SOUTH CAROLINA GAMECOCKS ATHLETICS

The South Carolina Board of Trustees made a huge decision for the athletic department Tuesday, allowing the sale of beer and wine across all university sporting venues effective Jan. 1, 2020.

While alcohol will be focused at Colonial Life Arena, Founders Park and Williams-Brice Stadium, it's big for the Gamecocks.

After the Board of Trustees meeting, athletics director Ray Tanner met with the media to discuss the decision.

[NEW OFFER: Get 25% off first year of a new subscription plus a FREE $75 Nike gift card - just in time for National Signing Day!]

What made you want to do this?

“It was a situation where it’s part of the fan experience. We’ve been studying this for quite a while. We were approved a year or so ago by the southeastern conference but we chose to wait, do some research and move forward with the blessing of the Board of Trustees today. We’ll commence in January first at men’s and women’s basketball, followed by baseball and back into football."

What did you learn from your research?

“The one thing that stood out to me is you’re always concerned about incidents with alcohol being present. There seemed to be a trend that the incidents went down. There was a lot of reporting from other schools where they didn’t have as many incidents if they served and they controlled the serving, which we will. We’ll have more security if necessary. The incidents went down when you serve inside the stadium. There are stipulations. We’ll stop serving in the third quarter of football games, and basketball games there’s a time with the women in the third quarter and the men in the second half. I think baseball’s in the seventh inning. There are stipulations that go along with serving.”

How will you make sure no underage drinking happens?

“I think one thing we’ll do is we’ll have more security than we’ve had in the past and more people cognizant of situations happening. We’ve laid out specific locations in our stadiums and venues where we’ll serve. For instance, near the student section there will not be a kiosk, even though some of the students are 21 years old. They’re placed strategically.”

Why do this now?

“What we did is we took the time to do some research. There were a lot of people who didn’t think we needed to wait as long as we did. We felt it was very important that we had research; we had data and a chance to talk to our colleagues. There are a certain number of people who think this is all driven by money, which is not the case. We hope certainly to be positive in the revenue category, but it’s not going to be a number earth shattering to the bottom line of the athletic department.

How will you spend any potential revenue money?

“I think one of the first place we will have to take a serious look at is our restroom facilities. The numbers will change because of the renovations we’re doing right now in the 2020 projects. The codes for restroom facilities are going to improve, but that’s the first area we’ll take a look at.”

Did you talk to coaches about the decision?

“I had some conversations here and there, but they weren’t really engaged in this. They play in a lot of venues that serve alcohol and a lot of professional sports and concerts. They weren’t in the weeds with me on this.”

How will this enhance the fan experience?

“On the current landscape, if you got to a professional game or a NCAA sporting event, it’s prevalent. At concerts it’s prevalent. If you sit in the general seating bowl at a basketball game or football game, you don’t have access to alcohol, beer or win. If you’re in a premium area, you do. We’ve heard, ‘I can’t sit in a premium area and I don’t have access to beer or win.’ this gives them an opportunity.”

What are the biggest concerns?

“The concern to me was crowd control, incidents or if we had issues. That’s always going to be your concern if there’s alcohol involved. We’ll be well-prepared and hopefully the statistics will bare out that you have less incidents than if you don’t.”

[NEW OFFER: Get 25% off first year of a new subscription plus a FREE $75 Nike gift card - just in time for National Signing Day!]