Alabama athletics director Greg Byrne issued a plea for money on Wednesday, releasing a statement via social media imploring fans to donate to the Crimson Tide’s Yea Alabama NIL collective. He asked for “Bama Nation to fight back” against other schools “using promises of million-dollar paydays” to entice UA players to transfer.
During a Thursday morning appearance on The Next Round Live, Byrne tried to explain why a program that brought in $199.9 million in revenue for Fiscal Year 2023 according to its NCAA revenues and expenses report, needed to pass the hat.
“I think there’s an assumption that, hey, we’re Alabama, we’ve got more money than the Vatican and that’s not accurate,” Byrne said on the show. “We have a budget, we have to adhere to that budget.”
Byrne mentioned an antitrust settlement that will allow schools to share revenues with athletes in the near future, noting the “$25 million line-item” that is upcoming for UA. In the meantime, he told The Next Round that he’s looking to make the athletics department more efficient, searching for opportunities to reduce head count among other cost reductions.
Still, it’s an expensive operation. UA spent $212 million across the department in FY 2023, though the on-paper loss was offset by $14.3 million in gifts that weren’t expensed during the fiscal year, the university said in February.
“In the last three years, our food bill has gone up over $2 million a year,” Byrne said. “We’ve put some travel policies in place. We’ve done some different things from a food standpoint. We’re trying to push from a medical standpoint.”
Alabama reported spending just under $5.9 million on athlete meals across the department for FY 2023. That’s up from $775,044 in FY 2021.
“You have to ask, you have to be direct,” Byrne said on The Next Round. “We tried to send it as a very strong message purposely. Not kind of beat around the bush, but just be direct about what we’re facing. I haven’t gotten any of the numbers since yesterday, but I think it’ll make an impact on people being involved.”
Byrne also addressed a frequent question. Why doesn’t the Crimson Tide just ask its current alums in the NFL to help with NIL, rather than lay the burden on the common fan?
According to the AD, it’s about helping those players build for their own futures. He mentioned a large donation Golden State Warriors coach Steve Kerr made to Arizona when Byrne was there, a gift that game when the former player was more financial set than during his playing days.
“What I’m telling them is put it away,” Byrne said on the show. “Have one car, have one watch, help mom and dad in a very reasonable way, but you gotta put the money away because your earning window is very short…I talk to the kids about it, I want people to know that, but at the same time too, I try to be very balanced and say ‘The most important thing you can do right now is put it away and save, because this is going to have to last you the rest of your life potentially. Make sure you’re making good decisions and we’re going to be respectful of that in how we ask you to be involved.”
Byrne called for federal legislation to try and solve college athletics’ issues. He also said Yea Alabama is by no means in dire straits, pointing to the football team’s recent recruiting class as a success.
He told The Next Round that his Wednesday message fit in with the organization’s strategy.
“The strategy we’ve tried to have is we’re going to do it by numbers,” Byrne said. “I know there is a theory that very wealthy people are just handing out million dollar checks. I’ve been in fundraising my entire career — that’s how I came up in college athletics. One thing that I have found with people with a lot of money have in common is they’re usually pretty smart with their money. Just throwing around a million dollars at 18-year olds maybe isn’t always the wisest investment of all time.