Fans won’t have to sneak alcohol into Bryant-Denny Stadium for Alabama football games in 2022.
Tho they probably will, anyway.
That’s because Alabama will be selling beer during Alabama football games this fall. Well, pending approval by the Alabama alcoholic beverage control board anyway. A few weeks before the season, the Tuscaloosa City Council voted to approve alcohol sales at Bryant-Denny Stadium. The application was made by Levy Premium Foodservice LP, the concession company servicing Alabama football games.
Beer and wine will be sold in the concourses next to most sections in the stadium except the student section and “a couple” others, Levy representative Herbert Tesh said to the council. Beer and wine will be sold in concourse lines but not in the seats.
Vendors selling food or drinks will be required to take a two-hour “Servsafe” alcohol class. Fans could be given a wristband or pins that identify them as at least 21 years old after having their identification checked, and staff will be trained to check identification before every purchase.
“We’re working through [the details] currently still, because this has kind of been a little bit last minute,” Tesh told the council. I know it will be a little bit of a pain for the people that want it, but we’re doing some other things in the stands, too, to maybe speed things up, because we know that’s going to be a detractor of time. But we got to do it. It’s the only way to proceed.”
If the state approves it, Alabama will be one of nine SEC schools selling beer at sporting events joining, among others, LSU, Texas A&M and Tennessee.
Schools, fighting declining attendance and huge game-day revenue for some games due to the high cost for fans of going to a game, ticket prices of more than $100 for premium games and parking and/or travel. It can cost $500-1,000 a weekend to go to a game, and that’s a lot more expensive than sitting at home on the couch and watching the game on a big-screen TV with a full refrigerator just a few yards away.
With the NIL potentially taking alumni money away from athletic departments, athletic directors are trying to find new ways to maximize revenue. They realize selling beer at games is one way to keep them coming to the stadiums.
Of course, people will still sneak in their own booze. For one, it’s a heck of a lot cheaper than paying high concession prices at stadiums. It’s common for beers to cost $12-15 at professional events and concerts.
Plus, many fans prefer whiskey or spirits to beer or wine and they are pretty creative at avoiding measures to keep that out of stadiums, including the requirement for clear plastic bags that were implemented a few years ago for “security” reasons. Yeah, we know the real reason for the clear plastic bags and purses.
But hey, having a few cold beers at a game without having to worry about getting busted is a nice, thought, too. Some schools, such as USC, that play at off-campus stadiums, have sold beer for years. The Coliseum even has a craft beer section. Sales, tho, are cut off at kickoff of the third quarter, even if you’re next in line.
I’ve always felt that is a dumb policy because it encourages people to pound down the beers by halftime rather than stretching out their consumption throughout the entire game.
Bryant-Denny Now A Cashless Stadium
Save your cash for the bars of Tuscaloosa because you won’t be able to use it to buy concessions in Bryant-Denny Stadium, for it is now a cashless stadium. Instead, you’ll need to use a debut or credit card. You can also used cash to buy a so-called “fan card,” a preloaded Mastercard with no activation fees. It comes in $20 increments. The card can be used not just at the stadium but all other places where Mastercard is accepted by the business.
It is a always good idea to have a dollars in cash, tho. While you can tip on debit and credit cards, the vendor employees love it when they get cash.
Free Beer?
If the system goes down, maybe you’ll get free beer! That’s what happened with fans at the Nebraska-Northwestern game in Dublin when the WiFi went out at that cashless stadium.
It has also happened twice at San Diego Padres games.
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