Beer and wine sales are coming to Memorial Stadium this fall.
Following a pilot program recommended by the consulting firm Wasserman and consistent with the University’s Service of Alcohol Policy, beer and wine will be available for purchase by all football game attendees over 21 through a third-party vendor to be selected through the University procurement process, IU athletics announced Tuesday afternoon.
“Our main goals with this initiative are to enhance the gameday experience for our fans and reduce alcohol-related incidents in and around the stadium,” IU Vice President and Director of Athletics Fred Glass said in a statement. “While there will be some comparatively modest revenue generated by these sales, that is not the primary purpose of this program. Ten percent of our net beer and wine public sales revenues will be given to campus for alcohol safety programming.”
A study conducted by Wasserman at the commission of IU Athletics on the desirability of introducing beer and wine sales at home football games found that doing so improved game day experience and attendance in multiple ways. Notably, it reversed the national trend of overall attendance at sporting events declining, reduced alcohol related incidents and safety issues in the stadium. Ohio State reported a 65 percent decrease in such events during the first year it served alcohol to the public, while West Virginia saw a 35 percent drop.
The pilot program will require IU's vendor to ensure beer and wine purchases had their IDs checked, maintain a two-drink limit during each individual purchase, and cut off sales at the end of the third quarter. IU Athletics will also work with IU's Superintendent of Public Safety, who endorses the pilot program, the ensure a safe environment at Memorial Stadium.
Additionally, a task force comprised of Vice Provost and Dean of Students Dave O’Guinn; Associate Vice President and Superintendent for Public Safety Ben Hunter; Associate General Counsel James Nussbaum; and Senior Associate Athletic Director for Administration and External Relations Stephen Harper will be established to oversee the service of beer and wine at the stadium in order to address issues such as: "appropriately consulting University procurement officials on drafting the RFP and selecting the vendor; determining where to direct the campus share for alcohol safety programming; evaluating the test pilot program and recommending whether it be continued and/or adjusted; whether to expand the program to other venues; and the like," per the release.
Indiana will become the sixth Big Ten program to publicly serve alcohol at sporting events, joining Purdue, Ohio State, Illinois, Minnesota and Maryland. Within the state of Indiana, Butler serves beer inside Hinkle Fieldhouse. On campus in Bloomington, the IU auditorium serves alcohol at its events.
Among those schools, Purdue generated a whopping $1,063,632 million in gross sales in its second year of public alcohol sales in Ross Ade Stadium, according to a January 2019 report by Mike Carmin of the Lafayette Courier & Journal.
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