04-30-2019, 06:47 PM
Quote:Stadium-wide alcohol sales have been approved for Indiana home games at Memorial Stadium next season. The school announced the decision in a press release on Tuesday.
"Our main goals with this initiative are to enhance the gameday experience for our fans and reduce alcohol-related incidents in and around the stadium," Indiana Vice President and Director of Athletics Fred Glass said in a statement. "While there will be some comparatively modest revenue generated by these sales, that is not the primary purpose of this program. Ten percent of our net beer and wine public sales revenues will be given to campus for alcohol safety programming."
The choice to begin beer and wine sales was made after Indiana hired consulting firm Wasserman to study "the desirability of introducing beer and wine sales at its home football games." As part of the examination, the study looked at over 50 schools that already have alcohol sales available to all patrons 21 or older at games.
"The study found that its introduction resulted in improved game-day experience and attendance (with overall attendance at sporting events on the decline nationally, the introduction of alcohol sales has reversed that trend at numerous schools); and a reduction in alcohol-related incidents and safety issues in the stadium (as an example, Ohio State University reported a 65 percent drop in alcohol-related incidents the first year it served alcohol to the general public, while West Virginia reported a 35 percent decline)," Indiana said in its statement.
Fans will be able to buy two drinks per purchase, and alcohol will be served until the end of the third quarter. A third-party vendor will be hired by the university to facilitate the beer and wine sales.
Indiana is now the seventh school in the Big Ten conference with stadium-wide alcohol sales at football events. In February, Rutgers announced that it was expanding its alcohol sales to all patrons over 21. Illinois did the same earlier this month. The aforementioned schools join Purdue, Ohio State, Maryland and Minnesota as the Big Ten schools in the conference that have alcohol available to general admission ticket holders. However, some schools do have alcohol sales that are limited to suite areas and special ticket holders.
https://247sports.com/Article/College-fo...131677615/
