IU is the latest B1G school to sell beer and wine at football games
https://www.theindychannel.com/news/local-news/iu-to-sell-beer-and-wine-at-football-games
"The IU athletics department said in a release that a study by the consulting firm Wasserman found that universities that sell alcohol at the stadium improved attendance and gameday experience and showed a reduction in alcohol-related incidents and safety issues at stadiums."
When you could simply bring booze in and drink (early 70's) it was a party and the heaters were flying around too like a rock concert and yes, people got a little too fired up. A few years after ending that, they did sell beer for a couple of years (late 70's early 80's) at M Stadium and I don't remember any problems with it.
I endorse the idea but I just can't imagine the powers that be letting that one go by here ....
Seems like it would be a big money maker too.
For my first game freshman year (Sept. 1969 against Vandy) I brought in a bottle of Ripple and a bottle of Boone's Farm. No one checked. (I was 17.) That much I remember, but not much else. Pretty sure we won.
LOL! I used to wear a leather wine flask ... two of 'em on a really big game. I think it all ended when a national ABC sports broadcast zeroed in on that fired up student section as they were heading to a commercial break and, well, it looked like a crowd at a doobie brother's concert with beers and funny cigarettes raised in the air. I didn't hear anything official at the time, but the next year it was all changed.
"The IU athletics department said in a release that a study by the consulting firm Wasserman found that universities that sell alcohol at the stadium improved attendance and gameday experience and showed a reduction in alcohol-related incidents and safety issues at stadiums."
Who paid for this study? The Beer and Liquor Distributor Consortium?
Probably Budweiser.
This guy...
In case the incredulity is not entirely feigned, I'll just say that I don't think the results of the study are that surprising. The fact that restrictions on alcohol can contribute to irresponsible behavior and poor outcomes as people attempt to avoid the restrictions has been documented in a lot of other contexts.
We know, for instance, that banning people under 21 from drinking in bars has a tendency to funnel a lot of young people to house parties and other places where drinking is even less controlled and more dangerous. If beer available for purchase convinces a few people not to sneak in flasks, it might indeed contribute to a safer environment.
My comment was partially tongue-in-cheek, although I do approach it with a bit of skepticism. If you told me the study found that serving alcohol in college stadiums lead to no appreciable increase in public outbursts or confrontations, that's one thing; but to suggest that selling alcohol in the stadium actually leads to overall better behavior, I'm inclined to call bullshit.
Not only that, the study also found that alcohol sales resulted in increased GPAs!
I work for a large beer manufacturer and we're currently working on several marketing partnerships across the country with various universities. It's a real study, Ohio State and Texas were the poster children for the study. Since they began selling beer, there has been less binge-drinking prior to the games, less hard alcohol is being brought into the stadium, and less overall debauchery (scientific term clearly). Also, students are showing up (more) on time.
Oh, and the schools are making millions more in concessions. The Big House will be selling beer within the next 3-5 years. I'd bet a $1 or $2 on it. Maybe $3. Notre Dame will go before we go within the next 3 years. The SEC will go within the next 18 months.
"I work for a large beer manufacturer"
Avatar checks out.
Yes... and I can get a study created saying that pot smoking and dropping acid before a game are less hazardous then while watching a game; my local dealer would be happy to supply that to you.
What better way to dull the horrible spectacle of bad football watching?
I no longer drink but alcohol consumption would be the only way I could sit through an Indiana vs Illinois football game.
We should sell beer only at the MSU game, and only to MSU fans. We should also provide them old couches to take back to EL with them.
Haha let them burn em up back in east landfill, home of Rape U
Man, you do not want 110,000 drunk people (and, yes, I'm including the children) in the stands if we go down to OSU again this year.
Unless I'm missing the sarcasm, I've never understood these arguments. LSU sells booze in its stadium, that crowd is probably 5x as rowdy as Michigan's is, and they've lost to Alabama (their most hated rival) eight times in a row. Four of those times in Death Valley, and including this year, when they first started selling booze.
Somehow they got along just fine without the entire city of Baton Rouge burning to the ground. And that was after a humiliating shutout.
Not my place to say whether Michigan should or shouldn't start selling alcohol in the stadium, but if we did, somehow I think we'd be just fine.
At least IU fans have a reason to actually go to the stadium now.
Finally, somebody hit the nail on the head.
The destructive spiral of money pouring into college football ruins the game experience for yet another group of fans.
If I wanted to sit with a bunch of drunk, foul people and watch football, I'd go to an NFL game.
I've had that experience multiple times at the Big House, starting in the student section. Heck, we had a guy OD in our section a few years back. Not too many people are going to get drunk on beer that cost $12 for a 12 ounce cup.
Fortunately in the current state there are no drunks at Michigan Stadium.
The idea that banning alcohol in the stadium will mean fewer drunk people is so dang stupid it hurts. All you do is get people doing severely problem drinking before the game and smuggling alcohol in. Letting people buy alcohol in stadium doesn't eliminate problem drinking, but it certainly curtails it far more than banning alcohol does.
It's pretty silly to think that you've ever been able to go into Michigan Stadium and not be surrounded by tons of drunk people.
I think this is true ... and those who really want a sip still seem to know how to sneak in supplies in all sorts of creative ways. It's usually a well behaved crowd though, the only totally pukin' up drunks I've ever seen in there were OSU and MSU fans.
"the only totally pukin' up drunks I've ever seen in there were OSU and MSU fans."
I took my then-freshman Badger daughter to the Wisconsin game here in 2002. We were sitting amidst some completely wasted Wisconsin fans, one of whom projectile-vomited all over a small boy who was sitting in the row ahead of him. I'm still grateful we weren't sitting in front of that asshole.
Maybe happening at some point in Camp Randall too:
"I think one way to get there is if we sold beer in the stadium,” Alvarez said. “Instead of them tailgating until the middle of the second quarter, maybe they come in, have a beer and sit down and watch the game.”
The late arrival crowd at Camp Randall is mostly restricted to the student section. Will $5 cups of Bud Light in the stadium be a bigger draw to college students versus truly cheap beer availability and keg stands outside the stadium?
Well, it IS Indiana football, so I get the need for a slight (or enormous) buzz while watching it...
Illinois is selling beer at games this season also.
There are usually more people outside the stadium tailgating during the games than inside, so people might actually stay a bit longer. I sure hope this is not the end of the in and out policy.
Also, IU is the probably only place where there is a traffic jam walking away from the stadium at kickoff.
Sell In & Out Burger instead... much better, more euphoric, builds muscle, tastes great... and we don't have to worry about drunk a-holes getting in cars after games. The end.
My only experience with alcohol sold at Michigan Stadium was the 2014 Winter Classic. In my section, which was full of Leafs fans, the aisle was constantly jammed all the way down to row 30 due to everyone getting up for beer or to use the bathroom. Unfortunately, I had the seat next to the aisle so I saw very little of the game. Needless to say, I'm not in favor.