The University of Alabama is taking a bold approach to incentivizing the fourth quarter of home football games for its students.
New York Times ran a story Thursday that details the way the Crimson Tide is tracking its students to try and appease head coach Nick Saban’s frustration with a less-than-full stadium near the end of non-competitive games against non-conference opponents.
Alabama students use the app FanMaker through the Tide Athletics Department in order to earn points, which are then going to help them receive priority in ticketing for the 2019 postseason football tickets. The app that tracks their locations while inside the stadium, which is causing concern, in order to award them points for staying inside the stadium through the fourth quarter.
Students earn 100 points for attending a game, but 250 points for staying until the fourth quarter. Students also earn 250 points for joining the Crimson Chaos, which is the student athletics club, and 100 points per credit hour completed.
While the internet is having the most fun enjoying the image of Greek life pledges holding multiple phones alone during the fourth quarter to earn active fraternity members points for games they in fact did leave early, it also should be noted that Alabama literally is giving the same weight to a football game as it is one credit hour of a completed course.
