THE SHOALS – College football’s Division II Championship Game has been played at Florence’s Braly Stadium since 1986. The 28th consecutive game will be held there December 21. A terrific run by any stretch. And lots of folks here in the Shoals want to keep the event right here for the next 4 years.
This year’s game marks the last game of the current 4-year contract with the NCAA.
On Thursday, the Shoals National Championship Committee held a media conference at the Chamber of Commerce to announce their strategy for keeping the event here. If successful in their bid, the game will stay through 2017.
Mark Linder, UNA Athletic Director said, “When you talk about straight 28 years… That’s a legacy. And I think all of us have a little bit more buy-in than maybe ever before because of Grady Liles and his passing. What a great legacy he left for this game!”
Jeff Hodges
Grady Liles is given credit for bringing the championship game to the Shoals. And was a major force in the UNA Sportsman Club. Liles died February 26 of this year (2013).
Linder continued, “We want to make sure that going forward with the bid process we had everybody on board within the Community. That’s critically important.
Linder told the assembly about how the NCAA is working through the bid process. “They host right at 89 championships at the NCAA Division I, II, and III levels. This year they are bidding out 84 of those.” The Committee notified the NCAA of their intent to bid August 9th. By September 16, they will have to submit a full bid, complete with all the details.
“Within that bid is the financial piece of the puzzle,” Linder said. “We know right now, if we can sell 4-thousand individual tickets and get 4-thousand local fans in the stadium on Game Day, we know that we can guarantee the NCAA a six-digit guarantee, which I think is critically important for the bid package.”
Next came Mitch Dobbins, Chairman of the Shoals National Championship Committee. Dobbins said that he gets questions all the time about how do we go about keeping the game in the Shoals for 28 straight tears. “It’s about partnerships. The partnerships we have with the Shoals Chamber of Commerce, the partnership we have with the NCAA, with the University of North Alabama, with all of our local businesses, with our volunteers.” He added, “With the businesses and individuals that have purchased tickets throughout the year. And who purchased tickets and purchased packages throughout the years . They have helped us from a financial standpoint to be able to pay for the Game. We think about our local police departments, hotels that we use, the Florence/Lauderdale Coliseum, all of these things that we use… These are part of our “in-kind” contributions,” he told the audience.
Mark Linder – “You know, it’s a million dollar weekend!”
Dobbins talked about the economic impact to the Shoals because of this game. “You know, it’s a million dollar weekend,” Dobbins explained. “You look at our guests that come to the area; they spend money; we have additional sales tax dollars; local businesses and hotels… they benefit greatly from this event! We can talk about these reasons why, but the most important to the Shoals National Championship Committee and to the University of North Alabama is that student athlete that comes here! He deserves to come here and be treated like a national champion. And that’s what we’ve been able to do for 27, going on 28 years. That’s what makes us a success! We can work with the finances. We can work with the hotels. We can work with the food. We can work with all of these things, but the bottom line is, we want to make sure that that student athlete understands just how important he is when he comes here.”
First up on the schedule of events is a “town hall meeting” and to make their voices heard on Tuesday, September 10, from 5:30 to 6:30 p.m., at the Marriott Shoals Conference Center.
Want more information? Here’s the link to Keep It In The Shoals!
Want to read the Grady Liles story? Grady L. Liles – The Man and The Legend
