Beer Here! UCLA Athletics Brings Alcohol Sales Back to Rose Bowl After 32 Year Absence
Beer Here! UCLA Athletics Brings Alcohol Sales Back to Rose Bowl After 32 Year Absence
Alcohol sales will return to UCLA football games for the first time since 1989.
The UCLA Athletics Department announced today that beer and wine will be available for sale at Bruin home games this season.
UCLA Athletics Director Martin Jarmond said this about the announcement:
We heard the fans loud and clear that this will enhance the gameday experience, which is always a priority. We're excited to offer this expanded service and will implement mechanisms to promote responsible drinking so that the Rose Bowl will remain a safe and family-friendly environment for all fans. A special thank you goes to Chancellor Gene Block, our campus leadership, and officials from both the City of Pasadena and the Rose Bowl Operating Committee, for their effort and support in building this comprehensive and responsible plan,.
UCLA’s announcement states:
[A] variety of imported and domestic beers, as well as red and white wine…will be available for purchase at select concessions locations within the Rose Bowl, and additional point of sale locations have been added for fans throughout the stadium.
UCLA’s announcement does not mention if vendors will also be hawking beer or wine in stands as well, but that seems unlikely at least to start.
That’s because there will be a two alcoholic beverage purchase limit per transaction per valid identification and sales will be stopped at the end of the third quarter. Security measures will be in place to ensure that all guests must be 21 years of age or older in order to purchase or consume beer or wine.
Wooden Athletic Fund members at specific giving levels still have exclusive access to either the WAF Lounge on the east side or the Justin Wine Garden on the west side. Membership to the TCL Club in the Terry Donahue Pavilion is also available at a cost of $300 for all seven home games. These exclusive areas will continue to offer premium concessions for purchase including a full cash bar.
Ben Bolch of the Los Angeles Times notes that six other Pac-12 schools currently allow alcohol sales. These schools are Arizona, Arizona State, California, Colorado, Oregon and Oregon State.
Bolch also notes that the first year of the ban back in 1990 cost UCLA and Pasadena $164,000 and that between 25,000 and 40,000 cups of beer were sold per game back in 1989. At that rate, revenues could be between $750K to almost $2 million this year over the course of the season, depending on price and volume sold.
That’s certainly one way to help solve the UCLA Athletic Department’s deficit problems, even if it’s just a drop in the bucket.
Go Bruins!!!
We’ll see. I was there when they started the ban. It was one thing (among many) that made the Rose Bowl so much nicer than the Mausoleum (and incidentally continues to). Hopefully people have matured since then.
By the way OT but have you seen the announcement of a UCLA Gonzaga rematch this fall? So cool! I hope it ends differently this time!