Michigan AD Dave Brandon says Big House will remain alcohol free

Submitted by Mr. Yost on

Bucking national trends, Michigan AD Brandon is not an advocate of serving alcohol at Michigan Stadium, "Sometimes people lose track of the fact that we have to organize & manage 110,000 to 115,000 people all in one tight space, and get them in and out of there safely. I don't think serving alcohol is going to make that job any easier."

http://espn.go.com/college-football/story/_/id/10621904/alcohol-sales-p…

http://www.mlive.com/news/ann-arbor/index.ssf/2014/03/michigan_stadium_beer.html

jmblue

March 17th, 2014 at 12:33 PM ^

I really don't think the size of the crowd matters.  I've been to Lion games where the stadium was far from full, and there were still fights.  Drunken assholes find ways to cause trouble even if there are empty seats around them.

cutter

March 17th, 2014 at 1:59 PM ^

In response to student input, Michigan changed its policy for tickets away from general admission to a system that allows groups and individuals to have reserved seats with incentives to those who come often and early.  If the university's future alums stay away in the future, it won't be due to a seating policy.

I also don't understand the future scheduling statement either.  UM's future schedules after this year have no MAC non-conference games through at least 2018--something Brandon holds direct responsibility.  When Notre Dame opted out of the series with Michigan, UM was able to get BYU on the schedule in the near term and has set up home-and-home games with Virginia Tech and UCLA.  Perhaps not as sexy as ND, but given the time frame, probably the best options available.

The Big Ten did make the Ohio State/Michigan State games either both home or away, but they put Penn State/Wisconsin in the opposite home/away rotation.  

I don't understand the branding comment.  UM has been "branding" itself since the 1970s when Don Canham was the athletic director.  The reason why you can get a Michigan coffee cup or key chain or whatever is because Canham trademarked the block M and put it on anything he could sell.  Heck, the guy even sold tickets for the 1969 Ohio State game in Columbus and had signs for UM football tickets towed by airplane over Tiger Stadium.  Brandon's essentially doing the same thing Canham would have done had he been AD during the internet age.

 

bluebyyou

March 17th, 2014 at 8:04 PM ^

Absolutely the right move - I stopped going to NFL games with my kids when they were young because there was way too much alcohol-induced behavior that I wanted to avoid.  It wasn't that anyone was ever mean to the kids, but some folks got pretty ugly.

At least the drunk students are nicely contained.

LordGrantham

March 17th, 2014 at 11:47 AM ^

Probably for the best.  I'd be more worried about opposing fans getting out of control than our own.

Section 1

March 17th, 2014 at 2:14 PM ^

lulz.

I have never, ever, understood the concern over in-Stadium concessions.  I go to a taligate before the game.  Almost invariably, every game.  It's part of the whole thing.

After a couple of bloody marys, and a couple of Heinekens, and on rare occasion (very hot days) a beer snuck into the Stadium, and a beer at the tailgate after the game, or (on very cold days) a mini-bottle of Kahlua and/or cognac with some stadium coffee; a corned beef sandwich from Star Deli or Zingermans or something like that...

Who cares about stadium nachos?  Stadium hot dogs?  Stadium cokes?  In-stadium alcohol sales?  I like to buy a bottle of water quite often.  The fact that it might be 3 bucks is pretty inconsequential compared to my $2400 seat license.

Who really cares about these concession issues?  It all barely makes a dent in the Athletic Department revenues.

I agree with Brandon; keep alcohol sales out.  I prefer things the way they are now.  I'd rather have to keep sneaking in my beverages of choice, than put up with the disgusting atmosphere of an NFL crowd.  There really is no need for alcohol sales inside the Stadium.  People need to learn the art and science of tailgating a lot better.

 

bronxblue

March 17th, 2014 at 11:53 AM ^

I don't blame him.  I've been at enough stadiums to know that lots of liquid courage shows up at sporting events.  The fact that UM stadium isn't a madhouse against rivals actually makes is a more enjoyable experience even though it can make the overall feeling in the stadium less "epic"

michclub19

March 17th, 2014 at 11:54 AM ^

I could be wrong but doesn't the B1G enforce some type of rule banning alcohol at school-hosted events?  Maybe it was an older rule as the article talks about premium seating areas in other B1G schools serving alcohol but I thought it was a conference rule that prohibited it.

Interesting thought: Would selling alcohol have a positive impact on student attendence?  My thought is no; because free beer >> stadium priced beer.  What say you?

a-ph4nkz

March 17th, 2014 at 12:10 PM ^

My first game at Minnesota had beer. I thought this could have been because it was off campus at the Metrodome.

My second game at Minnesota, this time at "The Bank", also had beer sales.

So there's no B1G policy. If there is there's an exception for Minnesota, because they are Minnesota.

Brags123

March 17th, 2014 at 12:03 PM ^

I do agree with his thoughts however these annoying drunk people you speak of will be annoying and drunk at the game whether you sell beer at the stadium or not. They usually get enough before the game to last the 3 hours or sneak it in. I do also think it is pretty hard to get plastered on $10 beers and 30 minute lines to get one. 

I dumped the Dope

March 17th, 2014 at 12:05 PM ^

For the students to chuck around, the way it was in the early 90s.  Sell a special maize and blue 'mallow that you can't pickup at meijer.  This is the way to the students' hearts as well as to greater Brandon profits.

Danwillhor

March 17th, 2014 at 2:01 PM ^

I've heard they considered this before imagining (or realizing) what a few thousand of those would do to that turf in the hot sun of the opening games. Oddly, I want grass back in the Big House but I want it done right this time. As for beer, why not? Not strongly opposed or for it but as said, it is kind of hard to get hammered on $10 beers you have to wait 30 mins for. Finally, it may be because a small part of me wants our home advantage to be more in line with a stadium (that now holds the sound of 100k+) of it's stature and history? UTL1 & 2 were as great as expected but still had large pockets of "sit down'ers" all around. Even up big or when close there were only intermittent moments of almost everyone making noise on defense, etc. I think something (I don't know what and it's been debated to death) should be done to make it more intimidating, more in line with college athletics, even if it means a bit of craziness. Maybe? Maybe I just get jealous watching LSU/ORE/VT/Etc play in stadiums and/or for programs a LOT LESS historic than ours going absolutely nuts EVERY GAME. At UM, for a long time but not nearly as bad as the last 15yrs, we don't need opponents to say how easy it is to play here because we already know. I wouldn't mind a whole new seating structure based on what you want in a game experience. Only problem being older alums and donors wanting the best seats......and they'll get them without a sea change in the AD. So, "sit down and shut up!" will apparently continue forever. Sadly......in a way.

Come On Down

March 17th, 2014 at 12:07 PM ^

Is it really that much more dangerous to sell alcohol in a 100,000 seat stadium than a 60,000 seat stadium? There is already a much larger police presence at the Big House than at most professional sporting events. 

Honestly I don't really care whether or not alcohol gets sold in the stadium. I'm just not convinced the prohibition is necessary. 

westwardwolverine

March 17th, 2014 at 12:11 PM ^

Here's a question: Could Michigan only allow people who are a certain age to purchase a beer in stadium? So instead of any random 21 year old college student buying beer (not like many of them couuld afford it anyway), could you set the minimum age to 25-26 and only allow them to purchase two beers at a time? Or even set up a limit as to how much an individual is allowed to purchase each game? 

 

 

LSAClassOf2000

March 17th, 2014 at 12:38 PM ^

The school had to get special approvals from the state to even sell alcohol for the Winter Classic by getting a change to the law which grants them a certain number of temporary licenses for events not sponsored by the school. As I recall, the problem was that the licenses did not include crowds as large as the ones that would show up for something like the Winter Classic, so revisions were required. Given that the age of 21 is mandated as the minimum age for sales by federal law, I doubt it would be easy to make such provisions. 

jmblue

March 17th, 2014 at 12:31 PM ^

Agree with this.  You only need to visit a pro stadium to see how crowds are different when they can drink during the game.

 

Perkis-Size Me

March 17th, 2014 at 12:42 PM ^

Good idea, DB. One only needs to look at NFL stadiums on Sundays in the Fall, particularly rivalry games like Giants-Eagles, to see how much of a shitshow serving alcohol at football games can be.

TheNema

March 17th, 2014 at 1:43 PM ^

Not really surprising since the man has intimated that a night game vs. MSU could cause some sort of riot even when he can't cite a single piece of data that suggests this a real trend of rivalry games played in the dark elsewhere.