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http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/mo...dress.html

• Building a stadium downtown.

Talk continues about building a dome stadium by the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex that would be home to UAB’s returning football program, Bell said. He said to expect an announcement “shortly.”

Here's a video, but he doesn't say anything new.

http://www.bizjournals.com/birmingham/ne...adium.html

This excites me greatly. I went to Legion Field for the Bowl game with Auburn and Memphis. Legion looks awful and a coat of paint won't be a fix all.

(01-13-2016 10:12 AM)BandGrad Wrote:  This excites me greatly. I went to Legion Field for the Bowl game with Auburn and Memphis. Legion looks awful and a coat of paint won't be a fix all.

Agreed. B'ham keeps sinking money into it in the mean time though. A $100k roof replacement of the sports medicine area was on the City Council agenda this week.

A domed stadium? Pardon me?

Just build something. I'm at the point it doesn't matter. Whatever works to get it funded and built. UTSA is an incredible atmosphere and I could see it here. I think they averaged around 28k.

Remember this Bell speaking........

From attending Georgia State games, one positive thing I can say is that 20,000 people make a lot more noise in a dome than they do at Legion Field.

Whatever we build it needs to be able to host soccer games if we want a shot at the MLS. It needs to be big enough to bring back the NCAA tourney but small enough so it makes our crowds and future crowds better. I'm thinking a 50,000 Dome if a dome. If it is an outdoor stadium then we need it to be 45,000 because we don't need to worry about the NCAA tournament but that will be a good number for USMNT and USWNT soccer games and a good shot at MLS, without overpowering smaller crowds of our games and AHSAA championships. They could also be the home field of the Birmingham Hammers and future minor league teams.

Dome allows for other events a lot better than an open stadium.

Dome would have been a plus for the DNC.

It increases revenue stream a lot.

Open stadium is better for football, sure. But unfortunately we're not building it, the city is. So the city wants something that has a potential revenue stream outside of UAB football.

Birmingham NEEDS a MPF for its potential (metro area wide) revenue production through conventions, games and other events now going elsewhere. This is not "breaking news" to anyone who has seen these events go to Atlanta and other better equipped cities. As with a state lottery in Alabama, B'ham would be late getting into the mix of such cities, but better late than never as long as what is needed is built.

Municipal services cost increasingly great amounts of money and if not gleaned from imported sources by providing attractive venues, they must be supported by increased local taxes. The choice is ours to make.

(01-13-2016 11:15 AM)whisperdeer3 Wrote:  Whatever we build it needs to be able to host soccer games if we want a shot at the MLS. It needs to be big enough to bring back the NCAA tourney but small enough so it makes our crowds and future crowds better. I'm thinking a 50,000 Dome if a dome. If it is an outdoor stadium then we need it to be 45,000 because we don't need to worry about the NCAA tournament but that will be a good number for USMNT and USWNT soccer games and a good shot at MLS, without overpowering smaller crowds of our games and AHSAA championships. They could also be the home field of the Birmingham Hammers and future minor league teams.

The mls is a dream in my opinion. What would give anybody any indication that a professional sport would be successful in Birmingham? I'm a huge soccer fan, but just can't see it. Hell, the silverbacks just had to shut down operations.

I dont think it is, the two best locations in the Southeast other than Atlanta that now has a team is Nashville and Birmingham. Chattanooga is good but the size is not there. Birmingham is a growing soccer market and if the Birmingham Hammers start drawing who knows what will happen. We are also in a perfect spot for a great natural rivalry with Atlanta

(01-13-2016 12:24 PM)blazers9911 Wrote:  

(01-13-2016 11:15 AM)whisperdeer3 Wrote:  Whatever we build it needs to be able to host soccer games if we want a shot at the MLS. It needs to be big enough to bring back the NCAA tourney but small enough so it makes our crowds and future crowds better. I'm thinking a 50,000 Dome if a dome. If it is an outdoor stadium then we need it to be 45,000 because we don't need to worry about the NCAA tournament but that will be a good number for USMNT and USWNT soccer games and a good shot at MLS, without overpowering smaller crowds of our games and AHSAA championships. They could also be the home field of the Birmingham Hammers and future minor league teams.

The mls is a dream in my opinion. What would give anybody any indication that a professional sport would be successful in Birmingham? I'm a huge soccer fan, but just can't see it. Hell, the silverbacks just had to shut down operations.

A cynic could be justified in saying that not only is metro area B'ham a "football only venue", but is a "Bama football ONLY" area. Auburn moved its home games out of B'ham years before Bama did for that very reason. B'ham needs a sports facility that is adaptable to every major sport that might want to try to penetrate its demographic market - hence the need for a MPF. Regions Field has so far been a success in this regard for baseball. If the BJCC also builds that state of the art open air stadium, it could put in prescription (natural grass) turf and serve both sports well.

Also, both a dome or an open air stadium can host sports like Monster Jam or MX races, stuff other than football or soccer.

A dome costs three times more. I don't know where people think that money is going to come from.

(01-13-2016 12:48 PM)whisperdeer3 Wrote:  I dont think it is, the two best locations in the Southeast other than Atlanta that now has a team is Nashville and Birmingham. Chattanooga is good but the size is not there. Birmingham is a growing soccer market and if the Birmingham Hammers start drawing who knows what will happen. We are also in a perfect spot for a great natural rivalry with Atlanta

I hope you are right. I just can't see it.

(01-13-2016 01:35 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  A dome costs three times more. I don't know where people think that money is going to come from.

The "cost up front" factor is why B'ham has usually built smaller and cheaper. In our economy, people must believe that what they want to build will pay off in the future. What we do know for sure is that only a MPF of substantial size will be attractive to large visiting conventions, major sports events and other activities that need a controlled environment to be assured of success.

The new Atlanta MPF in 2017, the present GA Dome, "Jerry's World" in Texas and the University of Phoenix Stadium which hosted the game Monday are a few examples of venues that are presently or soon to be hosting hundreds of events drawing thousands of money spending visitors each year. The metro area of B'ham sure could use a share of that annual income.

If the city starts leaning toward a dome stadium, we can kiss a new Blazer football home goodbye for at least 5 - 10 years. The political hoops (votes, budget squabbles, political finger pointing and posturing) the city, county and state will go through will take at least 3-5 years. If they can't guarantee a 2019 opening date, UaB should go back to looking at an OCS so a 2018/19 opening date is still achievable.

Yeah, I know having a dome stadium has been a dream for a good while, but I wonder how long it'd take to see a return on it versus an open air stadium. Would simply having a dome get that many more events?

At this point, I'm cool with either or as long as we're done with Legion Field. Talks of a MLS team, high profile games, and other events being coordinated is just icing. I'd be really excited if the league decided to have an expansion team here, though. I don't follow MLS at all, but I'd definitely make an effort if we had a professional club here.

If I win the powerball tonight we'll get an awesome OCS.