We just kept gathering information and then we watched the experience at KPP to see how that was managed and our fans were awesome.” “We did our research with organizations on the effect it would have with crowds and safety. “We paid attention to other experiences other schools were going through,” Barnhart said. It wasn’t until the pilot program was announced that general admission fans were able to purchase alcohol at concession stands, which officially kicked off with UK baseball’s home opener against Evansville on February 21.
While other schools such as Kentucky’s border rival Tennessee were quick to adopt alcohol sales, other schools like UK were more hesitant, though it did allow the sale of alcohol in special suites and sections. The decision will likely be music to the ears of many Kentucky fans who have been clamoring for the sale of alcoholic beverages since the Southeastern Conference (SEC) repealed its rule banning the sale of alcoholic beverages in 2019. Frankly I don’t think it’s life-changing money (from just the alcohol) anyway so I don’t ever want to let that drive what we do.” You make decisions based on other things you’re trying to do whether it’s the atmosphere at games or amenities that your fans desire. Other ways we’d price our things and do differently. “I think if you start making decisions on just revenue there’s other things that we would do. “It’s not a revenue decision,” Barnhart said. He also emphasized that the decision was not made purely based on the revenue generated by the alcohol sales. Photo by Jack Weaver | Staff (Jack Weaver)īarnhart stated that the beverages will be beers and seltzers, similar to the beverages sold at Kentucky Proud Park and John Cropp Stadium. Sparks was one of the very first general admission fans to purchase a beer as part of Kentucky’s pilot alcohol sale program. 21, 2023, at Kentucky Proud Park in Lexington, Kentucky. Evansville home opener baseball game on Tuesday, Feb. Toby Sparks holds up his beer before the Kentucky vs.
The athletic director continued by confirming that the sale of alcoholic beverages will begin with the first sporting events in the fall semester.
It was a very enjoyable Spring in terms of baseball at KPP and fans enjoyed the amenities that were provided so in an effort to continue that we’re going to expand this to all our athletic venues.” “We had a pilot initiative this year with our baseball and softball venues with the sale of beer and seltzer. The school made the decision in the Spring to test a pilot program by allowing the sale of alcoholic beverages at baseball and softball games, something that was seen as a test run for the potential sale of alcohol at events such as football and basketball.īarnhart confirmed this, speaking on the success of the pilot program and lack of overly disruptive fan behavior as a key reason for the new department-wide implementation. The official confirmation came from Barnhart during his annual yearly address into the state of UK Athletics as a whole. UK Athletics and Kentucky Athletic Director Mitch Barnhart announced a department-wide sale of alcoholic beverages at sporting events for the 2023-24 school year.
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