With UB not serving alcohol inside its athletic facilities, junior accounting major Bryan Johnson*, often sneaks flasks and water bottles filled with liquor into UB Stadium for football games.
“People will still find ways to get drunk without being able to buy beer [within the arena],” Johnson said.
Twenty-one on-campus football stadiums will offer beer sales this season, more than twice as many as five years ago, according to ESPN. Four of those schools – Akron, Bowling Green, Kent State and Toledo – are in UB’s conference, the Mid-American Conference. UB is not close to joining their MAC opponents in selling beer inside their stadium, however, according to Deputy Director of Athletics Allen Greene.
“We are not driving this train at all,” Greene said. “It’s a growing topic that some schools are doing – most recently Troy. It’s a campus-to-campus situation and it depends on how each campus feels and what’s important.”
The NCAA does not allow alcohol to be served at its championship events, however, it does allow conferences and schools to make their own rules on serving alcohol at their own on-campus sporting events.
UB is not entirely against the idea of selling alcohol inside UB Stadium, but the issue lies with “the rules and regulations of New York State and liquor licenses” required for UB to sell alcohol, according to Greene.
Members of the Championship Club, which has a tent for members on the West side concourse of the south end of UB Stadium, can purchase alcohol inside the tent. They are not allowed to bring alcohol outside the tent however. In order to become a member of the club, one most donate at least $250 to the athletic department’s Blue and White Fund.
Schools such as Syracuse University have a full liquor license that allows them to sell beer and wine in common seating areas.
Most schools keep alcohol restricted to premium seating areas, as UB does, according to the ESPN article.
Junior nursing major Chris Goehle believes that alcohol sales inside the stadium would help generate attendance and revenue.
“It gives college [students] a reason to go to games,” Goehle said.
In one of its best on-the-field seasons, the Bulls set a single-season attendance record with a total paid attendance of 136,428 last year, which was best in the MAC. The previous best was 108,118 in 2011 when the team had a less stellar record.
Students such as Goehle think alcohol sales could help keep consistent attendance.
All but four of the 21 schools selling are in conferences outside the Power Five conference, that don’t earn significant television money. The MAC is not one of the Power Five.
With students and other ticket holders partying outside the stadium before the game, UB is leaving potential revenue in its parking lot.
The Spectrum changed the name of this student to protect his identity.
email: sports@ubspectrum.com
Photo: Courtesy of UB Athletics
