With SEC ban lifted, Mizzou 'discussing' alcohol sales
Shortly after the Southeastern Conference made waves by lifting its conference-wide ban on selling alcoholic beverages at sporting events, Missouri athletics director Jim Sterk and chancellor Alexander Cartwright released a joint statement Friday saying the university will begin discussing the potential sale of alcohol at games.
"We will begin a process with the Intercollegiate Athletics Committee to discuss the potential sale and consumption of alcohol in university facilities in the near future," the statement read. "The IAC is a standing committee of MU that has broad representation from the campus community and includes faculty, staff, students and alumni."
In other words, Missouri is going to start moving toward selling alcohol at sporting events, but it isn't ready to implement policies quite yet. The SEC ban will be lifted effective Aug. 1. Missouri has not stated when its own alcohol sales could take effect.
"We appreciate the Southeastern Conference developing a policy that provides us the authority to determine what is best for the University of Missouri regarding the sale of alcohol in public areas within our athletic venues," read the statement. "Our guiding principle in any decision will be maintaining the safety of our fans, student-athletes and staff while creating an atmosphere that reflects our institutional values."
The SEC announcement, made from the conference's annual meetings in Destin, Florida, allows each school autonomy in selling beer and wine to the general public. It will not impact the policies for premium and club seating, which was already permitted to sell alcohol, including, in some cases, liquor. The ban was lifted based on the recommendation of a working group consisting of leaders from each school, including Missouri deputy athletics director Sarah Reesman.
“Our policy governing alcohol sales has been a source of considerable discussion and respectful debate among our member universities in recent years,” SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey said in a statement from the conference. “As a Conference, we have been observant of trends in the sale and consumption of alcohol at collegiate sporting events and have drawn upon the experiences and insights of our member schools which have responsibly established limited alcohol sales within controlled spaces and premium seating areas. We remain the only conference to set forth league-wide standards for the responsible management of the sale of alcoholic beverages.”
If Missouri does opt to begin providing alcohol at sporting events, sales will be subject to a set of restrictions set forth by the conference. For instance, sales can only be conducted at stationary locations, meaning vendors will not be permitted to sell alcohol within seating areas. Additionally, alcohol must be dispensed into cups, and sales will cease at the conclusion of the third quarter for football and women's basketball games, at the under-12 minute media timeout for men's basketball games, and at the end of the midway point of the seventh inning for baseball games. In other sports, sales will cease when 75 percent of the event has been completed. Each school will also have to establish limits on the number of beverages that can be purchased at one time and provide additional training to vendors and stadium staff.