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

I'm not trying to come here and complain, but I'm genuinely trying to make something better here. If you didn't know this already, UAB now requires you to purchase football tickets for all children, even if they are newborn babies. This new policy almost caused us to not follow through with our season ticket pledge as we have a 6-month-old as well as two 3-year-olds. I have been a UAB fan my whole life, I am an alum, and I showed up to protest in 2014 with my twin 10-month-olds in tow. It made me really sad to think about the possibility of not being able to come to games this year because of this.

Thankfully I have everything worked out personally on my end, but I just feel like a lot of casual fans are going to show up for their very first UAB game as a fun outing with their family, find out about this policy, and be pretty unhappy about it. This might leave a bad taste in their mouth, and they very well might not come back. I understand trying to generate revenue and avoid uncomfortable situations, but I think this is a terrible policy to have when you're trying to build a fanbase and renew interest in football among young alumni. At the very least, offer a youth ticket like several other CUSA schools do (or make kids 2 or 3 and under free like the rest do).

I have been in contact with our AD about this and while I'm thankful for getting a response about it, it has been very frustrating to say the least. He doesn't seem to think it's an issue. I had a former player message me and tell me how disappointed he was that UAB told him he had to pay $20 for his baby to attend a football game. I have friends that I invited to come to the game with me who are not coming for this reason alone.

If you have kids or grandkids- or maybe you don't have any reason to worry about this but just think it's silly- please PM me so we can work on changing it. Thanks. Go Blazers!

First, this is blazertalk, complaining is what we do!

Secondly, I agree with your points whole heartedly and the policy needs to be changed.

Mark Ingram does not support UAB & doesn't give a rip about UAB.
Instance after instance of things that he does that even someone who purposely hates UAB wouldn't do.

I wouldn't trust Mark or Ray with my worst enemy.

As a father of a 3-year old who I purchased tickets for, I have no problem with this policy. Unless you plan on keeping your child in your lap the entire game, you will be using a seat for him/her. It is fair to charge what that seat is worth.

This may make less sense while playing at Legion Field, but it is good to have this policy in place if we happen to move into a new BJCC stadium and seating becomes an issue.

I agree. The policy needs to be changed. Keep hammering the AD. It's asinine to have to purchase a ticket for a baby. especially at Lesion Field.

(08-24-2017 01:50 PM)imjustafatkid Wrote:  As a father of a 3-year old who I purchased tickets for, I have no problem with this policy. Unless you plan on keeping your child in your lap the entire game, you will be using a seat for him/her. It is fair to charge what that seat is worth.

This may make less sense while playing at Legion Field, but it is good to have this policy in place if we happen to move into a new BJCC stadium and seating becomes an issue.

It makes NO sense playing at Legion Field. When we start filling up Legion Field (which Mark interrupted me to assure me that will NEVER happen), we can talk about enforcing this policy. And I don't have as much of a problem with paying for a 3-year-old as I do with paying for a baby who will take up zero extra space, sit in my lap, and be completely oblivious to what is happening the entire time.

I'm not bringing a newborn to the game if I have to pay full price for their ticket. Just like I'm not paying for my 11 year old to come because he's not a sports fan and couldn't care less about football. My point, neither kid is watching football.

The difference? My 11 year can easily find some friends who will let him come hang at their house. With a newborn/toddler it isn't always an option to leave them with someone else. This isn't a family friendly policy, therefore, it's not a good policy. And I'm glad UAB didn't have it when both of my kids were that little. Otherwise, we'd have missed out on some great pictures of them with Blaze at their very first football games.

I will add, that I could see it being a necessity when and if seating becomes an issue, but right now, at Legion Field, we are not there yet. We are rebuilding a fan base.

The policy I see most often is children under 3 are free if they sit on a parent's lap. There should be no issue in allowing a policy like that at Legion Field.

(08-24-2017 02:00 PM)iam4uab Wrote:  I'm not bringing a newborn to the game if I have to pay full price for their ticket. Just like I'm not paying for my 11 year old to come because he's not a sports fan and couldn't care less about football. My point, neither kid is watching football.

The difference? My 11 year can easily find some friends who will let him come hang at their house. With a newborn/toddler it isn't always an option to leave them with someone else. This isn't a family friendly policy, therefore, it's not a good policy. And I'm glad UAB didn't have it when both of my kids were that little. Otherwise, we'd have missed out on some great pictures of them with Blaze at their very first football games.

I will add, that I could see it being a necessity when and if seating becomes an issue, but right now, at Legion Field, we are not there yet. We are rebuilding a fan base.

Absolutely agree.

The whole point of not buying a ticket for an infant is that the baby is in your lap the whole time. I mean, you can take an infant under one to see the Dallas Cowboys play and not have to buy a ticket for him/her, for most NFL teams they get in free under 2. So far I've yet to find a single CUSA school that does require a ticket for newborns outside of UAB.

(08-24-2017 02:04 PM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  The whole point of not buying a ticket for an infant is that the baby is in your lap the whole time. I mean, you can take an infant under one to see the Dallas Cowboys play and not have to buy a ticket for him/her, for most NFL teams they get in free under 2. So far I've yet to find a single CUSA school that does require a ticket for newborns outside of UAB.

Is this something worth getting the Football Foundation involved in? And if so, how do we go about doing that?

It just has the feel of an underhanded payback attempt for the hell that had to be unleashed in order to get the team back. Is that just me? Am I reading too much into it?

Most presidents and ADs of CUSA schools like their school.

(08-24-2017 02:07 PM)iam4uab Wrote:  

(08-24-2017 02:04 PM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  The whole point of not buying a ticket for an infant is that the baby is in your lap the whole time. I mean, you can take an infant under one to see the Dallas Cowboys play and not have to buy a ticket for him/her, for most NFL teams they get in free under 2. So far I've yet to find a single CUSA school that does require a ticket for newborns outside of UAB.

Is this something worth getting the Football Foundation involved in? And if so, how do we go about doing that?

It just has the feel of an underhanded payback attempt for the hell that that to be unleashed in order to get the team back. Is that just me? Am I reading too much into it?

Well, when your president purposefully ordered the lowering of the number of football attendees I would say his opinion probably hasn't changed.

& when your AD decides to reward Alabama fans with free Sam Hunt tickets over UAB ticket holders, well ........

(08-24-2017 02:04 PM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  The whole point of not buying a ticket for an infant is that the baby is in your lap the whole time. I mean, you can take an infant under one to see the Dallas Cowboys play and not have to buy a ticket for him/her, for most NFL teams they get in free under 2. So far I've yet to find a single CUSA school that does require a ticket for newborns outside of UAB.

Yes. I looked up the policy for all the CUSA schools as well back in the spring because I was told "this is very common across the country." I told the ticket office as well as Mark that this is not a common policy whatsoever among our peers. While the ticket office agreed the policy didn't make a lot of sense in light of that, it didn't seem to matter much to the AD at all.

(08-24-2017 02:10 PM)blazerfrombirth Wrote:  Yes. I looked up the policy for all the CUSA schools as well back in the spring because I was told "this is very common across the country." I told the ticket office as well as Mark that this is not a common policy whatsoever among our peers. While the ticket office agreed the policy didn't make a lot of sense in light of that, it didn't seem to matter much to the AD at all.

Is this the policy among schools in conferences we want to be in, or just the policy in schools in C-USA? I am weary of calling C-USA schools our "peers" when it seems the consensus is we want to "move up" into a better conference.

Edit: I also totally disagree with everyone who says a baby doesn't take up extra space. Even if you sit that baby in your lap, you need an entire extra bag of stuff just for the child. Pretending that babies are a net-zero effect on attendance seems disingenuous.

(08-24-2017 02:07 PM)iam4uab Wrote:  

(08-24-2017 02:04 PM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  The whole point of not buying a ticket for an infant is that the baby is in your lap the whole time. I mean, you can take an infant under one to see the Dallas Cowboys play and not have to buy a ticket for him/her, for most NFL teams they get in free under 2. So far I've yet to find a single CUSA school that does require a ticket for newborns outside of UAB.

Is this something worth getting the Football Foundation involved in? And if so, how do we go about doing that?

It just has the feel of an underhanded payback attempt for the hell that had to be unleashed in order to get the team back. Is that just me? Am I reading too much into it?

I normally would roll my eyes at a comment like this, but after my conversation with the AD this morning, I'm not entirely sure that isn't at least a little bit true. Please still take a minute to email the AD and voice your concerns, but yes, I think we should get the foundation involved if possible. I don't know the best way to do that, however.

UAB has a chance to get out in front of this, but it would require 30 minutes of thought on their part.

Why not set up a "Families with toddlers section" ? MLB has had family friendly zones for 20 years.

Parents pay $99 each and get a card for each kid of their own to get them in free. (The card idea is to cut off families from bringing all the neighborhood kids under 5 for free.) Then they get their whole section for the little ones to scramble around in. Even wall the darn thing off and give that section their own bathroom, or put it in the end zone and build a shade over it, so mom doesn't have to leave when the baby gets hot or has to go crazy packing up if it looks like it might rain in the next 30 minutes.

This is easy to fix and it builds fans too. I hope the AD's office gets a clue.

(08-24-2017 02:13 PM)blazerfrombirth Wrote:  

(08-24-2017 02:07 PM)iam4uab Wrote:  

(08-24-2017 02:04 PM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  The whole point of not buying a ticket for an infant is that the baby is in your lap the whole time. I mean, you can take an infant under one to see the Dallas Cowboys play and not have to buy a ticket for him/her, for most NFL teams they get in free under 2. So far I've yet to find a single CUSA school that does require a ticket for newborns outside of UAB.

Is this something worth getting the Football Foundation involved in? And if so, how do we go about doing that?

It just has the feel of an underhanded payback attempt for the hell that had to be unleashed in order to get the team back. Is that just me? Am I reading too much into it?

I normally would roll my eyes at a comment like this, but after my conversation with the AD this morning, I'm not entirely sure that isn't at least a little bit true. Please still take a minute to email the AD and voice your concerns, but yes, I think we should get the foundation involved if possible. I don't know the best way to do that, however.

I'll definitely send an email

(08-24-2017 02:14 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  Why not set up a "Families with toddlers section" ?

Doesn't this already exist in the end zone with the inflatables? Even with our seat tickets, I know that's where I will end up spending the entire game.

(08-24-2017 02:12 PM)imjustafatkid Wrote:  

(08-24-2017 02:10 PM)blazerfrombirth Wrote:  Yes. I looked up the policy for all the CUSA schools as well back in the spring because I was told "this is very common across the country." I told the ticket office as well as Mark that this is not a common policy whatsoever among our peers. While the ticket office agreed the policy didn't make a lot of sense in light of that, it didn't seem to matter much to the AD at all.

Is this the policy among schools in conferences we want to be in, or just the policy in schools in C-USA? I am weary of calling C-USA schools our "peers" when it seems the consensus is we want to "move up" into a better conference.

Edit: I also totally disagree with everyone who says a baby doesn't take up extra space. Even if you sit that baby in your lap, you need an entire extra bag of stuff just for the child. Pretending that babies are a net-zero effect on attendance seems disingenuous.

We might not want them to be our peers, but the fact is- they are. You also cannot bring an extra bag in for your baby because of the new clear bag policy. You finished trolling yet?