Beer Sales Expanding at On-Campus Stadiums of Non-Power-Five Schools, Beneficial to Revenue
ByFor various non-Power-Five conference schools, beer sales have been an untapped source of revenue at football games, until now.
According to ESPN, 21 schools will serve alcohol in their con-campus stadiums to any attendee at least 21 years old. Additionally, 11 schools have announced they too will serve alcohol at football games at their off-campus stadiums.
While many schools in the Power Five conferences only offer alcohol to premium seating attendees, some would arguably pack the house with serving beer. Of course, underage attendees will still find a way to consume alcohol during games, as they already do so before games during a tailgate.
Though 21 may seem like a small amount of schools to serve alcohol at their on-campus stadium, it is twice the number from five years ago.
"Every institution is looking at how they can increase revenue streams, and alcohol is one of those," Jeff Schemmel, president of consulting firm College Sports Solutions LLC, told ESPN. "Everything is on the table."
Per the Associated Press, here are the 32 total schools.
Stadiums on campus:
Akron
Bowling Green
Cincinnati
Colorado State
Houston
Kent State
Louisiana-Lafayette
Louisiana-Monroe
Louisville
Minnesota
Nevada
North Texas
SMU
Syracuse
Toledo
Troy
Tulane
UNLV
UTEP
Western Kentucky
West Virginia
Stadiums off campus:
Connecticut
Georgia State
Hawaii
Massachusetts (3 games at Gillette Stadium)
Memphis
Miami
San Diego State
South Alabama
South Florida
Temple
Texas-San Antonio
The AP also surveyed the 21 schools serving alcohol at their on-campus stadiums and found that it made up half their concessions revenue. John Hatwell, athletic director at Troy, said he anticipates beer sales to boost his budget from $20 million to $25 million.
"That's more impactful to a bottom line for a Troy than it is for a Texas or West Virginia or institutions similar to that," he told ESPN.
SMU began distributing alcohol at basketball games last season and did not find the crowd to be any more unruly, if at all. Alcohol is not new at public sporting events, but it is in the realm of college athletics and not all are on board, especially since a great deal of college undergraduates are underage.
"Kids are watching adults all the time," Jan Withers, Mothers Against Drunk Driving national president. "If they see the only way to have fun is to drink a lot, then they're going to model after that. That's not the message we want to be sending to them."