It is no secret that colleges of all sizes, especially those mid majors not in the top five power football conferences, have to continue to scramble for revenue to be self-sustaining. To do that, they have to continue to look for partners big and small who can effectively integrate into media opportunities and get the ROI that is needed to justify an effective spend with limited discretionary resources. For years one of those big spend platforms in professional sports has been alcohol, specifically beer, a category that for a long time has been minimalized by the NCAA and many of its member institutions unless the message was all about anti-drinking campaigns. Sales in campus at events? Relatively nonexistent since the national drinking age went to 21. College sports and beer didn’t mix.
However that appears to be changing, as schools carefully go through the minefield and test the waters to see f beer sales and college sports can safely exist. The latest school to make the leap into the suds business was Southern Methodist University, which announced this week it will sell beer at football games this fall, following strong sales and no negative feedback from sales at their men’s hoops games at Moody Coliseum this past year. SMU now becomes one of several dozen universities that have looked to alcohol sales to boost crowds and make money. Kansas State and West Virginia have been on board, while the University of Texas began a pilot program in February for beer and wine sales at sporting events.
There is solid money to be made by beer sales for colleges that need the marketing and the concession help. The sales are controlled, carefully monitored and will probably be shut down at any hint of trouble. Even in micro amounts, the dollars that can be brought in can boost revenue for schools that are running at a deficit or have tapped out of ROI on existing sponsors. Will beer sales lead to relaxed beer advertising as college sports becomes more and more of a big business and the landscape adjusts to less of a feel of a quaint event? Maybe, but the colleges and universities can augment their pouring beer partner with added awareness programs to share with the underage student body. The ironic thing is that beer sales at certain events off campus or in suites at most arenas have rarely if ever been off limits. On campus where students are present there was a growing prohibition, but certainly not at events where elite boosters or faculty have been involved.
Some may wonder what will be next once beer is in the door. Will wine be ok? What about hard liquor, once off limits for professional sports but now more than OK with almost all professional events. Gaming? Colleges have started to seriously look at lottery revenue, and there are scores of games played in and around casinos every year, which is OK for the NCAA, so why not a bigger opportunity with the controlled environment of the lottery. The colleges need the money, and there is a long track record of success and savvy marketing, not excess.
This is not to say that out of control underage drinking is not a problem in some places. It is also not to say that selling some beer will be the quick fix for all financial woes the colleges are going through with athletics. SMU equated larger crowds to the fact that beer was sold at hoops games last year. In fact, if they sold Bud and Larry brown hadn’t produced a winner and an exciting season in the American Athletic Conference, how many extra people would have come out just because there was a place to get a drink? Not many.
For those schools with mega-crowds, the added sales can be pretty extraordinary even in a controlled environment. For adults attending any event, it provides an option that is mature and defensible. It is not bacchanalia, it is smart business. Let’s see how many follow suit and open the taps, for the beer and for the revenue.
Biz of Baseball Tech: MLB.com