Will The SEC Headquarters leave Birmingham?


PsiSnake

PsiSnake

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Sports News


Auburn president floats HQ move idea


10/17/02

CHARLES GOLDBERG
News staff writer


The idea of moving the Southeastern Conference headquarters out of Birmingham was brought up at a meeting of SEC presidents in Atlanta on Monday by Auburn University president William Walker, a source familiar with the meeting said.


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The presidents discussed a move to Atlanta, but did not vote on it and indicated the SEC office would likely remain in Birmingham at least until its current lease runs out in 2006.

The ease of flying presidents and athletic officials of SEC schools to Atlanta may have been an underlying reason for the discussion.

"The question of moving the SEC office to Atlanta came up because the presidents were meeting there this week," Walker said in a prepared statement Wednesday. "The presidents had decided to meet there, because it was easier for most of them to get into and out of Atlanta than Birmingham.

"Some of the members discussed moving the SEC office to Atlanta for that reason."

The SEC has been paying the City of Birmingham $1 a year since it moved into its office building in 1991. The office, built for the SEC, is near the Birmingham-Jefferson Convention Complex.

Walker said the presidents' discussion about moving league headquarters was short.

"Since the lease runs to 2006, they moved on to other topics," he said.
 
I can see moving to Atlanta but they want get a $1 lease agreement. However, they will save on airline tickets. Plus the championship game is already in Atlanta so it make sense.
 

Originally posted by BigBlueTiger

. . the championship game is already in Atlanta so it make sense . .
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The championship game may not be in Atlanta for long. When the Birmingham Dome is completed, B'ham will make a strong push to have the game MOVED BACK to Birmingham.

Or the championship game may go to New Orleans, or Nashville, or somewhere in Florida. What do you do then? Keep moving the headquarters to whatever city the championship game is in?

If all goes well, B'ham should have a domed stadium by about 2005. The SEC lease runs through 2006. I seriously doubt that the headquarters will move.
 
What type of penalty is there if they move? They're only paying $1/year so if they leave what's that $3-4?? Here's a 5...keep the change.:lmao:
 
? More From Today's Birmingham News

Sports Columnist Kevin Scarbinsky



Civic leaders will fight to keep SEC office here


10/23/02




William Walker may get a letter. No doubt the Auburn University president gets lots of letters. He got one a couple of weeks ago from the NCAA.


This one will be a preliminary inquiry of a different kind.

If this letter is signed, sealed and delivered, it'll be postmarked Birmingham. It'll be penned by a high-ranking civic official. Maybe by someone from the Chamber of Commerce.

You know how upbeat those Chamber of Commerce types are. They're less likely to write something that falls into the category of hate mail.

Not that this letter will be a love letter. Not after Walker brought up the subject of moving the SEC office from Birmingham to Atlanta. Last week. During a meeting of SEC presidents. In Atlanta.

It wasn't a long discussion. The current lease between the conference and the city runs till 2006, and the league's CEOs aren't expected to try to break it before then. They have more pressing issues. Like law and order.

It seems the presidents were discussing their travels. They figured out it's easier by plane to get to Atlanta than Birmingham. Wow. You've got to be really smart to be a college president.

Next thing you knew, some of them were wondering whether it wasn't a good idea for the SEC to kiss Birmingham goodbye.

They didn't vote on the idea, but they unnerved some people around here just by discussing it. Walker upset some people around here by initiating the discussion.

Dear Mr. President: Isn't Auburn in Alabama? Shouldn't Auburn favor economic development in Alabama? What does Auburn have against Birmingham anyway? Alabama hardly plays here anymore.

It's all fodder for the letter.

You might wonder whether it matters that the headquarters of the most powerful conference in collegiate athletics calls Birmingham home. It didn't keep the SEC Football Championship Game or the SEC Basketball Tournament here. It doesn't generate tons of jobs or dollars. It's not an auto plant.

True enough, but without the SEC serving as host, would Birmingham be a pit stop on the road to the Final Four next March for the fourth time in nine years?

Without the conference office sitting a cross-town drive away, would the SEC Baseball Tournament have become a fixture at the Hoover Met? Would the SEC Gymnastics Championships try to put down roots here as well?

There's one year left on the current contract for each event. The league's athletics directors already have received proposals to extend those contracts. They'll likely vote in December to keep those events here.

Why? Birmingham has the home-office advantage.

Then there's the intangible benefit. Having the SEC office here puts Birmingham at the epicenter of big-time college sports. How often do we get to be the epicenter of anything? Besides a debate about sewers.

As much as it helps to have the office here, it would hurt more to lose it, especially to Atlanta. Birmingham's tired of losing to Atlanta. Local officials vow they won't lose the SEC office without a fight.

If Walker doesn't like it, he can take a hike.
 
I think that AUBURN UNIVERSITY needs to be moved to Atlanta, and the SEC headquarters needs to stay in Birmingham.

SMH @ that Auburn idiot.
 
Im sure our black SWAC office asses will be right behind them since we like to do everything they do.
 
Originally posted by Get Ready
Im sure our black SWAC office asses will be right behind them since we like to do everything they do.
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GR,

The sad part about it is that after seeing how they do things, we still screw it up. :(
 
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