Review by Sam Dowell in KIN 435
The West Virginia University’s season ticket holders have voiced their concern over the drunken culture of the Mountaineer football games. West Virginia will start losing season ticket holders fast if they don’t change something to keep the games fun for families as well as the students. The heavy binge drinking that occurs in the parking lots before the game and at halftime correlate to an environment where the language and behavior has gotten to the point where alumni and fans don’t want to bring their kids and grandkids to the games.
WVU athletic director Oliver Luck is faced with figuring out a way to solve this problem so that he can keep the rich tradition and culture of football that the University has been known for. Luck’s solution is to fight fire with fire and place beer vendors inside the stadium. It sounds ironic, but Luck’s theory is that if beer is available to people during the game, they won’t pre-game as hard before hand. The same thinking applies to halftime, where instead of everyone going to the parking lot and chugging beers, they’ll get them at the stadium because when they are finished they can go get another one. This allows WVU to control the drinking a little more and therefore should prevent some cases of inebriated behavior as well as make the University some extra money. Other schools such as North Dakota sell beer and wine at their games and haven’t had any real problems.
I feel that Oliver Luck needs to do something so that he doesn’t lose season ticketholders and this solution is worth a shot. If successful, it will keep season ticket sales up for the university as well as earn extra revenue for the athletic department with the beer sales. Luck estimates that the beer sales will earn between $500,000 and $1,200,000 that will go to the athletic department. That’s a lot of money and even though Rose insists it is not about the money, it is a nice incentive to go with this option. Rose also mentioned that he was considering banning the long standing policy of allowing everyone re-entry to the stadium during the game and at half-time. Personally, I feel that for this solution to really make a change in the drunken behavior at the games, Rose must ban this policy. It won’t be a popular decision but it will severely decrease the binge drinking, and give WVU a lot more control since there will be beer available in the stadium. If he kept re-entry in place, tons of students would still go binge drink at halftime because it is a lot cheaper than buying stadium beer. To truly make a difference, re-entry has to go.
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Review by Austin Brooks in KIN 435
Whether or not to sell alcohol at college sporting events can be a controversial topic. There are many factors that need to be looked at before the university can make a decision. West Virginia University’s athletic director Oliver Luck is faced with that decision.
West Virginia University’s athletics director Oliver Luck has a very difficult decision to make. There is a major concern about the behavior of fans at WVU’s home football games. The major issue is heavy drinking before games. Many season tickets holders have expressed their concern to Luck stating that they are not going to renew because of the offensive language and the behavior, all fueled by alcohol. His solution, allow beer sales inside stadium.
Lucks decision to allow beer sales inside the stadium was mainly based on getting WVU’s football atmosphere back to a family oriented event, not increased revenue. This could be a good or bad decision. If Luck uses this policy at West Virginia, current season ticket holders may not renew their tickets. If the policy works like Luck plans, the policy will control the heavy drinking before games and could possibly keep the current season ticket holder around for years to come. Another advantage of applying this policy at WVU is the possibility of a sponsorship from major beer companies. Luck stated that this decision in not for raising revenue, but the opportunity for a sponsorship is there. A possible sponsorship could do big things for West Virginia’s athletic department, not just the football team. With a major sponsorship, this could allow WVU to allocate more money to different sport programs, and even the possibility of improved facilities. Luck estimates that the beer sales inside the stadium could increase the athletic department’s $50 million budget with an additional $500,000 to $1.2 million per season, depending on a few variables (team success, weather and kickoff times).
Whatever decision Luck makes, he must keep in mind season ticket holder’s opinions and the overall atmosphere of the game. Season ticket holders are important for any sports organization, and without Luck may be out of a job.
Whether or not to sell alcohol at college sporting events can be a controversial topic. There are many factors that need to be looked at before the university can make a decision. West Virginia University’s athletic director Oliver Luck is faced with that decision.
West Virginia University’s athletics director Oliver Luck has a very difficult decision to make. There is a major concern about the behavior of fans at WVU’s home football games. The major issue is heavy drinking before games. Many season tickets holders have expressed their concern to Luck stating that they are not going to renew because of the offensive language and the behavior, all fueled by alcohol. His solution, allow beer sales inside stadium.
Lucks decision to allow beer sales inside the stadium was mainly based on getting WVU’s football atmosphere back to a family oriented event, not increased revenue. This could be a good or bad decision. If Luck uses this policy at West Virginia, current season ticket holders may not renew their tickets. If the policy works like Luck plans, the policy will control the heavy drinking before games and could possibly keep the current season ticket holder around for years to come. Another advantage of applying this policy at WVU is the possibility of a sponsorship from major beer companies. Luck stated that this decision in not for raising revenue, but the opportunity for a sponsorship is there. A possible sponsorship could do big things for West Virginia’s athletic department, not just the football team. With a major sponsorship, this could allow WVU to allocate more money to different sport programs, and even the possibility of improved facilities. Luck estimates that the beer sales inside the stadium could increase the athletic department’s $50 million budget with an additional $500,000 to $1.2 million per season, depending on a few variables (team success, weather and kickoff times).
Whatever decision Luck makes, he must keep in mind season ticket holder’s opinions and the overall atmosphere of the game. Season ticket holders are important for any sports organization, and without Luck may be out of a job.
