Why  Alabama "Owns"  the Iron Bowl

Iron Bowls

Have been played in venues across the state of Alabama. These cities include the campus towns of Auburn and Tuscaloosa,  but also Alabama's major cities of Birmingham, Montgomery, & Mobile.

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Iron Bowls

Well into the 1980s, Alabama played most of its important games, as well as the Iron Bowl, at Legion Field—to the point that most of Alabama’s “home” football history from the 1920s to the 1980s took place in Birmingham

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Indeed, the stadium’s strong association with Alabama football led Auburn to lobby to have its home games in the Iron Bowl played in Auburn.

What you’ll see above is that Auburn has won roughly 2/3 of the games played in Auburn and Alabama won roughly 2/3 of the games in Birmingham.  So why does Alabama have more wins than Auburn?

Essentially, Alabama was  able to enjoy playing their rival  in a "home-game environment" every year from  1948 until 1988. That's why it was so important for Coach Dye to have the Iron Bowl moved to Auburn at least every other year.