Where Did All These UAB ‘Fans’ Come From?

Let’s real talk here for a minute. UAB Football’s attendance has never been great. One of their better games was against Marshall, and most of those fans were from Marshall. However, once the program was dissolved thousands of people rally behind it. You can’t watch many – if any – UAB games on cable television. Their average attendance was obviously so low it reflects there isn’t much of a cult following concerning this sport.

Apr 11, 2015; Birmingham, AL, USA; UAB Blazers Green team member and instrumental leader Tim Alexander is congratulated by a team mate after carrying the ball during the Sons of UAB alumni flag football game at Legion Field. While other schools around the country are planning spring scrimmages for their current teams and fans, former UAB players are making sure the Blazers get at least one more game at Legion Field. Coach Bill Clark started the alumni game last spring after his hiring and it

Where did all these UAB fans come from? Are these fans of the program or are they people who like the idea of picketing for something they never truly backed in the first place? In my opinion a majority of these “fans” are simply people who want to make noise. They claim they will come out to support the team if it is reinstated, these “fans” claim they are willing to donate money to get the program back up and running, but so far the most money I have seen coming in is from the City of Birmingham itself.

You know what is going to happen if the football program is reinstated? The team will have record breaking crowds at Legion Field for about half the season. Sure, they’ll sell out all the season tickets before it even begins, but the fan base will once again begin dwindling down to the small pocket of people who followed it prior to this whole mess.

Was it right of UAB toss out there casually it would be shutting the program down the year it was occurring? Absolutely not. Especially since it was later found out the athletic director had known this would be happening for at least two years. Sure, the fans – and the athletes – should have been given more warning. Does this change the fact the reason they shut it down was lack of support? No.

There are several boosters who are claiming if they had been giving the head’s up they deserved, they could have put the money together to keep the program afloat. Well, that’s great. These boosters should have been given this opportunity, after all it was their money that had been filling in the gaps for many seasons prior to this last one.

The fan base, no matter its small size, deserved to be forewarned about the dissolution of program. They should have been given the option to try to defend it and make up for the money being “lost.” However, the people who are rallying in streets, taking to social media, and talking about it around the water cooler at work are only doing it because it’s the “cool” thing to do right now. They won’t be there if the program bounces back.