Iowa State athletics officials said that the sale of beer and alcohol to fans holding tickets in Jack Trice Stadium's new south end zone is not "a trial balloon for eventually selling booze throughout the stadium," according to Randy Peterson of the DES MOINES REGISTER. ISU Senior Associate AD/Facilities, Planning & Management Chris Jorgensen said, "We see it as another premium amenity for fans that want to have a drink at the stadium." Peterson notes a "total of 2,100 of 3,000 season tickets for the new Sukup End Zone Club have been sold." They cost $750 each, and "each order of up to four must include a $500 Cyclone Club donation." That gets fans "access to what essentially are sports bars on an upper and lower level." Food and adult drinks can be purchased and "consumed in the new seating area." Each of the two 20,000-square-foot bar/restaurants in the club "will have multiple big-screen televisions." The upper club "has glass windows looking out to the stadium." The south end zone is part of a $60M project that, when finished, "will provide a better primary entrance to the university" (DES MOINES REGISTER, 6/28). The AP's Luke Meredith wrote one of the many reasons cited for ISU's "lack of success in football was a stadium experience that often fell flat." But after the expansion of Jack Trice Stadium, it will be "the third-largest in the Big 12 with a capacity of 61,000." ISU's Sept. 5 opener against Northern Iowa is expected to be "in front of the biggest crowd in school history." Once the end zone renovation is completed, the school "will remodel the parking lots behind it to further enhance the look of the stadium." ISU also is "putting in a new video board behind the south end zone," along with "new ribbon boards in each grandstand" (AP, 6/26).
