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

(12-27-2018 12:17 PM)BatesUAB Wrote:  

(12-27-2018 11:26 AM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  Move all the Frozen 100 to one side and give the students sideline seats like at Duke. It would totally change the atmosphere at the games and energize student involvement.

Just because they aren't at the game doesn't mean they didn't pay for the seats. I'm not saying that it wouldn't be great to have students courtside, but the athletic department would be losing a lot of money.

I just wonder how much $? Donations for basketball seem to be pretty low right now. Are they higher than what the program gets from student fees? If not it seems like a good time to make some changes. Think outside the box a bit.

Also, if we get a new coach and get the program turned around, maybe we could play more games at the re-furbished Arena. Then the big donors would be in luxury suites and more court-side seats would be available. Lack of amenities for big donors at Bartow winds up hurting them and the students.

Makes sense to replace the empty Golden 100 seats with empty student seats. Form one I’ve seen, there are more fans in the Golden 100 seats than the student section

What you could do is move all the Golden 100 behind the benches and give the student section 5 rows on the other side and in the ends. Give them more when they start showing up

(12-27-2018 12:29 PM)Memphis Blazer Wrote:  What you could do is move all the Golden 100 behind the benches and give the student section 5 rows on the other side and in the ends. Give them more when they start showing up

That's a good idea and I think more students would show up as the atmosphere improved. There are plenty of kids on campus now. The vast majority are not die hard Blazer fans but make it fun and more and more will come.

With the number of basketball boosters currently on hand, I think we could accommodate everybody and greatly improve our home court advantage.

Before his mobility became compromised, my brother annually had four season ticket seats on row 2 midcourt at Bartow Arena. The last season he was able to attend, his premium per seat was a 4 figure amount - plus ticket costs. If one wants to replace such income with free ticket students, one had better figure where else the needed funding is going to come from.

BTW, You had better plan on paying such premiums for the best seats in the new BJCC stadium as well.

Students pay for their tickets to athletic events through student fees so they are not getting in for free. I'm also not suggesting turning away ticket buying donors. Maybe, for the good of the program, all could cooperate to create a better atmosphere.

Maybe people should show up fort he games.

People are sadly mistaken if you don't think that the 100 and others are funding & carrying the program.

Maybe the students could be scooted over some. Back in the day at the BJCC we had seats in line with the baseline.

(12-27-2018 11:26 AM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  We could put up some drapes or tarps to give it that Fogelman ambiance.

Kidding but UAB could use this as an opportunity. With support so low, now is the time to upgrade the student section. Move all the Frozen 100 to one side and give the students sideline seats like at Duke. It would totally change the atmosphere at the games and energize student involvement.

Last time attendance was this low was with Murry Bartow at the helm for UAB. He went three years with no post season and was let go. Not sure why Rob Ehsan would deserve more.

You need to take a long look at how many dollars the Frozen 100 pay for those seats. You can give them to the students - but you can flush those dollars if you do. We're not Duke, we don't have the money to even consider that idea.

(12-30-2018 12:41 AM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  

(12-27-2018 11:26 AM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  We could put up some drapes or tarps to give it that Fogelman ambiance.

Kidding but UAB could use this as an opportunity. With support so low, now is the time to upgrade the student section. Move all the Frozen 100 to one side and give the students sideline seats like at Duke. It would totally change the atmosphere at the games and energize student involvement.

Last time attendance was this low was with Murry Bartow at the helm for UAB. He went three years with no post season and was let go. Not sure why Rob Ehsan would deserve more.

You need to take a long look at how many dollars the Frozen 100 pay for those seats. You can give them to the students - but you can flush those dollars if you do. We're not Duke, we don't have the money to even consider that idea.

It looks like the Frozen 50, at best. Just saying we could probably consolidate that group on one side. If they are still hanging in there as donors after years of mediocre basketball, I doubt switching sides of the court is going to run them off.

The way things have been done in the past at UAB basketball haven't yielded positive results. Even in better times, we've done a poor job of expanding our donor base as well as creating loyal fans out of our student body. We need to be willing to take some risks and get our brains out of the box.

Not feasible. We need the seats in both sides. No they are not showing up but they are still donating. More will show up when conference play starts. Why are we acting like our basketball attendance sucking is a new thing? It has sucked since Anderson was here and even then we complained we could not fill the building except for a rare occasion.

Don’t believe me look at the media guide. Anytime Bartow is less than half full that is on us as fans. I don’t give a damn what the record is.

While our basketball attendance has never been *great* it was undeniably better under Anderson and some years with Davis. The attendance is abysmal now. That’s a direct reflection of how bad the program is right now. People don’t want to watch a subpar coach and a team at home playing d2 teams and Troy.

(12-30-2018 11:11 AM)The Answer UAB Wrote:  While our basketball attendance has never been *great* it was undeniably better under Anderson and some years with Davis. The attendance is abysmal now. That’s a direct reflection of how bad the program is right now. People don’t want to watch a subpar coach and a team at home playing d2 teams and Troy.

+1

(12-30-2018 10:54 AM)ATTALLABLAZE Wrote:  Not feasible. We need the seats in both sides. No they are not showing up but they are still donating. More will show up when conference play starts. Why are we acting like our basketball attendance sucking is a new thing? It has sucked since Anderson was here and even then we complained we could not fill the building except for a rare occasion.

Don’t believe me look at the media guide. Anytime Bartow is less than half full that is on us as fans. I don’t give a damn what the record is.

Exactly my point. It has sucked for a long time, actually way before Mike Anderson. In better times and in lean times, what we've been doing hasn't worked. Maybe it's time to try some radical ideas.

Most people aren't as die-hard as the dwindling few. They care very much about our record, who we play, and the quality of our product. Saying fans should do this or that isn't a strategy, it's wishful thinking.

Oh I agree. While some are ignoring the obvious issue with attendance regardless of record we do need to get radical but to tell people that are basically funding the program to vacate their seats may not be the way to go. Several have some great ideas but the AD has been unwilling to listen to them. We can hire a new coach and put a bandage on it but until bigger issues are addressed, facilities,scheduling philosophy, and a completely new advertising / marketing strategy (Art Clarkson wrote the book on it and we burned the book) is employed we will look at those 6,500 crowds as high water marks and **** ourselves if we ever fill the building again.

I know several Frozen 100 folks that give their tickets to employees and come once or twice a year but not enough of them do that. An effort needs to me made to reach out to them and make sure they have bodies in their seats.

We also need to develop the same strategy that pro basketball teams use in developing fan interest and marketing. Go buy an NBA ticket an you will see what I mean.

(12-30-2018 07:34 AM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  

(12-30-2018 12:41 AM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  

(12-27-2018 11:26 AM)BlazerGreen Wrote:  We could put up some drapes or tarps to give it that Fogelman ambiance.

Kidding but UAB could use this as an opportunity. With support so low, now is the time to upgrade the student section. Move all the Frozen 100 to one side and give the students sideline seats like at Duke. It would totally change the atmosphere at the games and energize student involvement.

Last time attendance was this low was with Murry Bartow at the helm for UAB. He went three years with no post season and was let go. Not sure why Rob Ehsan would deserve more.

You need to take a long look at how many dollars the Frozen 100 pay for those seats. You can give them to the students - but you can flush those dollars if you do. We're not Duke, we don't have the money to even consider that idea.

It looks like the Frozen 50, at best. Just saying we could probably consolidate that group on one side. If they are still hanging in there as donors after years of mediocre basketball, I doubt switching sides of the court is going to run them off.

The way things have been done in the past at UAB basketball haven't yielded positive results. Even in better times, we've done a poor job of expanding our donor base as well as creating loyal fans out of our student body. We need to be willing to take some risks and get our brains out of the box.

Attendance in these sections doesn't equal tickets sold. The majority of the lower level sideline seats on each side are sold with the big donation attached.

For those who don't understand how season tickets work, in the more desirable seating areas you pay a scholarship donation plus the price of the tickets to sit there. It's late enough in the season that the donation chart is no longer up on the ticket site.

I *think* that it's $1,000 per seat donation for the lower bowl seats along the sides. Each. Can someone confirm? Paul? Luc?

Some seats it’s more. It varies. There is a link on the UAB website.

Nope. It's late enough in the season that they've taken down the season ticket prices link. That's why I was asking.

oh well hell.