Mark Ingram, fresh from Temple University to the University of Alabama at Birmingham as the school’s new athletic director, is understandably noncommittal regarding the return of UAB’s recently-cut football program. Shuttered due to financial constraints, the feasibility of a return is currently being evaluated by College Sports Solutions, whose report should be submitted by May 15th.
Many around the UAB community are pushing for a return of the program. In lieu of an intrasquad spring game, common this time of year with DI programs and occasionally filling home stadiums with adoring fans, UAB alums returned to play flag football. Off campus, various Alabama cities signed resolutions urging the university to undo the December shutdown. However, even if the necessary funds were raised in the short term via donor contributions, adjustments within university budgets, or greater subsidies to the athletic department, there is no guarantee UAB will avoid this same situation in later years.
As discussed by Dave Goldenberg at fivethirtyeight.com, one of the primary issues facing a return to football for UAB is common for many new DI football programs and does not appear to be changing in the near future: getting a foothold in the football-saturated South. Drawn to form teams due to the fan fervor and seemingly-endless local recruiting stream, new programs throughout the Southeast have sprung up, only to be faced with overwhelming challenges and poor on-field performance. It seems, in a bit of a catch-22, the strong football climate in the Southeast that makes starting a team so attractive to a school also makes breaking into the sport in that region terribly difficult. Fans, for the most part, already have allegiances to preexisting schools, and those recruits who might set a new team on a course for sustained success are coveted by a glut of other universities with stronger historical pedigrees, more television exposure, and state-of-the-art facilities.
As a result, fledgling programs like Georgia State, FAU, or UAB have difficulty finding success on the field in their opening years. This then leads to empty stadiums, low gate revenue, and a lack of booster support vital for expensive college football teams to operate. Football then becomes a white elephant for the university, leading to a situation like UAB currently faces.
Unfortunately for new athletic director Mark Ingram, the difficulties in making UAB’s football program viable will not diminish simply because a few alumni are roused and funding is found for the coming season(s). Sharing not only a recruiting ground but also a board of trustees with the seminal college football powerhouse in the nation does not make life easier for UAB, even if donors do step up and fill the current budgetary shortfall. Certainly, from these early days in his new position Ingram has a difficult and possibly unpopular decision to make; even if he gets the needed money to restore football, it might not be in the long-term best interest to continue supporting a team that could easily slip back into being a financial drain and cautionary tale.
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