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

http://www.al.com/sports/index.ssf/2015/...cart_river

Here's the last two paragraphs from this article about the Wilder fight:

"The recent success with sporting events also has renewed discussions of a new multi-purpose facility in the city center. Mayor Bell said during his State of the City address in January that Birmingham remains poised for partnerships to build a stadium, despite an estimated half-billion dollar price tag.

"[These events], plus UAB football making a comeback, have inspired a lot of talk about where we're going," Abbott said. "Anything is possible. Half a billion dollars is a lot of money, but when you start talking athletics, people come out of the woodwork."

If they're talking about $500 million they're talking about a 50-70k enclosed stadium which is not what we need, though luckily I don't think they're going to come up with that kind of money so we probably don't have to worry *too* hard about that.

What you will see (IMHO) is about a 40-45K stadium and an addition to the convention hall. You MIGHT see a scaled down MPF (still 40-45K seats) with a retractable roof highly but I doubt it.

That said nothing will surprise me anymore.

This is very fluid and the business leaders will lead the way on this.

(09-25-2015 08:58 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  What you will see (IMHO) is about a 40-45K stadium and an addition to the convention hall. You MIGHT see a scaled down MPF (still 40-45K seats) with a retractable roof highly but I doubt it.

That said nothing will surprise me anymore.

This is very fluid and the business leaders will lead the way on this.

The retractable roof idea is appealing IMO. The 40-45k size still fits our need and we can open the roof the majority of the time to get the open air feel. Then with the roof closed, the space could accommodate events like the NCAA tournament. If we can get an MPF of this size with a retractable roof, I think that will be huge for UAB and the city.

Any idea how much a retractable roof adds to the facility cost?

Never put one in but it isn't cheap. I'm sure someone can look.

Attalla if a decision on a new stadium is made in say January 2016 when could the first football game be played in it.

From a quick google it looks like UCF decided on a stadium in Jan 2006 and played their first game in Sept 2007. Is that repeatable for an open air stadium? I am assumng a MPF with a retracable roof would take longer.

If UAB is a primary tenant at a brand new 45k seat stadium, we have a strong incentive from the city to play fewer away OoC games. AL State and A&M would come and bring butts in seats. I wonder what kind of deals would/could bring: Ga Tech, UGA, UT, FSU, UF, UNC, etc...

Go look up Florida and the last time they left the state ooc. There is zero chance of them ever coming to Birmingham to play at UAB.

Possible but the way things work in Birmingham it will take longer. I suspect we COULD play in 2017. Get ready for at least one season, most likely two, at LF. UCF was fast because they already had a design team and did preliminaries before they puled the trigger. It was also an aluminum structure with a brick façade. Birmingham's will be concrete and pre-cast which takes longer. If I had to bet I would say 2018. Like I said it is all very fluid right now.

Also a 45,000 seat stadium would not attract the top teams to town.

You may can swag a couple of the middle tear teams.

You will get some mid level P-5 teams. Heck FSU visited Louisville while they were C-USA and PJ Stadium seated 40K.

(09-25-2015 10:21 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Also a 45,000 seat stadium would not attract the top teams to town.

You may can swag a couple of the middle tear teams.

Top teams don't travel to G5 schools anyway. But, we can still get some P5 teams to visit. For example(not including in-state schools playing each other nor Vanderbilt who doesn't seem to have a problem playing G5 teams on the road):

USA(40K Ladd Memorial Stadium):
NC State(tomorrow)
OK State(2017)

Troy
NC State(2017)
Boise State(2018)

SMiss
Kentucky(2017)

I might add the ability to play in and recruit the state of Alabama is a big deal...

expect something upwards of 50K. They want to accommodate the Magic City Classic and have a ceiling on tix for the bowl game. Pre-sales are also tough for them with 70K seats available

Let's just hope something happens...

If 50k stadium, maybe they can block off the endzones, forcing the sidelines to be filled up first, similar to what they do at LF. That should help IF the stadium is oversized (initially) for Blazer Football.

(09-25-2015 10:21 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Also a 45,000 seat stadium would not attract the top teams to town.

You may can swag a couple of the middle tear teams.

While we probably couldn't get AU or UF of the world, we could get ACC, Big 12 and maybe a Big 10 team or two. Many of their stadiums are 40-50k

Size of any facility is dictated by the people's priorities who are building it. A B'ham MPF's size will be driven by the needs of the conventions they want to attract, not by the needs of UAB football. An MPF big enough to attract some of the 200-250 larger conventions now going annually to Atlanta will have to be an appropriate size.

An open air stadium seating 40,000 could be built if enough pressure is applied to those who make such decisions. Since it would be too small for other visiting college football games and useless for conventions, UAB would have to be willing to make a very long term commitment (decades) to get it built by any municipal entity. Such a stadium would, in my opinion, be a far greater threat to any OCS being built than the MPF which would "have other irons in its fire"..

With the schedule requirements starting to trend up, you never know what could happen. If a program can't get that FBS team at the last minute for whatever reason, they might be willing to come here (or, at least, commit then try to buy it into a home game).

That said, I think the practical approach would be something modest that can be expanded later on. If he's talking money like that, though, the real thing is making it an intimate, premium experience. That's what all stadiums should be turning towards as the experience at home starts to become more and more appealing.

(09-25-2015 10:41 AM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  

(09-25-2015 10:21 AM)the_blazerman Wrote:  Also a 45,000 seat stadium would not attract the top teams to town.

You may can swag a couple of the middle tear teams.

Top teams don't travel to G5 schools anyway. But, we can still get some P5 teams to visit. For example(not including in-state schools playing each other nor Vanderbilt who doesn't seem to have a problem playing G5 teams on the road):

USA(40K Ladd Memorial Stadium):
NC State(tomorrow)
OK State(2017)

Troy
NC State(2017)
Boise State(2018)

SMiss
Kentucky(2017)

I might add the ability to play in and recruit the state of Alabama is a big deal...

Missouri has already played at Troy and Nebraska at USM. USM got to showcase its new football facilities on national TV that year.

Wll there be stadium certificates in the new stadium?