The Oklahoma State Board of Regents on Friday voted to "approve a program that will allow the sale of alcoholic beverages" at OSU sporting events, according to Scott Wright of the OKLAHOMAN. OSU Communications Dir Gary Shutt said, "It is a pilot program that will start in the spring with baseball, and possibly softball." He added, "The plan would be to expand it to football and other sports in the fall, but we’ll have to evaluate how it goes in the spring, and then we’d have to get approval to do that." Previously, alcoholic beverages were "sold in private suites and club seating, but the new program will allow for the sale of beer and wine" throughout Allie P. Reynolds Stadium. OSU will join Texas and West Virginia as the "only Big 12 schools to make alcohol sales available to the public fan base at sporting events." Wright noted UT generated $3.1M in revenue from alcohol sales at football games in '16. The athletic department netted about $1.3M of that total, based on a 47% "commission rate in its contract with its alcohol distributor." OSU reps had "spoken multiple times" with Texas Associate AD Rebecca Haden, who has overseen UT's "exploration into alcohol sales" (NEWSOK.com, 12/1).
PENDING APPROVAL: The Tucson City Council tonight is "set to consider" a liquor license application for the Univ. of Arizona's McKale Center. The UA athletic department "applied in October to sell beer and wine" (KGUN9.com, 12/4).
