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

https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...d/38151070

(08-08-2023 07:38 AM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  https://www.espn.com/college-football/st...d/38151070

That was really, really good.

Man, that might've been the deepest dive ESPN's ever done on us, outside of the shutdown.

That was excellent. He keeps saying all the right things in interviews. Can't wait to see what the product on the field looks like in a few weeks!

A few things to point out:

1) Do we really only have $100k in NIL money available?
2) USF flying private to media days while we fly American Airlines is an example of the resource gap that will exist between the incomers and incumbents.
3) I think it's a smart move to beef up the staff numbers. Sad that Dilfer is having to use $500k of his own money, but awesome that he's willing to.
4) If it's true that Ingram wasn't willing to help Clark get player's tuition covered for extra summer school classes that's a bad look. Like the article says, hopefully that changes with Ingram having his guy and also us having more resources in the AAC
5) Hopefully, Dilfer was successful in winning over "Bill's guys" aka our biggest boosters

My hope is that Dilfer himself pushes the NIL with local businesses. It needs to come from business's, not season ticket holders. There are opps out there that haven't been pursued and need to be. With corporate NIL sponsors, we will get more than $100k. Someone mentioned in another post about breweries and that is the type thing we aren't looking at. Almost like a profit share to the NIL

Yep. And businesses just have more money than individuals in general. A business can write a check for $5,000 or $10,000 or $25,000 much easier than most individuals can. There are a ton of businesses in Birmingham, and they need to be tapped into. The profit share is also a good outside the box way to look at it.

The article was really good, but I just wish somebody would fact check:

He stayed on through the shutdown and built the program back into something unthinkable: a winner, complete with two conference titles (the only ones in school history) and five bowl berths (again, the only ones in school history at the time).

That's what I've been saying. We're not in Troy or Jacksonville, we are in the largest metro in the state. Get one of the staffers to hit up every Birmingham based business and see what you can get.

I am also curious to what schools wanted to hire Dilfer and Mortensen. I feel like if that leaked out, people would shut up about what bad hires both of them are. They were both wanted by other universities, it's not like they came here on a whim.

(08-08-2023 09:15 AM)blazers9911 Wrote:  Yep. And businesses just have more money than individuals in general. A business can write a check for $5,000 or $10,000 or $25,000 much easier than most individuals can. There are a ton of businesses in Birmingham, and they need to be tapped into. The profit share is also a good outside the box way to look at it.

The article was really good, but I just wish somebody would fact check:

He stayed on through the shutdown and built the program back into something unthinkable: a winner, complete with two conference titles (the only ones in school history) and five bowl berths (again, the only ones in school history at the time).

Yes, would have been nice for a short before HCBC and after HCBC breakdown

We need an "I don't care" button!

(08-08-2023 11:46 AM)Slushey51 Wrote:  We need an "I don't care" button!

LOL

That needs to be GIF like the one with AK swaggering like Vince McMahon.

(08-08-2023 09:20 AM)blazerblazer Wrote:  That's what I've been saying. We're not in Troy or Jacksonville, we are in the largest metro in the state. Get one of the staffers to hit up every Birmingham based business and see what you can get.

We already supposedly have INFLCR working for us, but it seems they can set something like this up for Temple but we're left twisting in the Southside breeze:

https://owlsports.com/news/2022/11/1/tem...t-athletes

As dedicated as I was and am to the Return, both personally and as a business owner, the drumbeat of "donate to NIL" leaves me a little cold. Uncomfortable. I'm not at ease with participating in pay for play.

Conversely, I'd be totally down with paying Eric Gaines to rock a suit (which I am sure he can do) or the Bersher sisters to smash backboards (I am likewise sure they can do this), instead of paying (let's face it, paying much less) for a pic of Generic Suit-Wearing Dude Number 34 from a stock-photo service. Yet there is no easy (emphasis on easy) way for me to do this.

Instead of whining about donate, breathe some fire, Dilfer-style, and link me up. Holy steaming dog poop, if Temple can do it when their best-known alumni is a serial roofie-flogging rapist, where the four-asterisks is UAB?

We need to call Sam Hunt for NIL money

We have some major deep pocket doctor alums too

(08-08-2023 12:57 PM)58-56 Wrote:  

(08-08-2023 09:20 AM)blazerblazer Wrote:  That's what I've been saying. We're not in Troy or Jacksonville, we are in the largest metro in the state. Get one of the staffers to hit up every Birmingham based business and see what you can get.

We already supposedly have INFLCR working for us, but it seems they can set something like this up for Temple but we're left twisting in the Southside breeze:

https://owlsports.com/news/2022/11/1/tem...t-athletes

As dedicated as I was and am to the Return, both personally and as a business owner, the drumbeat of "donate to NIL" leaves me a little cold. Uncomfortable. I'm not at ease with participating in pay for play.

Conversely, I'd be totally down with paying Eric Gaines to rock a suit (which I am sure he can do) or the Bersher sisters to smash backboards (I am likewise sure they can do this), instead of paying (let's face it, paying much less) for a pic of Generic Suit-Wearing Dude Number 34 from a stock-photo service. Yet there is no easy (emphasis on easy) way for me to do this.

Instead of whining about donate, breathe some fire, Dilfer-style, and link me up. Holy steaming dog poop, if Temple can do it when their best-known alumni is a serial roofie-flogging rapist, where the four-asterisks is UAB?

Have you looked into it at all? I think you've got a solid idea and hope you follow through. I also thought NIL would be tough, but I was talking to a player on fan day who said that he got his deal when a glasses company slid into his DMs. I can't recall who it was, but he said the company noticed that he was playing with his regular specs on and gave him an NIL for their brand of athletic specs. From his side it sounded like a pretty easy deal.

(08-08-2023 08:57 AM)jaymay2525 Wrote:  My hope is that Dilfer himself pushes the NIL with local businesses. It needs to come from business's, not season ticket holders. There are opps out there that haven't been pursued and need to be. With corporate NIL sponsors, we will get more than $100k. Someone mentioned in another post about breweries and that is the type thing we aren't looking at. Almost like a profit share to the NIL

If they're going to go after brewery money, they'd better do it quick. The microbrewery trend has already passed its peak. Anchor Steam called it quits and several around my area have had their assets auctioned off in the last few months. No doubt that's happening in more places, as well.

There's just not enough MobileBlazers to keep them all in business.

Not going to make another thread for it but Dilfer did a 30 minute interview with WVTM today. Good stuff.

https://www.wvtm13.com/article/full-inte...l/44776652

(08-08-2023 02:59 PM)Auburn_Blazer Wrote:  

(08-08-2023 12:57 PM)58-56 Wrote:  

(08-08-2023 09:20 AM)blazerblazer Wrote:  That's what I've been saying. We're not in Troy or Jacksonville, we are in the largest metro in the state. Get one of the staffers to hit up every Birmingham based business and see what you can get.

We already supposedly have INFLCR working for us, but it seems they can set something like this up for Temple but we're left twisting in the Southside breeze:

https://owlsports.com/news/2022/11/1/tem...t-athletes

As dedicated as I was and am to the Return, both personally and as a business owner, the drumbeat of "donate to NIL" leaves me a little cold. Uncomfortable. I'm not at ease with participating in pay for play.

Conversely, I'd be totally down with paying Eric Gaines to rock a suit (which I am sure he can do) or the Bersher sisters to smash backboards (I am likewise sure they can do this), instead of paying (let's face it, paying much less) for a pic of Generic Suit-Wearing Dude Number 34 from a stock-photo service. Yet there is no easy (emphasis on easy) way for me to do this.

Instead of whining about donate, breathe some fire, Dilfer-style, and link me up. Holy steaming dog poop, if Temple can do it when their best-known alumni is a serial roofie-flogging rapist, where the four-asterisks is UAB?

Have you looked into it at all? I think you've got a solid idea and hope you follow through. I also thought NIL would be tough, but I was talking to a player on fan day who said that he got his deal when a glasses company slid into his DMs. I can't recall who it was, but he said the company noticed that he was playing with his regular specs on and gave him an NIL for their brand of athletic specs. From his side it sounded like a pretty easy deal.

"Come on down to my office, little girls, and let me take your picture." Nah, I don't think I'll be doing that. And if I'm not willing to go through the logistics/legalities of just setting that up (I guess they'd be 1099 independent contractors? Can they wear their uniforms?), I can't imagine any sane business doing so.

I think what people are missing about local businesses in regards to in NIL is that it would never make any sort of business sense for them. They can take that same money and use it in traditional advertising and get much better results advertising to a much larger group then they would targeting the 8000 or so die hard UAB fans.

So what you’re talking about is not a business opportunity, it’s getting them to donate money and the UAB athletic department would on a scale somewhere between strongly prefer and desperately need, like them to just donate that money to the athletic department.

I stumbled onto this. In late June, the IRS pretty much said that NIL collectives are not going to be tax exempt, and donations to them aren't tax deductible. So, that's going to greatly reduce the amount of money given by fans.

https://apnews.com/article/nil-athlete-e...8196fd2c8c

(08-10-2023 11:52 AM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  I think what people are missing about local businesses in regards to in NIL is that it would never make any sort of business sense for them. They can take that same money and use it in traditional advertising and get much better results advertising to a much larger group then they would targeting the 8000 or so die hard UAB fans.

So what you’re talking about is not a business opportunity, it’s getting them to donate money and the UAB athletic department would on a scale somewhere between strongly prefer and desperately need, like them to just donate that money to the athletic department.

It's definitely niche marketing, and really makes no sense for me, but I do a lot of things that make no sense.

Now, for businesses with a true local angle, it's a different story. It is just brutal competing with national brands/chains, Amazon or whatever. There is also a quiet, ongoing war on small business: no matter what politicians say, they're bipartisan in their FU except when they need to trot out Mary Sue the Muffin Lady for a photo op.

Handled with some skill, NIL provides a means to connect your business to Birmingham's Team. Eric Gaines plays for UAB. His image says "Birmingham." A well-made ad pushes that connection.

For that matter, why doesn't Blazertalk have an NIL deal?

"Hi, I'm Eric Gaines. You may remember me from such epic message board threads as "Can he be any more stupid with the basketball?" and "I hope he transfers soon." Sure, Blazertalk's got an interface from the last century and it's filled with bitter old men who haven't been laid since then, but you can trash me and my teammates for free there. Join the party!"