Beer sales being considerd

[kmax]

I don't think anyone is intending that it would only apply to the stadium and not the field house it's just that there are different circumstances around this that make the stadium situation unique.

They already do sell beer/wine at many events like concerts in the fieldhouse. It wouldn't be too big of a stretch to do so for games also if so desired. The difference with the stadium is you don't have the readmittance issue in the fieldhouse. You don't have to go out and get warm. You don't have folks that drove 6 hours, spent 3 more hours setting up a tailgate in spots that cost them hundreds to thousands of dollars for 6 games worth of usage. It's just a different animal.

[Common Cat]

Could MSU brew their own beer on campus?

[Bsmithmsu]

Gotta say if the no re-entry happens I’m out. No more games for me.

Also they would have to triple the number of bathrooms or just as many fans will be missing the third quarter trying to take a leak.

And the smart thing to do is let another cold weather area school try this idea out and study their results. No reason to jump on it as there are too many what ifs involved.

[PHAT CAT]

MSU doesn't sell alcohol. They have a contract with Plonk, who does the catering. They sell the booze and MSU gets a cut. Any setup for a beer garden goes through whoever has the contract. It's a five year deal. Than bid again. It's not as simple as opening a beer garden.

[utucats]

It is entirely possible that I am a complete moron on this whole issue, someone please say so if I’m missing something obvious.

Why does no re admittance and beer sales go hand in hand? Can’t we sell beer and still allow people reentry?

[1984champ]

For the first 2 games this year, student tickets have been sold out at about 4K tickets per game, roughly 25% if capacity. Does anyone think that they would stay in the stadium at halftime with a no re-entry policy and pay for overpriced beer that they probably cannot afford? My guess is they quit coming in to the games and stay home or at the tailgate.

[DriscollCat]

It is entirely possible that I am a complete moron on this whole issue, someone please say so if I’m missing something obvious.

Why does no re admittance and beer sales go hand in hand? Can’t we sell beer and still allow people reentry?

No reason they couldn’t, but for many fans the whole point of beer sales in the stadium is to allow the no readmittance policy to get those butts in seats for the start of the third quarter. Beer sales simply pacifies those who leave for the sole purpose of drinking. Clearly there are other reasons that they leave, but this would appease a certain fraction of fans.

I know there are plenty of people on here who disagree, but bare stands at the start of the third quarter drives me (for one) insane.

[Hi-Line Bobcat]

The no re admittance would have the opposite affect on attendance in the second half if you ask me. I go out to the tailgate at half, have a beer and come back and don't miss a minute. Some in our group may stay out there longer but still make it back in towards the start of the 3rd quarter. I would rather have the stadium fill back up in the second half versus, people saying well i am going to go tailgate to talk with family and friends and sense we cant get back in now, i'm just going to stay out and tailgate. A lot of people don't sit together during the game, so the halftime tailgate is a good catching up point to drink and bitch and moan about the half. If you take that away I guarantee you people will still leave at half, the difference is they won't come back and fill the stadium up in the second half.

Yes on the beer sales in the stadium, and no on the no re admittance policy.

[91catAlum]

Gotta say if the no re-entry happens I’m out. No more games for me.

Also they would have to triple the number of bathrooms or just as many fans will be missing the third quarter trying to take a leak.

And the smart thing to do is let another cold weather area school try this idea out and study their results. No reason to jump on it as there are too many what ifs involved.

I'm sure MSU wouldn't be the first cold-weather stadium to do this. So i googled real quick and - here is Michigan's policy, and I'm sure there are others.

Guests are not permitted to leave Michigan Stadium and return on the same ticket. Re-admittance to Michigan Stadium will be allowed only in the case of an emergency. Those needing to exit Michigan Stadium for this purpose must see the Gate Supervisor through which they exit/re-enter prior to exiting.

https://mgoblue.com/news/2009/6/1/Michi ... ation.aspx

Here's Wisconsin Badgers, also very cold:

The Wisconsin Athletic Department has a no re-entry policy. Once you leave the building during an event, you will not be permitted to return. If there is an emergency please contact Guest Services or the nearest usher.

https://uwbadgers.com/sports/2015/08/21 ... 10127.aspx

[91catAlum]

To clarify, I'm against a no re-admittance policy. I'm just pointing out that it wouldn't be unprecedented if MSU went that direction.

[kmax]

MSU doesn't sell alcohol. They have a contract with Plonk, who does the catering. They sell the booze and MSU gets a cut. Any setup for a beer garden goes through whoever has the contract. It's a five year deal. Than bid again. It's not as simple as opening a beer garden.

This is a good point and further makes the issues around financial feasibility Sonoma and I were trying to make earlier.

As for the no re-admittance reasoning I think that some here are correct in that it is a hope for some that it would happen to try to help 3rd quarter kickoff attendance. That is debatable to me whether it would help or hurt as some pointed out. But I think there are probably a couple of other reasons that if you are selling alcohol kind of needs to have a no re-admittance policy.

First is what I was talking about earlier in the thread, simply the financial feasibility. There will be overhead associated with selling alcohol in the stadium, allowing people to go out and drink cheap beer would severely cut into the potential profits of doing so and likely make the overhead (which is likely fairly constant regardless of re-admittance or not) become more prohibitive.

The second, and I could be completely wrong on this point but I think it is possible with the way things are now, is liability. Any establishment that is selling/serving alcohol is liable for those consuming and not over-serving those individuals. Allowing 10,000+ people to come in, have a couple, then go out and get trashed and their tailgate and then come back in and potentially cause issues seems to me a liability nightmare. On a smaller scale of a bar or something recognizing a patron that is already hammered when they come back into your bar is much easier than in a busy stadium of 17,000 people.

[cats2506]

The no re admittance would have the opposite affect on attendance in the second half if you ask me. I go out to the tailgate at half, have a beer and come back and don't miss a minute. Some in our group may stay out there longer but still make it back in towards the start of the 3rd quarter. I would rather have the stadium fill back up in the second half versus, people saying well i am going to go tailgate to talk with family and friends and sense we cant get back in now, i'm just going to stay out and tailgate. A lot of people don't sit together during the game, so the halftime tailgate is a good catching up point to drink and bitch and moan about the half. If you take that away I guarantee you people will still leave at half, the difference is they won't come back and fill the stadium up in the second half.

Yes on the beer sales in the stadium, and no on the no re admittance policy.

I agree with all of this, it matches my experiences exactly

[kennethnoisewater]

The second, and I could be completely wrong on this point but I think it is possible with the way things are now, is liability. Any establishment that is selling/serving alcohol is liable for those consuming and not over-serving those individuals. Allowing 10,000+ people to come in, have a couple, then go out and get trashed and their tailgate and then come back in and potentially cause issues seems to me a liability nightmare. On a smaller scale of a bar or something recognizing a patron that is already hammered when they come back into your bar is much easier than in a busy stadium of 17,000 people.

I think you're spot on. The liability in selling beer is a bit of a problem, but you mix it in with the fact that people bring their own beer to the premises just makes the whole thing a nightmare. I get hammered at my tailgate and then go get in an accident that kills a family, God forbid, they're suing me for more than I have. They'll be looking to find out who served me, and it won't take them long to get to MSU's (relatively) deep pockets and large insurance limits. I just can't see it happening logistically.

Michigan and Wisconsin are comparable climates, but both stadiums are huge. Nobody expects to be able to get out of the stadium and anywhere near their tailgate in less than 20minutes, let alone get back in. Montanans are used to this and we really hate change (especially when somebody's telling us what to do). That's a big change that completely impacts the enjoyment of a game day. Same in Missoula. It's a staple of the experience. It seems to me that we're doing better about getting back in the 3rd quarter than we were a couple years ago, I'd just hope we continue to improve. If beer sales are a trade-off with no re-admittance, I would vote for no beer sales.

[nutman]

I'm having a hard time with all the chicken little, 'we don't like change' line of thinking. The two issues are separate. The only reason you are putting them together is to confuse the argument.

Letting people out at halftime creates as much liability as serving. In fact, letting you bring it to a tailgate is a 'nightmare' all on it's own. So if we are going to use the liability excuse it plays into the hands of the dry campus crowd. Secondly, they wouldn't be considering beer sales if they didn't have a solution in mind.

Michigan, Wisconsin, Notre Dame all have no exit policies. They are not a big deal. I can't remember if Notre Dame sells beer in the stadium. You can spit on tailgates from the upper deck, so I think I could get there and back in 20. All stadiums are required to have a certain number of toilet facilities per person, so let's assume that is a non-factor. N.D. has a marching band and a great experience at half. Oh wait, so do we. I get it, for years our marching band was no great, but now they are very good. Plus, the old guy who sat next to meet in a freezing rain game at N.D. had a great solution. Dress for the cold weather!

If you won't come back because of a re-admittance policy change. Well....

[Bsmithmsu]

What if we defer the kick off every time we can and since the stands are a little empty it will be nice and quiet for the offense at the beginning of the third giving us an advantage.

[Cats15]

I am just curious to why, if MSU was able to sell beer in the stadium, that there would have to be a no re-entry policy? You aren't able to bring in outside alcohol as it is so what does it matter if you allow spectators to head to the tailgates at half or during the game to warm up or what not and still be able to sell beer.

[CatBlitz]

I am just curious to why, if MSU was able to sell beer in the stadium, that there would have to be a no re-entry policy? You aren't able to bring in outside alcohol as it is so what does it matter if you allow spectators to head to the tailgates at half or during the game to warm up or what not and still be able to sell beer.

Here at Oregon, this was their reasoning:

Historically, too many fans leave the stadium at halftime and consume additional alcohol during the relatively short break. They often return to the stadium and have the intoxication effects really hit them in the second half. This leads to unruly behavior and medical issues that can easily be avoided. Law enforcement fully support the change, since we know it will support a safe fan experience.

[RobertCats]

For the first 2 games this year, student tickets have been sold out at about 4K tickets per game, roughly 25% if capacity. Does anyone think that they would stay in the stadium at halftime with a no re-entry policy and pay for overpriced beer that they probably cannot afford? My guess is they quit coming in to the games and stay home or at the tailgate.

Not to mention probably half (maybe more) of those students are under the age of 21 and cannot legally buy beer in the stadium, but we all know that a good number of those students at the tailgates aren't 21.

[CatBlitz]

For the first 2 games this year, student tickets have been sold out at about 4K tickets per game, roughly 25% if capacity. Does anyone think that they would stay in the stadium at halftime with a no re-entry policy and pay for overpriced beer that they probably cannot afford? My guess is they quit coming in to the games and stay home or at the tailgate.

Not to mention probably half (maybe more) of those students are under the age of 21 and cannot legally buy beer in the stadium, but we all know that a good number of those students at the tailgates aren't 21.

They don't allow beer in the student section at all for the UO games. I don't think attendance has been an issue.

[tetoncat]

What if the tailgates were allowed to stay up longer after the game. You would have time before and after to visit friends you don't sit by in the stadium