win” at Legion Field.

Quote:IV. New Stadium on Campus
The CSS team was made aware, early in our discussions, of a previous proposed plan to build an on-
campus stadium, one that could take advantage of additional and improved revenue streams in the
following areas:

a. Parking
b. Concessions
c. Premium Seating d. Suite Revenue
e. Marketing/Multi-media rights
f. Other ancillary revenue opportunities

In addition, of course, an on-campus stadium would provide a multi-purpose venue for other
university and non-university events that could be revenue producing. Through the course of our
review, we were provided a copy of the initial feasibility report that was spearheaded by efforts
of the previous UAB CFO Richard Margison. We were impressed with both the elements of the study and
the revenue projections (and commitments) that emerged from that study. That study is attached to
this report as Appendix C.
If football were to be reinstated, we believe this report could be utilized in any subsequent study
of a possible on-campus stadium.

Quote:The Board of Trustees for the University of Alabama system would look favorably upon return of
football, bowling and rifle if such a return were made with sound financial considerations and
plans (Trustee Fess St. John interview)

Quote:The UAB Administration would look favorably upon the return of football, bowling and rifle if
such a return were made with sound financial considerations and plans (President Watts
interview).

(05-18-2015 11:25 AM)Blazer85 Wrote:  

Quote:The Board of Trustees for the University of Alabama system would look favorably upon return of
football, bowling and rifle if such a return were made with sound financial considerations and
plans (Trustee Fess St. John interview)

Quote:The UAB Administration would look favorably upon the return of football, bowling and rifle if
such a return were made with sound financial considerations and plans (President Watts
interview).

I just find the above info very hard to believe. Let's make it financially sound and make them show their cards.

The best part...on campus stadium!

In addition, of course, an on-campus stadium would provide a multi-purpose venue for other university
and non-university events that could be revenue producing. Through the course of our review, we were
provided a copy of the initial feasibility report that was spearheaded by efforts of the previous UAB CFO
Richard Margison. We were impressed with both the elements of the study and the revenue projections
(and commitments) that emerged from that study. That study is attached to this report as Appendix C.
If football were to be reinstated, we believe this report could be utilized in any subsequent study of a
possible on-campus stadium.

The estimates they used are very conservative towards w/o football. They assumed MVC membership (I say unlikely) and that the UAB Athletics brand doesn't become toxic with continued fighting between alumni and administration. This would affect numbers such as donations and ticket sales (even for basketball).

Doughnut Hole $2,285,000 Per Report

(05-18-2015 11:36 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  Doughnut Hole $2,235,000 Per Report

Seems unlikely the administration/BOT would allow the inclusion of the student fees increase to be counted towards that.