[NU Sports] Alcohol

[Sportsbiz]

While there are obviously excellent policy reasons for banning the sale of
alcohol in on-campus, or off-campus for that matter, arenas and stadiums,
the revenue foregone is considerable.  I know that Louisville sells beer at
both Papa Johns and Freedom Hall and cocktails at Freedom Hall ( I can't
remember whether they do at PJCS-too many beers)  and the last estimate I
heard of alcohol revenue was in the neighborhood of $300,000-$400,000.  I'm
not condoning the sale mind you, I'm just reporting.

Hard as it is for me to believe, I think the SEC has a rule against the sale
of alcohol inside the stadium, which is why several stadium permit fans to
leave and re-enter the stadium.  They go out at half-time to get a drink or
two and then come back in for the second half.
Mark

Mark S. Ament


On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 3:43 PM, Jonathan Hodges
<jonathanwhodges at gmail.com>wrote:

> This issue came up during the summer when Minnesota made the decision.
>
> There is a Big Ten rule that prohibits selling alcohol in on-campus
> stadiums.  When Minnesota was in the Metrodome, they could obviously avoid
> that rule.
>
> Note that other conferences and bowl games vary in terms of alcohol
> policies.  One interesting story is that Memphis, who play in the
> off-campus
> Liberty Bowl Stadium, normally prohibit alcohol sales during games, but
> allowed it for their first game of the year against SEC member Mississippi,
> and consequently racked up a ton of additional revenue from alcohol sales.
>
> Back to the Big Ten, I believe some stadiums offer complimentary alcohol in
> some luxury boxes (since the tenants have already forked over a ton of
> cash)
> in order to get around the rule.  I can't remember exactly where I read
> that
> and I also don't remember exactly which schools do that.  I vaguely recall
> that Michigan may be one of them with their newly opened luxury boxes this
> season.
>
> On an associated note, here's a recent ESPN article on rowdy fan behavior
> and how some schools have responded:
> http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/otl/news/story?id=4603176
> Also, earlier this year, the Iowa AD wrote an open letter to all fans
> trying
> to get better fan behavior after he ran into some trouble during
> tailgating.
>
> It's interesting to see how much rowdier fans are at all sporting events
> now
> than even a decade or so ago and the difference is even larger when one
> looks back further.  And now tailgating and alcohol are directly linked
> with
> such events, particularly college football.  For the vast majority of fans,
> it's not an issue, but there are always people who can't handle themselves
> and that has led to more and more incidents.  (Remember those Iowa fans who
> committed adultery in a men's bathroom last year in the Metrodome?)
>
> Jonathan
>
> On Tue, Nov 17, 2009 at 2:28 PM, <cherron604 at aol.com> wrote:
>
> >
> > Lots of talk this afternoon on Minnesota sports-talk KFAN, a lot of it
> > seemingly based on this from WCCO:
> >
> > http://wcco.com/sports/alcohol.suites.gophers.2.1311465.html
> >
> > Most callers seemed horrified that they couldn't drink at TCF Bank
> stadium,
> > the Williams Arena or the ice hockey venue.  It sounded like liquor had
> been
> > available to club and premium level fans at these other two venues.  It
> was
> > going to be available for club and premium football as well, but was
> banned
> > instead at all 3.  Some questions:
> >
> > - Do we serve alcohol at any of the premium seating at Dyche ?
> >
> > - I always thought Big Ten rules prohibited alcohol at on-campus venues.
> >  Is that still true ?
> >
> > - I can't remember alcohol sales at any of our opponents stadiums (on
> > campus).  Beer was always availiable at the Metrodome, as I recall.  The
> > only campus stadium I remember with beer was the stadium at Cincinnati
> > (Nippert ?).
> >
> > - I know that even if the Big Ten allowed it, Evanston never would.  So
> > what led Minnesota to think they could serve alcohol ?
> >
> > - And is Lou Nanne implying that you can't do client business without
> > alcohol ?  And if so, isn't that more of an indictment of his business
> > skills ?
> >
> > Chuck Herron   Tech '85
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> >
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