The Tampa City Council tonight will hold a public hearing on a "request to allow liquor sales" throughout the 65,890-seat Raymond James Stadium, according to a front-page piece by Richard Danielson of the TAMPA BAY TIMES. What stadium managers say that they want is the "chance to offer football and concert fans the same experience they can have at Amalie Arena or Tropicana Field." Tampa Sports Authority VP/Marketing & Communications Bobby Silvest, whose organization manages the stadium, said, "It's not an equal playing field, and we feel it should be." Danielson notes being restricted to serving liquor only in the club level and skyboxes "means that no more than about 15,000 fans have that option." At Amalie Arena, fans can "buy beer or mixed drinks on any of the building's three levels, though not from their seats." Lightning Exec VP/Marketing & Communications Bill Wickett said, "We don't sell anything in the aisles." Centerplate GM at Tropicana Field John Cirelli said liquor sales there are "minimal" compared to beer. Danielson notes this is "not the first attempt to expand liquor sales" at Raymond James Stadium, as the council in '07 "voted down a similar request." But this time, police "are not objecting to, or raising concerns about, the request." Tampa PD spokesperson Andrea Davis said, "We did an analysis of our incidents at Raymond James Stadium. Overall, they're minimal." Aramark Sports & Entertainment, which has "had the stadium's concessions contract" since spring '13, has "trained more than 6,000 stadium workers in a 'Techniques for Effective Alcohol Management' program." If the City Council approves the sports authority's request on first reading tonight, a second vote "would be scheduled two weeks later" (TAMPA BAY TIMES, 9/24).
