I think the SEC will revise its position on alcohol. It’s easier to control it if you have your hands on the tap rather than letting 101,000 pre-drunk Cajuns roll in from the parking lot, to cite one example. Schools like SMU have sold beer for years without their stadium turning into Sodom and Gomorrah. And Texas made nearly $2 million on beer sales at DKRMS in 2015.
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SEC schools know this and they’re not going to continue to pass on that kind of revenue source indefinitely.
Now all we need is guns to make it a really fun experience.
Yup, I went to the SMU-TCU game the night before Arkansas-A&M last fall and they sold beer at 3-4 spots on the visitor’s side. Didn’t see any noticeable side effects, other than really long lines. Easy money.
It really is easy money. They can (and will) charge exorbitant prices for beer and the public will pay it.
We already have guns. Cops carry guns and, since they have a license to kill and are never prosecuted, on per person basis, they are 40 times more dangerous than CC holders. Even so, that doesn’t imply cops carrying guns is more than and infinitesimal risk. I know of no examples of cops killing anyone at college sporting events.
Response: there’s always the first time especially on college campuses where students can carry a concealed weapon add booze to the equation bingo
The fact that something is possible is not in and of itself a justification for banning something. It is a matter of probabilities and potential harm, versus the potential benefit of allowing the behavior.
In the case of selling beer, people already show up drunk and sneak booze in and drink during the game. No reasonable security measures are going to stop that behavior, the only rationale response is to try to keep the obviously drunk out and use the usual security methods to deal with bad behavior in the stands.
Is selling beer throughout the stadium going to markedly increase the number of incidents involving drunks? Probably not- based on the general experience of stadiums throughout the country.
I would also suggest that it will be tough for any one to buy enough beer to become a problem at the games, unless they have a significant head start at the tail-gate. The general concession stands won’t be able to sell beer at most registers, because of the large number of underage kids working behind the counter. Lines for concessions in my part of the stadium are already long and slow in many instances, and free-standing beer kiosks/stands will likely require the thirsty to wait a while too. It will take a pretty determined soul who does not care about missing big chunks of the game to buy enough beer to be a problem-unless the person just can’t hold any alcohol at all.
The benefit of course is the extra money and the selling point of an additional amenity for those who want it. Personally based on their prices I try to only buy bottled water at the stadium, and I am not much on drinking before the game since I drive up from central Arkansas and know there will be traffic and crowds to face. But I see beer sales as a plus, and I might well go through the hassle of buying a beer myself if they would offer some good craft beer.
As to guns, I have no problem with barring concealed carry in the stadium/arena, simply because of the number of packed in people in those areas. Same thing with a crowded night club. I also think any business or government office building, including university classrooms and dorms, should have the right to ban guns- you don’t like it, don’t do business there. But I do have trouble understanding how having a concealed carry weapon wallking down a city street or in a vehicle traveling off-campus is okay, but it suddenly becomes an unacceptable danger when the gun is carried on a campus street or inside a car on campus. The age groups are not much different, the risks of alcohol/drugs leading to tragic behavior is quite similar, but one is unacceptable and one is not. I just don’t see an increased risk, and personally I support the right to concealed carry in public spaces unless there is a really good reason not to allow it.
I think there is a certain amount of intellectual dishonesty by many advocates of banning guns on campus, as most of those folks really want to ban guns entirely, but don’t want to say so to the general public. The protect the children argument is hogwash. If the young adult was not in college and living in a house/apartment, a suggestion that guns should be banned in public spaces in their area because of the youth/substance abuse of some residents would be tough to defend. The same thing applies to the possibility that a mentally ill person will start shooting somewhere on campus. That possibility exists everywhere in public. Where is the evidence that such a remote possibility is more likely to occur on campus than any where else?
The general concession stands do not sell beer. Beer and wine are sold from a stand alone stand. I don’t see a lot of wine being sold, but there is a fair amount of beer sold. Of course, that may be different in other areas of the stadium. I’m sure that were the sales to begin, the same setup would be used for the rest of the stadium.
As noted, the prices are pretty steep, at least to my way of thinking. I tend to have a drink or two before the game (at the tailgate) and nothing during the game, even though it is available. It’s a combination of me being cheap and not wanting to fall asleep during the game. (I usually just get sleepy if I drink a little too much.)
Because it has happened before on campuses, and will happen again. Virginia Tech? The Texas Tower? Lord help us if the next Charles Whitman or Seung-Hui Cho were able to pack heat on campus legally without the possibility of being challenged by campus police. (Yes, I know they did what they did illegally, but the answer is not to make it easier for them the next time.) Not to mention the very real possibility that someone packing a gun becomes immediately enraged (a bad grade on a test, or someone expresses an opposing viewpoint during a classroom debate, or a girl turns them down for a date) and decides to start firing on the spot.
The problem with that argument is that is based on the number of people hurt in a very few, very bad ,incidents. Is the risk of a mass shooting any greater on campus than at the mall or just out on the streets? Nothing in your response suggest there is any evidence that is true. Is the campus uniquely prone to set off a homicidal rage, as opposed to public places in general? Again, where’s the evidence that a college campus is more of a tinderbox than a working class or poor neighborhood?
If you don’t want to make it easier to happen on a college campus, why should you make it easier to happen in a neighborhood full of young people who don’t go to college? Are college students more vulnerable than young folks who don’t go to college? And to turn the argument on its head, does a college student have a lesser right to self-defense in public places than a high school drop out?
College campuses are different for several reasons. One, they are quite concentrated as far as people in a small area. You might have 500 people in a lecture hall (of course the same applies to cinemas, and we’ve had multiple mass shootings at the movies). Or 75,000 in a stadium. Two, you have thousands of people in close proximity who are legally adults, thus able to buy weapons, but may not have the emotional development to be able to carry and handle them safely. Yes your 20 year old may be quite mature, etc. But the kid next to him, who never knew his father, likes his marijuana and mom was a drunk? You want him packing? I don’t.