AD Greg Byrne on Alabama football attendance: ‘We can’t take winning for granted’
By Adam Spencer
Published:
The Alabama Crimson Tide have had an unprecedented amount of success since Nick Saban took over the program in 2007, and now fans expect to be in the title hunt every year.
However, Saban and AD Greg Byrne both don’t appreciate when nonconference home games don’t sell out Bryant-Denny Stadium. There have been some lackluster crowds for those games in the past couple of years, and Byrne would like that trend to stop.
Speaking at SEC spring meetings in Destin, Florida, on Wednesday, Byrne said it’s important that fans don’t get apathetic about Alabama’s level of success over the years (via AL.com):
“One of the things that we all have to be careful of and I know (Nick Saban) is cognisant of, is we can’t let apathy come into our programs,” Byrne said. “We can’t take winning for granted. We won the SEC championship last year. That’s a big deal. Thirteen other schools would love to be in that position, understandably. And we can’t — as a university, as a fanbase, as an athletics department — just say ‘Well, that’s just what we do.’
“Apathy can get anybody. So, we have to make sure we’re staying focused on that to make sure we appreciate that process.”
The Crimson Tide play New Mexico State, Southern Miss and Western Carolina at home during nonconference play this season, so that’s not exactly a great lineup for fans.
We’ll see if Alabama fans answer Byrne’s and Saban’s pleas to fill Bryant-Denny Stadium, or if there are plenty of empty seats for those games once again.
Adam is a daily fantasy sports (DFS) and sports betting expert. A 2012 graduate of the University of Missouri, Adam now covers all 16 SEC football teams. He is the director of DFS, evergreen and newsletter content across all Saturday Football brands.
