Alabama AD responds back to criticism of lack of ‘care’ for fans

Nov 27, 2021; Auburn, Alabama, USA; Alabama Crimson Tide athletics director Greg Byrne celebrates with players after defeating the Auburn Tigers at Jordan-Hare Stadium. Alabama defeated Auburn in four overtimes. Mandatory Credit: Gary Cosby Jr.-USA TODAY Sports

To the dismay of some fans, college football is heading in a direction that it’s never been before. As the sport evolves, fans may feel like simply cheering for a team is worthless.

Ticket and concession prices are soaring, making it impossible for some fans to attend games. For Alabama, a full-home student ticket package was $171 last year, and it is now $256 for the 2025 season.

Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne has taken heat over the last few months because of his efforts to drive in more donations to Yea Alabama, the school’s NIL collective. Byrne has a difficult job to do in today’s climate of collegiate sports. Alabama is arguably the greatest college football program ever, but the challenge to keep the Crimson Tide on top is harder than ever now that paying athletes is legal.

Perhaps the message that stressed out Crimson Tide fans was the one Byrne emailed to fans, students and parents as well as plastering all out social media on Dec. 18.

Byrne said “A subscription to Yea Alabama isn’t about the now; it’s about the future. It’s about roster retention for future seasons and keeping our legends in crimson. It’s about attracting and developing the best recruits in the country to represent the script A. You being a part of the team has never more important.”

Some people’s takeaways from this message are that Byrne and the team does not care about you unless you join Yea Alabama or make a donation, but he said that couldn’t be further from the truth.

On Tuesday, Byrne joined Greg McElroy and Cole Cubelic on Mac and Cube, and he called the perception of him not caring about the fans, ‘a bunch of hooey.’

“The fans are critical,” Byrne said. “I know sometimes people say the athletics department doesn’t care about fans. That’s a bunch of hooey. We may not charge the prices they want us to charge. I understand and appreciate the fact people are trying to make budgets work and be a part of things they’re interested in, which we’re fortunate we have so many fans at Alabama. We need to make sure we do everything we can to give them a good product out on the field and courts at the same time to give them outside the stadium from the time they get here to the time they get to their seats, hopefully it’s as efficient a process as possible.”

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