Alcohol sales expanding. Three takeaways from Mitch Barnhart’s UK press conference.
Three takeaways from University of Kentucky Athletics Director Mitch Barnhart’s press conference on Friday at Kroger Field:
1. Beer and seltzer drink sales coming to Kroger Field, Rupp Arena
As expected, Barnhart announced that beer and seltzer drinks will now be sold at all UK athletics events, including football games at Kroger Field and basketball games at Rupp Arena.
This comes after the athletics department began beer and seltzer sales this season at Kentucky Proud Park for UK baseball games. Barnhart said that “experiment” went well enough to expand the practice to other university sporting events. He lauded the job done by fans and staff during baseball games and how alcohol sales contributed to the “fan experience.”
Obviously, Kroger Field (61,000) and Rupp Arena (20,500) present a bigger challenge, but Barnhart said he was confident that the athletics department can handle those challenges.
As far as football is concerned, selling beer and seltzer drinks to the general public ends the hypocritical stance of allowing alcohol only in luxury boxes. Previously, to enjoy an adult beverage while watching the football Cats you had to pay for the privilege. No more. That’s a good thing.
2. College athletics continues to look to Congress for NIL help
Barnhart reported that recently a contingent from the UK athletics department — including Barnhart, men’s basketball coach John Calipari and softball coach Rachel Lawson — made a trip to Washington, D.C., to visit the Kentucky congressional delegation to lobby for help bringing uniformity of name, image and likeness rules in college athletics.
“We’ve got 50 states that are running it 50 different ways,” Barnhart said Friday. “There’s just no way college athletics can continue to function in that way.”
Although a couple of NIL bills have been drafted, there have been no reports that Congress is ready to step in and bail out the NCAA from a mess it created by its own inaction on the issue. All signs pointed to student athletes eventually being allowed to earn money in some form or fashion, yet the NCAA clung to its outdated amateur athletics model.
Barnhart said UK also talked to the state’s delegation about its opposition to making student-athletes employees, about “safe harbor” for college programs to deal with litigation and ways to continue to grow Title IX.
“We cannot be litigated into the ground where there is no money and no opportunity for us to be able to sustain the enterprise of college athletics,” Barnhart said.
3. UK continues to advocate for an 8-game SEC football schedule
Barnhart confirmed reports that UK is among the leaders in advocating that the SEC football schedule for members remains at eight games.
“Absolutely accurate,” the AD said. “I’m a believer in eight games.”
And the SEC schedule will remain at eight games when Texas and Oklahoma join the conference in 2024. Those schedules were announced this week, along with the expected news that the two-division format will be scrapped in 2024, as well.
What the conference schedule will look like after that has yet to be decided, however. Some schools are pushing for a nine-game league schedule, primarily to keep historic rivalries — Georgia vs. Auburn, for example. Others agree with Kentucky’s desire to keep the number at eight.
“I believe in eight for a lot of reasons,” Barnhart said. “I believe in eight because ours is a hard league; the wear and tear on our student athletes. Those four games that we have a chance to schedule doesn’t mean they are not difficult games, but the separation for an SEC game is a challenge. To throw in nine and have another A5 game, if we’re mandated to keep that game, that would be 10 and we would only have two choices to find other games to play.”
Barnhart was referring to the directive from the league office that in addition to the eight-game league schedule, member schools play at least one game against an opponent from a Power Five conference each season. For Kentucky, that is the annual Governor’s Cup game against ACC-member Louisville.
