Tuscaloosa mayor says city prefers Alabama not hold A-Day spring game
By Andrew Olson
Published:
In 2025, Alabama went away from the traditional spring game format for A-Day, and attendance was down. Tuscaloosa Mayor Walt Maddox is fine with no A-Day at all.
Maddox was asked about A-Day during an interview with The Tuscaloosa News.
From the city standpoint, I can’t believe it. Twenty years ago, if you would have asked me, ‘Would you want to have A-Day?’ I’d say, ‘Yes,'” Maddox told the paper. “Today, I would say, with all the things that come now surrounding it, I think it’s better for us not to have A-Day and focus on the UA-generated events that don’t require so much security personnel and other logistical support.
Anna Snyder of The Tuscaloosa News notes that Kalen DeBoer‘s first A-Day in 2024 drew a crowd of more than 72,000 fans. This year’s A-Day event, more of an open practice than a spring game, resulted in an estimated 10,000-15,000 fans in Bryant-Denny Stadium. Numerous Power conference programs modified their spring game events in 2025, citing injury and transfer concerns.
It’ll be interesting to see the evolution of A-Day” Maddox said. “I don’t know any information, but I don’t think A-Day will ever exist again, at least over the next 10 to 20 years, the way it has in the past.
It’s unclear what plans DeBoer and Alabama athletic director Greg Byrne have for future A-Days, but Maddox has made it clear that the City of Tuscaloosa does not want a return to the spring games of old.
Andrew writes about sports to fund his love of live music and collection of concert posters. He strongly endorses the Hall of Fame campaigns of Fred Taylor and Andruw Jones.
