Analysis by Alyssa Truesdale in SRM 435 (section 1)
The article, More Fun for Fans, by Mary Kate Murphy (Athletic Management, 2013), looks at the reasons why more and more college athletic programs across the country are adding alcohol to their concessions at sporting events. The three main reasons listed as to why schools are allowing the sale of alcohol now are: it boosts revenue, enhances game-day experience, and increases crowd control.
According to CBSSports.com, as of July 2012, of the 120 Division-I football programs, just 21 sell beer to all fans of legal age and out of those 21 schools, only 11 of them are on-campus, university-owned stadiums (DeRusha, 2012). One of the major schools listed in the article that we read is West Virginia University. In 2011, one year after being appointed Athletic Director, Oliver Luck began having beer sold in the stadium during football games. After this first year, WVU saw its number of police cases, calls made to police, and arrests during games drop significantly. The other positive for the university was increased profits. By combing alcohol sales and sponsorships the Mountaineers were able to profit over one million dollars after just two seasons.
A few other schools mentioned in the article that have added alcohol to their list of beverage choices at sporting events are Colorado Mesa University, University of Texas-Arlington, and University of Maine. Colorado Mesa started selling beer at their baseball games for similar reasons that WVU started selling beer; they wanted to control the amount of alcohol their fans were drinking in hopes that they would have less incidents. The University of Texas-Arlington had location on their mind when adding beer and wine to the menu at basketball and volleyball games. Because of their close proximity to professional sports stadiums in the area, the university felt the need to enhance fans’ game-experience in order to compete. Also, they wanted to make sure that they were appealing to alumni and adults in the community. “The Dallas Cowboys and Texas Rangers are in our backyard, so our spectators are used to the professional experience, and that's what we're trying to provide,” stated Athletic Director, Jim Baker (Murphy, 2013). The University of Maine also wanted to increase entertainment value by created a “Bavarian Beer Garden” for their home football games. “It's more about providing a convivial, positive social environment where mature adults are given access to something they enjoy,” says Robert Dana, Vice President of Student Affairs (Murphy, 2013).
Ohio State University was the only school represented in the article on the negative side of adding alcohol to concessions at sporting events. OSU Athletic Director, Gene Smith, wants to keep their school moving in the opposite direction. He does not feel that with the size of the university they will be able to control the crowds if alcohol is sold. He also feels that it would be very costly to add more security and programs to help with the increased number of intoxicated fans. The fans’ safety his most important value, which is why he accepted the fact that there would be a loss in revenue when cutting ties with all alcohol sponsors also.
From a marketer’s standpoint, I think that universities should absolutely sell alcohol at sporting events, especially football games. It is obvious that most students, alumni, and other adult fans attending the games are going to tailgate beforehand and consume alcohol. If they knew that there was going to be alcohol provided at the stadium, then they would be less likely to spend their money at other stores to purchase it and would spend their money at the stadium instead. Also stated in the article is the cost for alcoholic beverages, which can be at a higher price. A fan consuming alcohol is most likely going to purchase more than one drink in the time that they are at the game. Revenues will increase from game day purchases, and also from increased sponsorship by alcohol companies.
This is also a way to get the student population at games to increase. Many students at JMU for example have admitted that they would rather tailgate than actually attend the game. If students knew they could purchase alcohol at the game, they might be more inclined to go, and stay there longer which also means possibly spending more money. One other point is that colleges are competing with other professional sports and entertainment events. If they want to be at their level in entertaining the crowd, they need to provide alcohol. Like Athletic Director Jim Baker said, if fans are paying a lot of money to attend college games, they should be provided the best game-day experience.
This article directly ties in with the topic of promotion and sales, which have been discussed in class. Part of the promotional mix is the atmosphere at games. We asked the question, “How can you keep fans coming back?” The other question we can add to this topic after our discussion last week about the declining number of students in attendance at football games is, “How can you keep fans for the duration of the game?” I believe that selling alcohol is one solution to this problem. According to this article it will not only solve the issue of promoting collegiate-level sporting events, but will also increase ticket sales revenue, concessions sales revenue, and sponsorship revenue.
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Analysis by Jen Nelson in SRM 435 (section 1)
All across the United States, students, fans, and alumni are taking part in tailgating at their colleges and universities. Tailgating has become accepted as the “thing to do” before a sporting event. Not only at the college level, but at the professional level as well. Students and fans are looking to continue their drinking, but most schools and universities can’t meet their needs. Their alcohol consumption is put to a halt before they are allowed to enter the game. What many people don’t even realize, is the amount of school and universities that don’t allow alcohol sales at games. The big debate that has become quite controversial, is if alcohol should be allowed at sporting events. The article goes in-depth about several different athletic departments that believe selling alcohol is beneficial to their program which will help increase revenue for their school. On the other hand, there are many factors to consider, especially many legal aspects, which is why the majority of schools have opted not to sell alcohol.
This topic is extremely relevant the Sports Marketing Industry. Schools and Universities are essentially a business whose main goal is to provide entertainment for their fans. College and Universities are always looking for other ways to earn revenue, so why are some of them not allowing alcohol sales during games? Sporting events are all about the game-day experience, and getting everyone involved. Jim Baker, the AD at the University of Texas-Arlington states, “Another big reason to sell alcohol at athletic events is to appeal to alumni and adults in the community” (Page 2). He makes a valid point explaining that alumni and adults are an important demographic that attend a good amount of sporting events. From a promotion aspect, allowing alcohol sales would create sponsorship deals with alcohol companies, which would increase the schools revenue. On the other hand, if only 21 schools currently allow alcohol sales that is something to keep in mind. There has to be a main reason why Division 1 schools aren’t jumping on the band wagon. As a society, the drinking culture in colleges and universities will continue to increase, which will also cause more schools to need to provide more law enforcement. In the future, this is something Athletic Directors may need to change their schools polices, or keep them the way they are.
For JMU, if eventually they are going to move up conferences in the future, allowing alcohol sales, may be an option that the AD will need to take into consideration. A main problem JMU marketing faces now, is how can they get upperclassman to stay past half-time? This is a huge consideration that would potentially cause upper-classman to stay past half-time. Most upper-class man are tailgating anyways, but would like to have a drink during the game if available. Maybe JMU could establish some sort of system, like wearing wrist bands to signify you are over 21, or even a designated area of alcohol such as a Beer Garden like the University of Main has. Or like WVU, they have a no-pass out policy meaning you can’t leave the stadium at half-time to stock up on drinks and come back into the game. These are all ideas that AD’s can factor into making their decision. At the end of the day, the AD needs to do what is best for their institution. The Ohio State AD states, “It depends on the environment of a particular university. Athletic Directors who put adequate controls in place and ensure the safety of their fans should go ahead with the idea” (Page 3). So now the question is, will universities be turning off the taps, or kicking them into full gear?
