The Univ. of Texas will "soon begin selling beer and wine at Longhorn sporting events," according to Brian Davis of the AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN. It is believed that school officials will "watch to see how things go this spring before determining whether to sell beer and wine at Royal-Memorial Stadium for football games." However, a source said that an e-mail was "sent to all UT head coaches on Monday notifying them this change was coming." Since alcohol is "already sold at the Erwin Center for non-UT events, beer and wine could be sold immediately once the decision is made." The UT men's basketball team plays Baylor at the arena tonight. Erwin Center Dir John Graham when asked if the arena would sell alcohol at UT events said, "If they give us the go, we'd be ready to do that." UT Police Department PIO Cindy Posey said that the department "has no plans to change its staffing assignments whenever beer starts flowing at the Erwin Center." Davis notes UT would become the "sixth school in the state to sell alcohol at its sporting events" (AUSTIN AMERICAN-STATESMAN, 2/26). ORANGEBLOODS.com's Chip Brown cited a source as saying that a "soft launch" for beer sales at last night's TCU-UT women's basketball game was "canceled by UT after reports of beer sales got out" yesterday. Sources said that AD Steve Patterson has been the "driving force behind getting beer sales going at UT athletic events." Brown noted Sodexo, which has UT's "catering contract, has always had the ability to sell beer at Texas events" (ORANGEBLOODS.com, 2/25). In Dallas, Chuck Carlton notes the addition of alcohol sales "could be an attraction for fans." UT men's basketball coach Rick Barnes last week indicated that "improving the fan atmosphere was [an] important part of bolstering attendance" (DALLAS MORNING NEWS, 2/26).
