The sale of beer in college football stadiums continues to grow, as two major schools are considering a change of heart on the matter.
Presidents at both the Universities of Maryland and Texas - Austin have publicly endorsed policy changes to allow for the sale of beer at football games as soon as this upcoming season. Selling beer at football games was originally seen as a way for smaller, non-Power 5 schools to attract attendance and bring in additional revenue, but now it seems to be creeping into the nation's more prominent programs.
Wallace D. Loh, president at Maryland, released an open letter on Thursday supporting what would be a trial run this season allowing vendors to sell beer and wine at Byrd Stadium. Last week, the Associated Press reported, Texas' newly elected president, Greg Fenves, endorsed a policy that would allow beer sales at Darrell K Royal - Texas Memorial Stadium.
Texas currently allows for the sale of beer at other athletic events, regardless of the campus, but Fenves said he and athletic director Steve Patterson want to extend it to football.
"I do support beer sale at the football games," AL.com quoted Fenves saying at a recent press conference. "They have worked well at the basketball games. They have worked well across the state."
On both cases, the schools will need some sort of external approval from entities that have not always favored such a decision. Maryland's proposal will go to the Prince George County liquor board later this summer. Though the board has openly opposed beer sales in the past, they are prepared to give the new proposal a fair shake.
"We told them we didn't think it was a good idea," Charles W. Caldwell III, the Board of License Commissioners chair told the Baltimore Sun. "I don't think they paid any attention to us.
"If they are proposing this, it'll have to have a full hearing and testimony and the full deal."
ESPN reported last year that the sale of beer was present at 21 on-campus football stadiums, a figure that doubled over the course of five years. Beer is already consumed right outside college football stadiums all over the U.S., ESPN noted, and schools could soon look to turn a profit on the stuff when fans enter the gates.