Has to be done right, but if it is done right, it lessens the problem with drinking at games, not making it worse. You don’t feel the need to get plastered in Lot 56 for four hours before kickoff because you can’t get a beer once you go to the stadium. Not only would it increase concession revenue significantly, but it opens the door to sponsorships from breweries, distilleries or distributors. Think AB might be willing to pay up to make Bud and its other beers the only brews sold at RRS? I think so.
Speaking of which, when the current student union on the UA campus was being built in the 1970s, the story I get was that Anheuser-Busch (at the time) was willing to cough up enough cash to make the building twice as big/nice as the one they built if they were allowed to sell brews inside. UA turned that money down then.
I’ve been to plenty of stadiums where beer/mixed drinks were available and plenty that weren’t. I don’t recall any major issues with intoxicated fans at the we-sell-it games, and a whole lot at places that it wasn’t sold (WMS comes immediately to mind). Interestingly, at my first English soccer game, beer was sold freely, but you can’t take it to your seat. That is apparently due to a 35-year-old law passed when hooliganism was rampant at English stadiums. Different seating patterns (no standing-room areas), better security and higher ticket prices have all contributed to take care of that problem, yet the law remains.
I think you are spot on - less binge drinking leading up to kickoff and you might keep folks around a bit longer that are itching to get back out the ice chest .
That’s part of the doing it right. Can’t serve underage students, obviously. Can’t serve people who are already snockered. A good friend of mine works in concessions at Minute Maid Park in Houston, where they obviously sell a lot of beers. They keep a close eye on the patrons and if they’re already wasted, the answer is no. It’s not rocket science. A whole lot of colleges already serve. SEC is pretty much the major remaining holdout. Here’s the “beer map” from Saturday Down South:
Of course, Wallace said today that one shouldn’t be surprised when the schools won’t allow you to bring your own alcohol on campus for your tailgate, that you would have to use the school’s service, lol. That ain’t going to happen.
I made the mistake of reading that drivel. I have no idea where he got that notion. Literally no one does that. Think the Chiefs or the Packers stop people from having a cold one at the tailgates outside Arrowhead or Lambeau? Think they could enforce it if they tried? Me either.
That must be the most absurd idea (even from little Wally) I have seen on any message board. What are you going to do when you have a responsible group drinking a decent bottle of wine or a speciality drink, make them pour it out on the ground. Perhaps you need a swat team with a large holding cell to lock up the scofflaws for drinking at a tail gate party. I bet even Jeff Long could see the folly of that.
They need to give Wally an i pad and a cheap gold watch and sent him to softball heaven.
I have mixed emotions about this issue. I like a drink now and then. But…as I have gotten older I know how to cut back and quit. Wasn’t always the case, I remember one night in Breaux Bridge, LA I was made an honorary CoonA$$. Don’t really know if it was a compliment. The concern is that Arkansas fans are a rowdy group to begin with. I’ve seen us fueled with alcohol. It isn’t always pretty. I remember the NCAA baseball regional at Stillwater a few years ago. Beer was available and the Hog fans almost made me feel sorry for some of the opposing team’s fans. I guess we shall see.