Michigan lawmakers bring back plan to allow alcohol at University events
Can't wait for the first beer to be spilled down my back.
Michigan lawmakers bring back plan to allow alcohol sales at university sporting events
Lansing — A bipartisan group of Michigan lawmakers has revived proposals that would allow universities in the state to sell alcohol at basketball, football and hockey games.
The legislators detailed the new bills in an announcement Tuesday, arguing the re-introduced measures would help create parity with other states that currently allow alcohol to be sold to fans at college sporting events.
Of the 14 schools in the Big Ten, eight allow alcohol sales at football games, according to the lawmakers. However, because of current Michigan policy, the University of Michigan and Michigan State University aren't allowed to widely sell beer at their events.
"There is no good reason for this option to be available only for people watching the games in suites and no one else," Sen. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo, said Tuesday. "Furthermore, there is strong evidence that points to these policies helping to reduce binge drinking on game days.”
Under the proposals — one has been introduced in the House and one in the Senate — the Michigan Liquor Control Commission could issue up to three licenses to be used for events within the public areas of university football, basketball and hockey stadiums.
Last year, Alan Haller, MSU's athletic director, told The Detroit News he was interested in allowing alcohol sales at Spartan Stadium.
There is some precedent for alcohol sales at Michigan Stadium, where the UM Wolverines play. In 2012, then-Gov. Rick Snyder signed a law temporarily allowing alcohol sales at the Big House on New Year's Day 2013 for a National Hockey League Winter Classic game between the Detroit Red Wings and the Toronto Maple Leafs.
During the 2021-2022 legislative session, state Rep. Graham Filler, R-Clinton County, and then-Sen. Curtis Hertel, D-East Lansing, championed the plan to allow alcohol sales at university stadiums in Michigan. The House and Senate didn't take up their bills for votes.
April 18th, 2023 at 12:40 PM ^
$15 beers...or $18 with a souvenir cup?
April 18th, 2023 at 12:44 PM ^
The 'Just Stand Under the Spigot With Your Yapper Wide Open' Special is 7.99 today.
Hell of a deal!
if it comes with high speed wi-fi, i'd pay it.
April 18th, 2023 at 12:41 PM ^
20 years ago I would have said, "hell yes, this is great." Today my old man brain is all like, "great, just what we need, a bunch of drunk kids marauding around the stadium and ruining my game day experience. GET OFF MY LAWN!"
April 18th, 2023 at 12:58 PM ^
Exactly my thoughts. I was on the field as a football staffer at the postgame riot at Camp Randall when several students were hostpitalized after being crushed as the entire student section tried to rush the field. They had beer sales during games and that student section was like the Thunderdome in the 3rd and 4th (and 5th) quarters.
I'd like to see the "evidence" that alcohol sales would reduce binge drinking... My 20 year old brain says that most people who are hammered 30 minutes before kickoff stay out of the game at the last minute so they can keep drinking more, but if beer is available they'll just go into the game wasted and be puking by halftime.
If the Winter Classic is a precedent, they need to outlaw alcohol within a mile of the stadium.
April 18th, 2023 at 12:59 PM ^
They’re already drunk though. And probably less likely to get wildly drunk at the stadium where beer is going to cost $20 a pop than at a tailgate.
Alcohol sales at stadiums do not lead to less drinking at tailgates. (Visit any NFL stadium on gameday if you think otherwise.) It just complements that drinking. Instead of sobering up over the course of the game, fans keep their buzz going.
April 19th, 2023 at 11:42 AM ^
Yeah, I honestly hate going to home games of my local NFL team. It's just a shitshow of people in their 30s and 40s getting wasted. Very different experience from Michigan stadium where I'd actually feel comfortable bringing my kids
Oh, goody. Just in time for our football game at East Landfill this year.
April 18th, 2023 at 10:53 PM ^
This is an NRA-style argument. What on earth makes you think selling booze at games, at $15 a pop, will prevent students from getting hammered beforehand?
Agree with the sentiment, but it's always been pretty easy to sneak in alcohol.
It is. But most people don’t bother to do so.
There's already a bunch of drunk kids at the stadium. Have you never walked around Ann Arbor on a game day? Everyone under the age of 25 is plastered by game time and a heck of a lot of them go to the game drunk or sneak in even more alcohol while there.
You seem to be positioning this as an argument for GREATER access to alcohol DURING the game, which seems....odd to me....
Yeah, I really hope nothing comes of it, or UM continues to maintain an internal policy of no beer sales at the stadium. I don't see it enhancing the experience. People drink plenty in the various tailgates and bars before the games. I wouldn't say that Ann Arbor generally suffers from a lack of booze on football Saturdays.
There is already plenty of booze in the stands, it's just not purchased at the stadium. I sat next to a kid during the Nebraska game who had an entire bottle of Belvedere Vodka. It was impressive. Not the easiest bottle to snuggle in.
For a relaxing time...
make it Suntory time.
Only impressive if he used his prison wallet.
The ejection numbers were down. Something had to be done.
April 18th, 2023 at 12:43 PM ^
This is why I could never be a politician. There might be several good reasons to open this up, but some people gonna die. Upping the speed limit in the less-densely settled states is the classic example. You can predict with reasonable certainty how much it will impact commerce; but you can do that for fatalities, too.
Yeah, but people can't live in a bubble, either.
And to the speed limit example, my impression is that they're just allowing the law to catch up with how people already act. I.e. people were already driving fast. Do you keep the speed limit low, which does nothing to influence their actual driving habits, or just give up and say fine, you're never going to adhere to the low speed limit, so we'll just increase it.
It's been a few years now since I've driven them, but at least historically, expressways through urban areas like downtown Detroit and the DC Beltway had 55 mph speed limits, while the speed limits outside the direct urban areas were 65-70 mph. Unsurprisingly, no one actually drove 55; everyone was driving 65, 70, 80, whatever. Anybody dumb enough to actually drive 55 would be putting themselves at huge risk of getting hit by one of the many cars flying by them. OH actually has upped their speed limits to 70 in a lot of places (parts of I-75, much of the turnpike, etc.), which is nice, again helping bring the law up to speed (pun intented) with the reality of how fast people drive.
Before I left the UK in1995. The local chief constable (or some other impressive title) responsible for enforcing the speed limit on the M roads (interstates in US) said he wasn't about to have his officers enforce the speed limit (70 mph) on the M4 and other roads out of London on a Friday evening as it would cause slow downs and lots of accidents. We all drove like bats of hell leaving London. You were wrong if you were in the fast lane doing only 90 mph. He got yelled at.
Police don't really enforce the speed limit in and around London these days...instead it's all by cameras (and tickets by mail) now.
495 is still 55 MPH. The real problem is you have people going 45, 85, and everything in between on the beltway. It is a mess.
April 18th, 2023 at 12:44 PM ^
The “why some but not all?” point is excellent.
April 18th, 2023 at 12:50 PM ^
What about ATVs? Asking for a friend.
Too soon!
/s
April 18th, 2023 at 12:51 PM ^
If Michigan Stadium has a flaw, it is the length of time it takes to get up to the concourse and back during games. Introduce a beer stream and the commute is going to take twice as long. Plus, the seating is too tight--there will be an increase in fights just from people stumbling and dumping beer on those around them. We've gone a hundred years without booze in the Big House.
This is the "good reason" for only allowing people in suites to purchase alcohol. Not adding to the concession and bathroom lines and the up and down through the seats and the spillage, etc.
I've been to other college stadiums that sell beer, and its mostly not a big deal, but it does add to the lines and the amount of times one has to stand up to let others get by
April 18th, 2023 at 12:59 PM ^
As someone who has been to Lions game please for the love of God add restrictions to how many beers people can buy.
How exactly are they going to do that?
By being upfront with them & telling them that they are allowed less than infinite beers.
April 19th, 2023 at 10:52 AM ^
CBDC(central bank digital currencies) will facilitate this. Anything digital can be tracked and certainly will be. Lollapalooza uses wristbands attached to a cc that automatically cuts you off after 2 beer purchases and deactivates when you leave the site. They're effectively controlling your movement and spending. Bitcoin provides an off ramp since it has no issuer.
I'm a season ticket holder, alum, and father of students at Michigan. Personally, I'm fine with the current policy. Enjoy the tailgate - grab a roadie for the walk to the stadium entrance - enjoy the game - and, have a few more after a victory.
That makes a lot of sense.
Unless you're not really interested in optimizing the fan experience but rather want to optimize profits.
Yes, and if you'd like a little nip or two during the game, just bring in a small flask as has been done by several million fans without problem over the years.
There's money to be made so I imagine it's inevitable.
And I didn't realize that those in the suites were already able to consume. Seems hard to justify that distinction.
Our betters watch the game from the suites. You need to get with the program.
o my gosh - I never realized people might bring in a flask to compliment the beverages that are offered at the Stadium. What a creative idea.
After 15 years of managing sporting events with large crowds that included beer sales, I can confidently say this is a fantastic idea to generate money. However, other than the money, there is no other part of this that is a good idea.
This quote should be directed at MSU and NOT Michigan...
""There is no good reason for this option to be available only for people watching the games in suites and no one else," Sen. Sean McCann, D-Kalamazoo, said Tuesday. "Furthermore, there is strong evidence that points to these policies helping to reduce binge drinking on game days.”"
This is what MSU did when they first opened up their suites. They only offered booze in the suites and the "regular" fans bitched about it every year and MSU finally just did away so that they didn't have to hear the bitching about it anymore...
Michigan does not sell booze in the suites for Athletic Department events. The only time there is booze sold is when they stadium is "rented" for other events such as NHL games, or international soccer matches.
As for Michigan anyone with season tickets knows that there was a survey sent out last year asking about booze sales at the stadium, so they have been looking into since before last season...
Send everyone into the tunnel to buy their beer.
These policies reduce binge drinking? you mean in advance. you think that college kids wont binge drink on natty lights because they'd rather pay $18 for a michelob ultra? nope.
Price gauging should not equal market control.
In a more practical sense, the concessions at Michigan Stadium are trashy and take forever to get, and the lines intersect badly with people trying to get to the bathroom or their seats. So.. lets add a beer line
"but wait, beer lines should be quick!"
I watched UM try and sell water at last year's Co State game where people were having heat stroke left and right... it was ridiculous. 50 people in a line with one guy who was trying to take the order, get the water in the ice buckets, by the case load, and take payments, which were slow as hell. He gave me 5 waters for free for loading in 5 cases --- as he did with every 10th customer or so.
There is nothing mom and pop about a 115k person stadium. Its been 10 years since I came to a game in AA and I cannot believe how clunky and painful everything is ... if this were a pro stadium with no emotional attachment, nobody would go.
I was at that game and thought that selling water instead of providing it freely ( and selling it inefficiently at that) when it was 90 degrees was pretty negligent. They were carting fans off to First Aid with heat exhaustion the entire game, and if someone had died, the athletic department would be writing a huge check (the morality of allowing a very preventable death aside!)
The headline is a bit misleading... Alcohol sales have been allowed in cordoned-off areas at university events. Michigan Tech has had alcohol sales at hockey games for 8 years now in the LampLighters Lounge. This would allow alcohol to be sold and consumed in the public areas as well.
Fireball sales may take a hit.
Drinking isn't unprecedented at Michigan Stadium. When I was growing up in the early 80's I remember my dad and his friends could bring a small cooler that fit between their feet. They could get at least a six-pack per person into the game. I am all for selling beer at the stadium as long as, they don't charge an arm and a leg for it.