Mac has plan to put suds in stands
School has applied to license seating area for beer consumption
If things go as planned for McMaster University, there will be more than alumni, students and plenty of maroon in the stands by the time the annual Homecoming Game rolls around in the middle of September. There will also be beer.
The school has applied for a liquor licence that would allow suds to be sold on the concourse of the Ron Joyce Stadium and brought into the seating area. While it wouldn’t be peddled in the stands, it could be consumed there. “We’re just trying to improve the fan experience,” says Mark Alfano, associate director of athletics and recreation.
If it’s successful, an application might eventually be made to expand it to basketball and volleyball so fans could enjoy a beer in Burridge Gym.
For years, the school has been doing what many other Ontario universities have done and sold beer during games at a cordoned-off beer garden. It’s consistently done at football games.
Last spring at the national volleyball championships, beer was sold inside a tiny area overlooking the gym. The catch is that it had to be consumed there.
The school says the proposed change follows requests by fans who want to sit and have a drink while watching the game, rather than standing in an area that might offer a poorer vantage point to see the action.
Ontario University Athletics CEO Gord Grace says it’s been tried at other schools, and, he recalls, has had limited impact and limited success.
However, with so much competition for people’s time and entertainment dollars, Grace says it might be time to give it another go and see if beer makes attending a Canadian university sporting event more appealing.
McMaster isn’t the only school where beer would be on tap.
The executive director of the Atlantic University Sport conference says fans can buy a beer and bring it to their seats at basketball games in Halifax’s Scotiabank Centre.
Brock University athletics director Neil Lumsden says during off-campus sporting events — there are several each year — beer can be purchased at the concession stand and brought to the seats. The same exists at some schools in Quebec.
While the NCAA still bans alcohol in the stands during March Madness and other championships, there are a growing number of American schools selling beer during regularseason games. According to the Arizona Daily Star, the number of universities doing this has risen to more than 36, up from seven a decade ago. The Indianapolis Business Journal puts that number at more than 50.
In the U.S., the move has been undertaken both as a revenue generator and as a way of appealing to people who enjoy a beer when watching a game.
There will be critics, of course. Some will say this will possibly — probably? — lead to drunken and obnoxious behaviour in the stands.
Yet neither Alfano nor Grace expect students will get hammered at games.
They don’t state it in so many words, but if the cans are sold at prices consistent with other venues, students with limited cash are unlikely to drop $50 on four or five tall boys.
“What probably will happen is it will be the older fans who will like to have a beer and watch the game,” Grace says.
Still, Alfano says security will be alert for any issues.
If the permit is granted, it won’t be in time for Sunday’s home opener against Guelph (kickoff at Ron Joyce Stadium at 3 p.m.), when beer will still only be available in designated areas.
But Alfano expects it should be in place for the Sept. 15 Homecoming Game and then would be available the next week and for any home playoff games.
However, the old system of having beer available only in designated areas would be back in place for the Oct. 5 School Day game that kicks off at 11 a.m., when the stands will be full of schoolchildren.