UK will not expand alcohol sales. Barnhart wants ‘family-friendly’ games.
The University of Kentucky will not expand alcohol sales at its sporting events this upcoming school year, and perhaps won’t for the foreseeable future.
UK Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart announced during a news conference Thursday that the university will not sell alcohol to the general public at its events in the 2019-20 school year. Alcohol sales will continue to be allowed in specially designated area such as suites at some events.
The decision was made in consultation with UK President Eli Capilouto and the school’s other campus partners, including UK safety officials.
“It is our goal as well as our responsibility to create a safe, secure, positive, engaging environment for fans of all ages, and from all walks of life,” Barnhart said. “We believe we have an outstanding college fan experience at our games.”
Some Southeastern Conference schools, as a result of the conference’s recent decision to permit alcohol sales at the discretion of each member institution, have decided to sell alcohol in the upcoming school year. Arkansas earlier Thursday became the third school in the SEC to announce it would sell alcohol to the general public, joining LSU and Texas A&M. Alabama, Auburn, Georgia and South Carolina have also announced that they would not sell alcohol to the general public during the upcoming school year.
Barnhart said he’s received numerous emails and letters on the subject, arguing for and against public alcohol sales, and will continue to listen to fans. He said UK will monitor how public alcohol sales affect the fan experience at schools in the conference that have decided to sell, but that he doesn’t necessarily want to be re-visiting this issue every school year.
“I’m not coming back here every year and saying, ‘This year’s decision is ... ,” Barnhart said with a laugh. “I’m not doing that. We’re where we are. We’ll watch it and see where it goes, but at the end of the day I’m not making a yearly decision on this thing. That’s not what we want to be. ... If there’s something that makes good sense to change direction or change our thought process, then we’ll do that. But right now I feel pretty good about where we are.”
Barnhart cited a desire to maintain a “family-friendly” atmosphere as a major factor in the school’s decision. Alcohol sales are permitted in premium seating areas in part because there are fewer people to monitor and the spaces are smaller, Barnhart said. Children are allowed in those premium seating areas but must be accompanied by an adult at all times.
“The overarching 55,000 people that are in the stands (for football), we feel like we’ve got an experience that we feel at this point in time a college experience should feel like, and that we feel like gives families an opportunity to enjoy Kentucky athletics,” Barnhart said. “ ... I don’t care what game you go to, you’re gonna get a person where their language isn’t exactly great, or somebody brings something in or something happens outside the gates. It’s not gonna be perfect, but at the end of the day, I think that what we’ve created is a pretty good family environment.”
Alcohol as a revenue-generating opportunity was not “a decision point” for the university, Barnhart said. The sale of alcohol to the general public at college sporting events has been cited as a potential driver of increased attendance, and studies have shown that binge-drinking and the number of alcohol-related incidents diminish when alcohol is available at an event.
Barnhart noted that expenses for the athletics program increase anywhere from 3 to 6 percent each year because of an accumulation of things like rising travel costs and tuition, but doesn’t believe that public alcohol sales are a solution to “anything” going forward in college sports.
“If that’s our answer, we’ve got a real issue in college athletics,” Barnhart said. “We’ve gotta figure out the right way to do this thing and get the right formula for our budgets and our programs and our teams. Alcohol’s not the answer for that.”
This story was originally published August 1, 2019 at 3:14 PM.
