THE SHOALS – Over the past year or so, the powers-that-be at the University of North Alabama have been working on a plan to move their excellent football program into the ‘Big Leagues”, notably NCAA Division I. It has been, and still is, a big undertaking. Indeed, the University has spent a lot of effort modeling itself into something that would be suitable for a big-leagues school like The University of Alabama, or Tennessee, or Ohio State. Auburn’s is in this lofty fraternity.
When the Shoals National Championship Committee held its kickoff session at the Chamber of Commerce this past Thursday to announce the initiative to go for another 4-year stint as the Division’s Host City, it raised a question in this reporter’s mind. To wit: “Will this effort to move to Division I Football somehow hurt The Shoals’ chances of landing this gig for another term?”
In short, Mark Linder of the Shoals national Championship Committee said, “No”.
“I think the impact is more perception than anything else. We’ve had our conversations with the NCAA. The NCAA has absolutely no issue whatsoever with The University of North Alabama continuing to be a host site for this championship game. So, because of that, what it really does, is it makes the Shoals Area and Braly Stadium a true neutral site, which is really what the NCAA wants. So from that standpoint, I think it would help. From the UNA perspective, are there people out there who think, “Well, since they’re going to move up, I’m not going to support Division II any more?” Well, I don’t know why they would make that decision. Because, if you take the fact that it is a football game and set that to the side… Who would not support a million-dollar economic impact weekend for this area ? And who would not support the fact that these athletes deserve the best championship environment that they can have? Who would not support the national exposure that The Shoals area gets from ESPN Television coverage? Or, who would not support the fact that The University of North Alabama gets national exposure for being a host university? So, no… I can’t see that anyone who has the facts could ever make the decision that that would have an impact.”
The Quad-Cities Daily: “It just seems like that would be the knee-jerk reaction to the Division I efforts.”
Mark Linder
“And that’s why we’re doing this. We need to make sure… There have been the rumors that have been out there. And the fact that people thought that maybe we weren’t going to bid. We never had an intention that we weren’t going to bid! OK? We just needed to make sure that, you know, everybody was still on board… and I’m talking about the community. And from our local businesses? They are! From our volunteers? They are! What we really need… And this has nothing to do with The University of North Alabama… But the trend that we have seen over the past few years is the decrease in the local individual ticket. That’s the trend that we’re trying to deal with today. That’s why we’re asking these folks who maybe haven’t been to a game in a few years to come back and witness some great football, and help support the area… It’s not expensive… You know, we’re not talking about a lot of money here. We’re talking about somebody committing, if they were to buy 5 tickets over a 5-year period. That’s $5-hundred over a 5-year period. That’s a small investment to keep this game here!
