Trojan football to introduce beer sales

Published 11:23 pm Thursday, July 24, 2014

After a successful trial run, Troy University will continue beer sales at sporting events.

Athletic Director John Hartwell said the university is in negotiations with beer companies to offer beer at this year’s home football games.

Beer was added to concessions this year during baseball season and deemed a success. Alcohol sales generated an additional $8,000 in revenue. Sodexo vendors poured 16-ounce cans of beer in to cups that sold for $5. Sales were halted during the seventh inning.

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Troy became the eighth university out of 10 Sun Belt Conference members to sell alcohol at athletic events. The University of South Alabama has sold beer at its athletic venues for more than 10 years.

“Baseball was a great opportunity to roll it out and we have done a lot of planning for football season,” Hartwell said.

The university will have four to six kiosks underneath the stands and will cut off sales at the end of the third quarter. Hartwell said negotiations with beer distributors were still in the works because the university wanted to incorporate sponsorship into the deal.

Hartwell said the decision to sell alcohol was done for the fans.

“The addition of beer sales to our concessions menu is part of our continuing plan to add fan amenities to enhance the game-day experience,” he said in a letter to season ticket holders.

Hartwell called the first few months of selling alcohol “uneventful.” He invited people to contact him with any questions or concerns and was met with only two. The sales generated one complaint from a season ticket holder and one disapproving letter from First Baptist Church.