Not even six years ago, people in and around the Arkansas football program would demonstrably clutch their pearls when the topic of alcohol came up at athletic events.
Now? The sale of alcoholic beverages at university sporting events is one of the bigger money-makers.
In a report from the Associated Press, surveying found that 55 of 69 major college football schools sell alcohol at games.
Arkansas began selling alcohol to fans and patrons at sporting events in 2019. At the time, the school was the third in the SEC to do so. The people in the high-dollar suites could, of course, buy booze before 2019. But it wasn’t available to the masses until the school announced the change in August 2019. That was only at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium at the time. Bud Walton Arena soon followed.
A poll taken of Arkansas residents in June of that year by Arkansas-based Talk Business saw more than half of the respondents say they preferred the school not allow such sales. Of course it didn’t matter. The difference between the yays and nays was less than six percent and national sentiment had changed so much that if money could be made, the university would be silly not to take advantage.
In fact, the school was on the vanguard of such change. Four years later, 55 of the 69 power-conference football programs (and Notre Dame) serve alcohol inside the stadium. Several others sell it outside.
The SEC allowed its member institutions to sell alcohol in 2019. Before that, only 20 schools allowed such sales. Sixteen schools joined the fold, so to speak, just this season. The University of North Carolina made $4 million from such sales. Numbers at Arkansas were not immediately available.
Regardless, while mischief and crime have almost certainly occurred because of the practice, it also isn’t going anywhere any time soon.