COLUMBUS – Until now if someone said they were going to have a cold one inside Ohio Stadium you probably thought they meant they had tickets for an Ohio State football game in November. But that definition has been greatly expanded after OSU’s recent decision to sell beer throughout the stadium during the 2016 football season. Just two years ago Ohio State athletic director Gene Smith said he would rather leave the money on the table than sell beer. Last year, OSU took a first step and made alcoholic beverages available for a few thousand fans in suites and club seats. But now the decision has been made to tap the kegs and let a new revenue stream pour into the athletic department budget. Estimates of how much money this will bring in range from $500,000 to more than $1 million. Selling beer in their football stadiums is something around 35 universities do, ranging from schools scrambling to cover expenses, like Minnesota, Maryland, Bowling Green, Akron and Kent State, all the way up to the 1-percenters of college football at places like Texas and Ohio State. It does bring in a lot of money. It’s being done a lot of places. It’s something almost any school could do. But just because they can do it does that mean they should do it? College football is a unique experience that is different from professional sports. If you have something people like this much, why tamper with it? Money, of course, is the answer. But adding alcohol to the mix could alienate some of the…
Continue Reading: Ohio State selling beer at stadium not an enhancement
