Beer sales at Mountaineer football games could generate $500,000 to $1.2 million a season depending on the weather, attendance and team performance, but West Virginia University Athletic Director Oliver Luck said Thursday that money isn't his main reason for proposing them.
Beer has never been sold for general consumption at Mountaineer Field, although it's been served in the private, individually leased suites at the stadium since 1994.
Luck said many college stadiums, including all of WVU's Big East counterparts, already sell beer in some capacity. Louisville even sells hard liquor in a nod to Kentucky's bourbon-making heritage, but Luck said he would not propose liquor sales at WVU.
Luck said he's also considering creating family friendly sections in the stadium like Louisville, a change that could be in place the start of the season.
Sodexo has handled WVU's concessions for at least seven years, and Luck said there's nothing in the contract that would prevent adding beer sales. Sodexo would be responsible for training employees and ensuring that consumers are at least 21.
Sodexo did not immediately return messages Thursday, but Luck said the company would not have hawkers in the stands, and it would not set up sales near the student seating sections.
Many other details, including which beer maker would get pouring rights, limits on individual purchases and the mechanics of verifying IDs, have yet to be worked out. As the vendor and license holder, however, Sodexo would bear the legal liability and has the right to refuse service to anyone.
Sodexo already sells beer in other college stadiums, including the Universities of Connecticut and Pittsburgh, and operates a designated driver program. Fans who sign up as the sober person in their party are rewarded with a free hot dog or soda, or some other small incentive.
The price for a 16-ounce beer isn't set, but Luck said most athletic venues around the country sell them for $7 or $8, so he would consider anything in the $6-9 range "very reasonable.'' The higher prices, he noted, would also be a limiting factor on consumption.
Luck said he's not proposing beer sales be allowed at the Coliseum, WVU's basketball venue, because there is neither the history of bad behavior there nor a similar dynamic like tailgating.
"Going to almost any college game has become an all-day event for people,'' he said, so access to alcohol is more important to football fans.
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MORGANTOWN -- Beer sales at Mountaineer football games could generate $500,000 to $1.2 million a season depending on the weather, attendance and team performance, but West Virginia University Athletic Director Oliver Luck said Thursday that money isn't his main reason for proposing them.
Rather, Luck said his goal is to gain control over the drinking that already goes on at Mountaineer Field and create a more civil atmosphere that encourages people to bring their children and grandchildren so that the tradition lives on in future generations.
"We cannot afford to not have those kids attend our games,'' Luck said.
The WVU Board of Governors has posted the proposed revisions to its policy online and is taking public comment about the plan to let longtime stadium concessionaire Sodexo sell beer. School spokesman John Bolt said 140 people had weighed in as of Thursday afternoon, but their comments haven't been analyzed yet.
Even if the board rejects beer sales, Luck said he'll likely end the long-standing policy of letting fans leave and re-enter the stadium during daytime games. Few college stadiums around the country -- and none in the Big East -- allow re-entry, he said.
For decades, fans have been using WVU's so-called "pass-out'' policy to engage in binge drinking, then return to the stadium drunk and rowdy. When Luck read through piles of old complaint letters last fall, he found most were related to smoking and declining civility in the stands.
Luck, who's also considering moving the designated smoking areas outside the crowded concourse, said he's now trying to find a balance between creating a family friendly environment and encouraging a loud, enthusiastic crowd that gives the team a home-field advantage.
"You want it to be a friendly, upbeat and civil crowd,'' he said, but also a crowd with children.
"We're not growing organically, population-wise, so we can't afford to lose a boatload of kids who all of a sudden turn 25 and they've never been to a Mountaineer game because they're not students here,'' he said. "If you get to 25, 26 and you haven't had a steady diet of Mountaineer football, you may be able to live without it. And we want to keep this place filled up as best we can.''
Beer has never been sold for general consumption at Mountaineer Field, although it's been served in the private, individually leased suites at the stadium since 1994.
Luck said many college stadiums, including all of WVU's Big East counterparts, already sell beer in some capacity. Louisville even sells hard liquor in a nod to Kentucky's bourbon-making heritage, but Luck said he would not propose liquor sales at WVU.
Luck said he's also considering creating family friendly sections in the stadium like Louisville, a change that could be in place the start of the season.
Sodexo has handled WVU's concessions for at least seven years, and Luck said there's nothing in the contract that would prevent adding beer sales. Sodexo would be responsible for training employees and ensuring that consumers are at least 21.
Sodexo did not immediately return messages Thursday, but Luck said the company would not have hawkers in the stands, and it would not set up sales near the student seating sections.
Many other details, including which beer maker would get pouring rights, limits on individual purchases and the mechanics of verifying IDs, have yet to be worked out. As the vendor and license holder, however, Sodexo would bear the legal liability and has the right to refuse service to anyone.
Sodexo already sells beer in other college stadiums, including the Universities of Connecticut and Pittsburgh, and operates a designated driver program. Fans who sign up as the sober person in their party are rewarded with a free hot dog or soda, or some other small incentive.
The price for a 16-ounce beer isn't set, but Luck said most athletic venues around the country sell them for $7 or $8, so he would consider anything in the $6-9 range "very reasonable.'' The higher prices, he noted, would also be a limiting factor on consumption.
Luck said he's not proposing beer sales be allowed at the Coliseum, WVU's basketball venue, because there is neither the history of bad behavior there nor a similar dynamic like tailgating.
"Going to almost any college game has become an all-day event for people,'' he said, so access to alcohol is more important to football fans.
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