Yesterday the SEC announced that the ban on the distribution of alcohol at sporting events would be revised and the decision to sell will be left up to the universities themselves. For some this is huge news, it will help teams draw more fans in and keep them longer. It will also be a new avenue to make money on game days. But the lift of this ban had no such effect on the University of Alabama.
Below is a statement from the university:
“This new policy allows each campus to decide what is right for them. These guidelines will be helpful as we move forward and have further conversations. We have one of the best game-day atmospheres in the country, and we don’t envision making changes at this time.”
Related: Is Attendance Improvement a Top Priority for Alabama?
Look, there are two sides to this argument. On one hand, this could go very poorly for the university as it pertains to students. Just like on every college campus there are thousands of students with fake IDs. This means that the stadium would be inclined to want to check every student or younger person’s identification before their purchase.
If you thought the lines for refreshments were already long, well get ready because by the time you get back you might be joining in the second verse of Dixie Land Delight.
But this isn’t the worst thing that could happen. Imagine if a minor who fooled his way into purchasing inside of the stadium had to be sent to the hospital. That’s something the university doesn’t need to worry about because enough of that already goes on.
This also goes for people of age who drove to the game and are looking to operate vehicles afterward. There is already so much congestion on the roads after games, it probably isn’t a great idea to add more alcohol to the situation.
A popular argument I saw amongst the people who are opposed to the selling is that they want to keep the family-friendly environment among the stadium.
Here is where the counter-arguments come in. Yes, games at Bryant-Denny Stadium always strive to be family friendly. But so do NFL games, so do NBA games, so do MLB games and so on. All sporting events strive to be family friendly and most of them already sell alcohol. To say that just because a stadium or league decides to sell alcohol inside their stadiums makes them anti-family friendly is ridiculous to me.
At the same time, this could also improve upon the ongoing attendance issue. If fans are allowed to drink then it could incline them to stay longer. It may also help draw in the adult crowd who may not be as enthusiastic about the game as some people are.
But what makes me curious about the universities decision is all of the profit that they would be missing out on. The harsh truth is that no matter how much a college wants to help you, it’s still a business. So when you have the opportunity to make money you do. It’s never good for a business to leave money on the table and in this case, they’re leaving a blank check from Jeff Bezos.
Just think about it. If the university does decide to allow the purchase of alcohol, I can only imagine how great the wifi is going to be when we can finally afford it.
There are obvious pros and cons to this decision but if you have an opinion or comment you want to share then hop on our forum.
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Patrick Dowd is a Reporter for Touchdown Alabama Magazine. You can follow him on Twitter, via Pat_Dowd77.
