Univ. of North Texas football fans "will be able to buy beer in public sections of Apogee Stadium this fall for the first time, a move school officials believe will help grow athletics revenue and ticket sales," according to a front-page piece by Vito & Duncan of the DENTON RECORD-CHRONICLE. UNT on Thursday announced that the school "will begin selling beer this season on the concourse level." The school "previously only sold beer on Apogee’s restricted-access club and suite levels." UNT AD Rick Villarreal said that beer "will be sold only at Mean Green games and not at any high school games played there." UNT President Neal Smatresk said that there "was no major internal opposition to the proposal." UNT execs "spoke with school officials from Louisiana-Lafayette, Western Kentucky and Houston about their experiences with beer sales at football games in the last few months." Villarreal: "One of the reasons we are doing this is to create new revenue. It’s hard to put a number on what it will generate because if the fans come in and buy a beer, they might also buy a hot dog or a hat." UNT "has set a new home-game attendance record in two of the last three years and believes selling beer will help continue that trend, while maintaining a safe environment" (DENTON RECORD-CHRONICLE, 7/18).
BOOZE MOVEMENT: The MOTLEY FOOL's David Stegon noted approximately 25 of the 126 FBS schools "allow for alcohol sales in their stadiums." The majority, including Cincinnati, Houston, Louisville, Memphis and Tulane, "are in metropolitan areas." The schools "allow drinking to help in a competitive entertainment marketplace." With this opportunity to "bring in extra revenue, expect more schools to follow suit." College football "is a major revenue stream for many of the top universities ... and college sports have never been shy about trying to maximize profits." In the end, economics "will drive this decision." Alcohol "is coming to more college football games," as it is "too lucrative not to" (FOOL.com, 7/16).
