UK’s Barnhart says expanding alcohol sales a ‘polarizing’ topic. ‘My inbox is steady.’

Kentucky fans should not expect a decision anytime soon on whether alcohol sales will be expanded next season at Kroger Field, Rupp Arena and the other home venues, Director of Athletics Mitch Barnhart said Thursday. At its annual Spring Meeting last month, the Southeastern Conference gave its member schools the option of expanding alcohol sales to all fan sections.

“We’ll just continue to be thoughtful about it . . . ,” Barnhart said. “I want to make sure whatever we do, the experience is good for the fans in total. (UK is) certainly not going to rush. We’re going to take in a lot of information.”

That information-gathering process includes fans sending emails. “My inbox is steady,” Barnhart said with a smile. He declined to say whether the reaction on email was trending in support of or opposition to expanding alcohol sales.

“There’s certainly some polarizing positions from people,” he said. “So I want to be really thoughtful and take our time.” The decision will not be made on a sport-by-sport basis, Barnhart said. One policy will fit all UK sports.

Barnhart downplayed the assumption that expanded alcohol sales could boost fan attendance and/or revenue. He said there was “no magic pill” for attendance. “Winning certainly helps you,” he said. “That’s a key factor.”

As for raising the financial bottom line, a survey by USA Today for the 2016-17 school year had 10 SEC schools among the top 20 nationally in revenue.

As part of his deliberation, Barnhart said he was seeing what other athletic departments have done. There’s already no unanimity among SEC schools. Texas A&M announced last week that it will expand alcohol sales at its home football games next season. A variety of domestic and imported beer and a selection of wine will be available for purchase to the general public until the end of the third quarter, the school said.

“This is another way we are enhancing the amenities at Kyle Field,” Interim Director of Athletics R.C. Slocum said in a statement. “We are extending the availability of alcohol beyond the premium areas which have had this option for many years. Fans, 21 and older, will have the option to purchase alcohol, regardless of seating area.”

Georgia has announced it will not expand alcohol sales to all fans. Auburn has elected not to do so for football and will decide on other sports at a later date.

Arkansas Athletic Director Hunter Yurachek has said he will recommend expanding sales to all fans of legal drinking age. More than 50 universities are now selling alcohol at their sporting events in public areas, he said.

“What those schools have found is that it curtails the binge drinking in the tailgate areas before the game instead of people trying to get that last drink or two or three in their system knowing it’s not going to be sold in the stadium,” Yurachek told the Arkansas Democrat Gazette. “Whereas now (if alcohol is sold in public areas) you come into the stadium and you have a beer that’s a little bit higher priced, and you can only get one at a time and sales are cut off at the end of the third quarter. So we’d be able to control that a little bit.”

Vanderbilt has been studying whether to expand alcohol sales. Associate Athletic Director for Communications Alan George forwarded a statement issued at the time of the SEC Spring Meetings that said Vandy had “met with peer institutions currently offering alcohol sales to understand best practices for implementing this change in a safe manner.”

The statement also said that the addition of a premium tented lounge area for fans to purchase beer and alcoholic seltzer in this year’s baseball season “proved to be a successful pilot program and gave us valuable insights on how to handle alcohol sales.”

Earlier this month, Alabama issued a statement that hinted that the school will not expand alcohol sales. “We have one of the best game-day atmospheres in the country, and we don’t envision making changes at this time,” the statement read.

Budget proposed

A subcommittee of the UK Board of Trustees approved an athletic budget of $156,472,160 for the 2019-20 school year. UK’s budget for 2018-19 was $147,746,118. Barnhart attributed a “good chunk” of the increase to UK’s new lease agreement to play home games in Rupp Arena. The rent UK pays will increase, but UK also gained media rights in the arena, he said. The full Board of Trustees is expected to act upon the proposed budget at its meeting Friday.

This story was originally published June 20, 2019 at 6:54 PM.