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

(02-06-2018 02:48 PM)mixduptransistor Wrote:  

(02-06-2018 02:39 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  Birmingham needs a new stadium with or without UaB.

And UaB needs a stadium that UaB controls.

I don't see how a new stadium without UAB makes sense for the city (whether the City or the BJCC)

UAB being a tenant makes the BJCC project possible.

I agree UAB needs a stadium that they control, but that's *not possible*. You're approaching seat license-level repetition and insanity here.

And I feel like Henry Fonda in 12 Angry Men.

(02-06-2018 02:31 PM)GreenMississippi Wrote:  

(02-06-2018 01:32 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  A couple of years ago, when I called and asked the Alumni Society why the NAS was holding their tailgating event at the Alumni Building instead of Legion Field, the lady on the phone explained :

Legion Field forces UaB to buy beer, wine and liquor through the Park and Rec Department. And UaB has to use the Legion Field contracted catering company. (This was 2012,) and the Park & Rec Board was charging our Alumni Society $94 a case, for Bud Light or Miller Lite in a can. And she added pretty bluntly "The LF Caterer is crap" and "for what they want to charge for a 500-750 person event, we could take everyone to dinner and put 'em in a cab to the game"

Meet the new Boss...Same as the Old Boss

New Stadium GOOD ! UaB being Married to it for more that 10 years, BAD !

This sounds like an opportunity for NAS (and Student Life, and the Hospital system) to get in on the ground floor and negotiate a catering deal. The BJCC would much rather find a mutually beneficial cost arrangement than have to compete and lose customers.

I hope ADMI has the foresight or guidance to make this type of control a priority.

(02-06-2018 02:18 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  

(02-06-2018 01:20 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  Q: Does any part of this proposed project preclude UAB from building their own stadium at some point? I hardly think 10 years is really a great commitment. I’d hate for us to build this stadium and for some reason UAB decides they want to build their own stadium on campus as they continue to expand. We need to have a clause in there that precludes them from doing so.

A: [Woodfin] Let me partially answer that and [Tad Snider, executive director of BJCC] can give you way more detail than I can. Let me start by saying I agree with you. Part of this is a contractual relationship. I wouldn’t think that would be smart for them to do, but they are contractually obligated. I’ll let Tad tell you why its structured 10 years, as opposed to 30.

[Snider] To the mayor’s credit this is something we haven’t covered yet. It’s structured as 10 years because that is usually what naming rights and sponsorship agreements are structured as.

But any agreement between the BJCC and UAB is going to be a minimum of 20 years. The Memorandum of Understanding is being drawn up now. That’s a very astute point you’re making Councilor. No one wants to see us go through these exercises and build a new stadium on behalf of the community but obviously with UAB being a primary user, and not have it be used for that purpose. The agreement with UAB will be much longer than 10 years. There’s been no pushback or lack of willingness from UAB to want to participate.

So here is our new home, like it or not.

(02-06-2018 02:17 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  

(02-06-2018 02:05 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  

(02-06-2018 01:39 PM)WesternBlazer Wrote:  

(02-06-2018 01:32 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  A couple of years ago, when I called and asked the Alumni Society why the NAS was holding their tailgating event at the Alumni Building instead of Legion Field, the lady on the phone explained :

Legion Field forces UaB to buy beer, wine and liquor through the Park and Rec Department. And UaB has to use the Legion Field contracted catering company. (This was 2012,) and the Park & Rec Board was charging our Alumni Society $94 a case, for Bud Light or Miller Lite in a can. And she added pretty bluntly "The LF Caterer is crap" and "for what they want to charge for a 500-750 person event, we could take everyone to dinner and put 'em in a cab to the game"

Meet the new Boss...Same as the Old Boss

New Stadium GOOD ! UaB being Married to it for more that 10 years, BAD !

New stadium will be "owned" and operated by the BJCC, not Birmingham...

In 25 years, we will have spent a minimum of $100 million to play there

How do you figure that? UAB is on the hook for no more than $40M over a 10 year period. But we can offset that amount by selling naming rights and corporate sponsorships. So if UAB sells the naming rights to Alabama Power for $1M/yr our contribution is now $3M. If we then sell $1M of advertising and $1M of suite rentals, our contribution becomes $1M/yr.

To get a brand new facility in a much more desirable area surrounded by other development, that's a great deal for UAB in my opinion.

UaB is signing up for a 20 year agreement, per Mayor Woodfin.

I don't see where UaB is getting the naming rights, and if I were the BJCC, I sure wouldn't let the tenant get them.

Playing in the stadium for 20 years, paying for only 10 years. And UAB isn't buying the naming rights themselves, they'll be selling the naming rights to a corporation the proceeds of which will offset the amount UAB has to pay.

Playing in the stadium for 20 years, paying for only 10 years. And UAB is buying the naming rights themselves, they'll be selling the naming rights to a corporation the proceeds of which will offset the amount UAB has to pay.
[/quote]

If that is all true; then our deal just got a whole lot better.

(02-06-2018 03:10 PM)BlazerPhil Wrote:  

(02-06-2018 03:05 PM)hooverblazer Wrote:  

Playing in the stadium for 20 years, paying for only 10 years. And UAB is buying the naming rights themselves, they'll be selling the naming rights to a corporation the proceeds of which will offset the amount UAB has to pay.

If that is all true; then our deal just got a whole lot better.
[/quote]

That is true...essentially UAB is guaranteeing all naming rights and sponsorship opportunities (signage, scoreboard ads etc) in the new stadium. UAB will attempt to sell of those and will only have to make up any shortfall below $4 million annually. UAB will also have yearly lease payments for games , in addition to the $4 million. The lease amount will be in the neighborhood of what other C-USA schools pay.

UAB has enough clout to negotiate reasonable favorable terms within the lease. As someone said, without the signed lease...the stadium doesn't happen. Twice in the past BJCC stadium projects heated up and each time UAB refused to sign a lease committment because of less than ideal language and rights. Hopefully both sides learned how to meet in the middle.

(02-06-2018 02:42 PM)BlazerMatt Wrote:  

(02-06-2018 02:39 PM)OldBlazer Wrote:  I don't post often, so feel free to ignore me if you like.

Sometimes I don't understand folks... Three years ago, there was an attempt to destroy the program... Almost succeeded, too.

Today, the BJCC and Birmingham City Council have opened an opportunity for the City of Birmingham to take a step forward, using UAB's success as a springboard... and UAB is getting a new stadium, and a great entertainment district/hotel right next door.... And we can't be happy about that?

We have an operating maxim at work... "The enemy of 'good' is 'perfect'"... it means that if we are never satisfied until we get to 'perfect', then we never get aound to doing 'good'.

This new stadium is good... Honestly, it's great... and it builds a better partnership between UAB and Birmingham, instead of always being at odds with each other...

It gives us a nice place to play, where our *current* crowds won't look so tiny. And, a reachable target for 'sold out'.

And honestly, we're not getting an OCS for a *long* time, until the BOT culture and/or structure changes... So, let's be happy that we're getting *this* ... It's a far sight farther than anything we hoped for three years ago.

From your keyboard to God's ears. Amen.

I agree!

(02-06-2018 02:39 PM)OldBlazer Wrote:  I don't post often, so feel free to ignore me if you like.

Sometimes I don't understand folks... Three years ago, there was an attempt to destroy the program... Almost succeeded, too.

Today, the BJCC and Birmingham City Council have opened an opportunity for the City of Birmingham to take a step forward, using UAB's success as a springboard... and UAB is getting a new stadium, and a great entertainment district/hotel right next door.... And we can't be happy about that?

We have an operating maxim at work... "The enemy of 'good' is 'perfect'"... it means that if we are never satisfied until we get to 'perfect', then we never get aound to doing 'good'.

This new stadium is good... Honestly, it's great... and it builds a better partnership between UAB and Birmingham, instead of always being at odds with each other...

It gives us a nice place to play, where our *current* crowds won't look so tiny. And, a reachable target for 'sold out'.

And honestly, we're not getting an OCS for a *long* time, until the BOT culture and/or structure changes... So, let's be happy that we're getting *this* ... It's a far sight farther than anything we hoped for three years ago.

+1

OldBlazer just nailed it. This deal may not be perfect. It isn't for the OCS we would all prefer - but the saner 95% understand is not an option which is available to us.

What this deal is, is better than any other which has ever been available to us.

You can agitate to turn it down because it does not meet your version of "perfect", be it OCS, Dome, whatever... but you're going to have to understand when the majority of us think that getting a solid deal on a new stadium when we're one year out of the grave is a godsend, not something to be picked apart.

(02-06-2018 04:01 PM)BlazerFromMD Wrote:  

(02-06-2018 02:39 PM)OldBlazer Wrote:  I don't post often, so feel free to ignore me if you like.

Sometimes I don't understand folks... Three years ago, there was an attempt to destroy the program... Almost succeeded, too.

Today, the BJCC and Birmingham City Council have opened an opportunity for the City of Birmingham to take a step forward, using UAB's success as a springboard... and UAB is getting a new stadium, and a great entertainment district/hotel right next door.... And we can't be happy about that?

We have an operating maxim at work... "The enemy of 'good' is 'perfect'"... it means that if we are never satisfied until we get to 'perfect', then we never get aound to doing 'good'.

This new stadium is good... Honestly, it's great... and it builds a better partnership between UAB and Birmingham, instead of always being at odds with each other...

It gives us a nice place to play, where our *current* crowds won't look so tiny. And, a reachable target for 'sold out'.

And honestly, we're not getting an OCS for a *long* time, until the BOT culture and/or structure changes... So, let's be happy that we're getting *this* ... It's a far sight farther than anything we hoped for three years ago.

+1

Yep. Perhaps you should post more often.

(02-06-2018 04:38 PM)UAB Band Dad Wrote:  OldBlazer just nailed it. This deal may not be perfect. It isn't for the OCS we would all prefer - but the saner 95% understand is not an option which is available to us.

What this deal is, is better than any other which has ever been available to us.

You can agitate to turn it down because it does not meet your version of "perfect", be it OCS, Dome, whatever... but you're going to have to understand when the majority of us think that getting a solid deal on a new stadium when we're one year out of the grave is a godsend, not something to be picked apart.

I'm good with being the crazy 5% .

I didn't know the particulars of the deal. I'm good with it now.

I think you have to look at it from the viewpoint of a recruit. Lots of schools have a nice traditional campus with an on campus stadium. Pretty cookie cutter.

Now you come to UAB. After spending the day at our new football facility on campus then you head downtown to spend the afternoon and evening at a gathering at the state of the art meeting space at the new stadium. The family comes along and spends part of the time walking the stadium and maybe catches a concert or some other event at the newly renovated BJCC. Maybe the parents have dinner at one of the many restraunts in the area. Then everyone walks over to the hotel for the night. By the time everyone turns in both UAB and Birmingham have made a huge positive statement.

Is it traditional? No. Is it a huge advantage? You'd better believe it.

In regard to naming rights, who did Legacy deal with for naming rights for the Arena? I would expect the same for the new stadium since the BJCC will own both.

I don't see UAB being in any hurry to build its own stadium since that will mean paying 100% for construction, maintenance, liability and hazard insurance, security and a dozen other expensive responsibilities that go with ownership of a property. UAB has to have classrooms and parking spaces, but the OCS is a luxury, not a necessity.

Remember that UAB is still not its own boss about distribution of UA System funding from the proposed SETF which for 2018-2019 is still $200 million less than the budget for 2007-2008. That is a gradual improvement during the past decade, but still substantially short of where we were 12 years ago.