🏈 Alcohol Sales at CFB games

[cjaytch]

http://www.mises.org/daily/6715/Why-We-Should-Sell-Alcohol-at-College-Football-Games

Based on my experience attending professional games vs college, I wholeheartedly agree.

 

[BamaFan334]

I have mixed feelings about this issue. As a man, I would definitely agree with the idea of serving alcohol at games. As a student I would have loved the idea. Now, as a father, I don 't agree with it. Increasing the chances of a fight, fowl language, and simple rude behavior is not something I buy into. I'd snap anyone's neck that ever acted in any of these manners around my children. I think the people that are getting lit before games are going to do it whether they can buy it in the stadium or not. Hmm, go buy a bottle of Evan Williams for $10 or go buy a beer for $10? I'd take the liquor and mix it with Coke for around $20 all game. So my point here is that folks are already going to get lit simply for the event. Most will still go the more economical route and flask in. Think movies and bringing your own candy. Now we also have to think if the children and remind yourselves that college football is about the atmosphere, family, and tradition, unlike the NFL. I just think on nights in Baton Rouge, obnoxious fans in Athens, and other over the top acting fan bases that this would only make things worse. In my youth, hell yeah, sell me some beer, but being thirty with two children I would rather be forced to sneak mine in rather than freely drinking my ass off. I'm not worried about me, but more so those out there that couldn't handle it.

 

[cjaytch]

Thats the point, they are getting lit anyway. How does not serving stop that? The stats show serving lowering the incidents and making money for the university. Ive never been to a CFB game that I didnt have to deal with drunk idiots, or at a minimum tolerate them. The drinking is happening whether the university "allows" it or not.

I honestly dont know how Baton Rouge could get any worse....

 

[planomateo]

If they are going to sell it, they need to staff security personnel and train them to identify and eradicate those who get liquid courage. Otherwise they'll be kicking people like me out of the venue who won't let others ruin their day/experience. I'll put my foot up someones ass for being a tool at the game, I don't care what fan base you are, act like a fool and I'm gonna have a problem with ya if you are near me.

 

[BamaFan334]

I understand that, but are these studies being done where you'd be offering alcohol to a substantial amount of underage college kids and even some that are of age that are still college kids and think they can beat everyone up? Of course they cannot comment on underage kids drinking, but we all know they'll find a way either by fake ID or just getting someone of age to buy it. You won't see that many college kids at a MLB, NFL, or NBA game. The dynamic is totally different to me. Maybe they have done the study on college kids and I'm speaking more on opinion than facts, but I happen to think if you offer it, the underage kids will get it. I know last year against Virginia Tech, I saw A TON of college kids getting lit. Nothing wrong with that at all in my eyes, but I also wasn't around to see any incidents it may have caused either.

maybe this is like the drug question, if we make it available, maybe it'll drive down demand. You just never know, but it's one of those things where if you give it up, you can never go back and then have to start working towards something else instead of eliminating it.

 

[TerryP]

Thats the point, they are getting lit anyway. How does not serving stop that? The stats show serving lowering the incidents and making money for the university.Ive never been to a CFB game that I didnt have to deal with drunk idiots, or at a minimum tolerate them. The drinking is happening whether the university "allows" it or not.

I honestly dont know how Baton Rouge could get any worse....

What were the numbers in 2009? Or 2012? 2008 and 2013...why weren't they used?

 

[psychojoe]

When my daughter was in the high school band, parents worked concerts at the then Oak Mountain Amphitheater as a fund raiser. For 95% of the concerts we sold beer. Depending on the artists, the crowds were well behaved, but fake ids were an issue, we had to deal with some obnoxious drunks, (Hank Williams Jr. fans were the worst), and there was the issue of people who already had a lot to drink wanting more. The concessionaire made us go through training, and we learned, among other things, that it was against the law in Alabama to sell a beer to someone who was obviously drunk, and that if you did so, and the drinker/driver was in an accident, the seller could be held liable, as well as the driver. I wonder if we want to open up that particular can of worms.
I

 

[cjaytch]

The idea that underage drinkers arent getting all the booze they want on campus now is the height of denial. How does the stadium security handle drunks now? There are plenty of them at every game ive ever been at.

Terry, I dont know about those other years, but the statements made by the police chief were quite convincing to me.

 

[BamaFan334]

Well I'm not saying underage kids have a lack of options on campus. We'd be naive to believe a football game doesn't increase the want and desire to get blasted as a college student. You see it as an opportunity to get slammed and potential find some girl to take home or go home with. So my point was not that this is how they'll get drunk on a Saturday. When you force someone to flask in you're minimizing their chances ten fold by pat downs, plenty sets of eyes, and even minimizing what is snuck in since it has to be concealed. Now if you allow unlimited opportunity, that's opening the flood gates.

if the university wants to bring on more security and do it, fine, but that's just my opinion on the matter. I just better not be the one getting kicked out or getting arrested for punching someone in the face for being an obnoxious punk. I can handle trash talk and a good time, but spilling drinks, f-this/f-that, and over the top behavior is not what I paid for.

 

[cjaytch]

And i agree with you to an extent. However, Ive never been at a Bama game where the smell of whiskey and coke didnt overpower me. Sneaking flasks in is never a problem for the ladies. I believe they are a part of the sorority dress code

Ive had booze spilled on me (by Ms State fans), Cursed at (AU, UGA, and LSU), etc. Won't the "over the top" behaviour you are talking about get you ejected now?

 

[BamaFan334]

And I love that sorority dress code, ha ha.

You have good points as well. It's going to happen if it's going to happen. I guess I would just rather not see it coming. If I see it coming and it still happens it's going to make me even more mad because I try to weigh these things beforehand, but obviously you can't always foresee it all.

 

[TerryP]

[MENTION=14494]cjaytch[/MENTION] Cynicism? Skepticism? I'm not sure what word to use when I think about behavior that's related to alcohol and West Virginia.

“You know, you might as well face reality and try to control it. And at least keep the environment as safe as you can. That was always my goal — to try and make the environment safe.”

That does make a lot of sense; in a lot of different areas.

I just wonder how much of the change in statistics is just a one year change, if it continued, if the 2010 year was higher than earlier years...

A bit of a stretch perhaps, but I can't help but think of how people acted at Rutgers and South Florida and how they are acting now. With football, and the fanaticism of fans, the cynic in me questions such a small sampling of data.

I'm reminded of hearing reports from stadiums and organizations who halted sales after the half or after the third quarter due to behavior.

In the end, I don't have a "dog in the fight." I certainly lean towards the idea considering how many athletic departments end up in the red each year.

 

[cjaytch]

<!-- BEGIN TEMPLATE: dbtech_usertag_mention -->@cjaytch<!-- END TEMPLATE: dbtech_usertag_mention --> Cynicism? Skepticism? I'm not sure what word to use when I think about behavior that's related to alcohol and West Virginia.

LOL yep. Search "Jesco White" on youtube sometime and behold the glory of West Virginia.

“You know, you might as well face reality and try to control it. And at least keep the environment as safe as you can. That was always my goal — to try and make the environment safe.”

That does make a lot of sense; in a lot of different areas.

Yes it does. I'd be interested in seeing more years stats and hearing more of what the chief has to say.

they should absolutely cut off sales at the end of the 3rd at the latest.

As for fans being jackasses, its time to drop the hammer on them. The court should hammer them and if they repeat offend, the University should ban them and get a restraining order barring them from campus. Violation of restraining order = serious jail time.

 

[It Takes Eleven]

Although I usually enjoy the perspective and articles from the von Mises Inst., and by Llewellyn Rockwell in particular, this article by Thornton was written with an end in mind, not analysis to determine a conclusion. WVU used to let people leave the stadium during the game, tank up on alcohol, and return (like Texas/OU). At Bama, we know that once you're in, you're reliant upon your prior consumption or the limited contraband on hand. From our perspective, this is apples and oranges.

RTR,

Tim

 

[bamaraider]

Even as a drinker, I'm against this. Main reason is because I don't want underage kids getting it. They always try to find a way to get the alcohol. People bring in their own stuff and get drunk, but now if they do this, you'll have to deal with more drunks.

I don't think I could go to BDS, sit near people that have been drinking and get liquid courage, and hear them talk shit the entire game. Imagine this scenario: You're sitting in BDS with 'Bama fans on your left and a small section of LSU/Barner/Tennessee fans on your right and say about 1/3 of those fans have been drinking and its an intense game. You're asking for a riot to break out. I've been to Baton Rouge before and I've had all sorts of stuff thrown at me. Beer has been one and I tell you, those people get mad as hell when they lose and they will do whatever they can to exert their anger.

 

[cjaytch]

Even as a drinker, I'm against this. Main reason is because I don't want underage kids getting it. They always try to find a way to get the alcohol. People bring in their own stuff and get drunk, but now if they do this, you'll have to deal with more drunks.

I don't think I could go to BDS, sit near people that have been drinking and get liquid courage, and hear them talk shit the entire game. Imagine this scenario: You're sitting in BDS with 'Bama fans on your left and a small section of LSU/Barner/Tennessee fans on your right and say about 1/3 of those fans have been drinking and its an intense game. You're asking for a riot to break out. I've been to Baton Rouge before and I've had all sorts of stuff thrown at me. Beer has been one and I tell you, those people get mad as hell when they lose and they will do whatever they can to exert their anger.

Underage kids get it now. The stadium not selling has never prevented this. In fact, its much easier to smuggle alcohol in than to get people to sell it to you underage. Trust me, I know....

Deal with more drunks? Nearly everyone around me at every game I have ever been to has been either been drinking, continuing to drink, or is just plain hammered.

Those LSU/AU/UT fans have already been drinking. Especially the LSU ones. They are hammered before the game begins. Like I said before, i dont see how things could be worse than they already are in Baton Rouge.

 

[TerryP]

[MENTION=14494]cjaytch[/MENTION]

Something that crossed my mind this morning.

I ran across a report (on basketball forum) about how Louisville has roughly twice the amount of revenue in basketball as Kentucky. One of the points the article brings up is some credit the difference to alcohol sales.

Circling back around to this thread...

We live in the middle of the Bible belt. We have a lot of people whomaintain the stance they don't believe in drinking alcohol—despite the fact they do in their own circles—and would likely have a stance against the sell of beer at football games.

I makes me wonder if that would have an affect on donations to the athletic department.

 

[planomateo]

I usually don't buy beer at the games and I hate paying good money for bad beer (aka, $8 for a coors/miller/bud is something I refuse to do). Now if they offered Hoegaarden or something that I drink, I would buy several during the game.

So I was at the NCAA basketball game Monday night (Kentucky vs UConn), in a corner suite and they couldn't serve beer during the game, only prior and at half time. Now I've been to several CFB championship games (vs Texas and vs LSU), and don't recall that being the rule...but then again, I didn't go get any beer once those games started. Anyone else know if this is the rule during the big games or bowl games?

My view during the game.

 

[planomateo]

Apparently the NCAA doesn't allow sales during its championships events that it puts on. I didn't even notice if beer was for sale at the concession, but in the suite, we could only get it when the game wasn't on (prior, half, and after).

Also, per CBS, 17% of the (21 of the 125) FBS football stadiums sell alcohol.

 

[TerryP]