The Alabama Crimson Tide have been known as innovators off the field during the Nick Saban era. Their lavish locker rooms and incredible facilities have received plenty of attention from the national media, but now the Crimson Tide are trying something new. In an effort to improve attendance and keep students at the game until the final whistle, Alabama is now tracking students using a new phone app.
Big Brother coming to Alabama? The Crimson Tide use a location-tracking app to check if students are staying to the end of games (a big ask in blowouts). The carrot: dibs on playoff tickets. https://t.co/JLbjdi8MQb
— NYT Sports (@NYTSports) September 12, 2019
According to the New York Times, the app is the first of its kind. The company behind the app, FanMaker, runs apps for a few dozen colleges, but this is the first that comes equipped with tracking software.
The goal is to entice students to stay longer at the games, and the university is offering a pretty nice reward. Students who stay until the fourth quarter will have a greater chance of winning the student lottery for the SEC Championship Game and bowl game tickets.
For years, Saban has complained about how quickly the student section empties out for early season games, especially blowouts. He reiterated his displeasure at the students leaving early last year:
“Everybody’s got to do something. Everybody wants to be No. 1. If I asked that whole student section, ‘All right, you want to be No. 1?’ Nobody would put their hand up and say, ‘I want to be No. 4.’ They’d all say we want to be No. 1. But are they willing to do everything to be No. 1? That’s another question. Ask them that. I don’t know the answer.”
However, there are many who are criticizing Alabama for the measure. In addition to those who point out the potential privacy implications, it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out the potential workarounds.
Smash cut to Kyler the Kappa Sig pledge holding 113 iPhones after halftime https://t.co/xc9cnHcpr3
— Jon (@BigJon865) September 12, 2019
Good luck to the freshmen greeks who will now be carrying bags with 60 cell phones in them https://t.co/ZthS0HCE7h
— PodKATT (@valleyshook) September 12, 2019
The Crimson Tide are on the road against South Carolina this Saturday, but they return to Tuscaloosa for a home game against Southern Miss next weekend. We’ll see whether the measure helps attendance when the cameras pan to the student section.
H/T New York Times
