Beer, wine ban lifted at San Jose State football games

SAN JOSE — Get your ice cold beer here.

A four-year ban on beer and wine sales at San Jose State home football games has been lifted, allowing fans to once again hoist an adult beverage when the Spartans take the field.

The university announced Wednesday that beer and wine will be sold at concession stands throughout CEFCU Stadium (aka Spartan Stadium), beginning Saturday when San Jose State hosts South Florida at 4:30 p.m. Fans will need to first obtain a wristband at one of six ID stations throughout the stadium. There a two-item limit per sale, and all beer and wine sales will conclude at the end of the third quarter.

“Clearly, you are seeing more and more institutions offering this service to their fans to enhance their overall game experience,” San Jose State University Director of Athletics Marie Tuite said in a statement released Wednesday. “We believe it can be done responsibly in CEFCU Stadium and it’s important to San Jose State that we have a workable process in place to ensure appropriate fan behavior by all including students.”

In 2006, the California State University system adopted a policy to ban beer and wine sales at sporting events in an effort to promote responsible drinking and foster a more family-friendly atmosphere at games. The bad did not go into full effect at Spartan Stadium until 2012, when contracts with vendors expired, according to the university.

On June 30, the CSU system issued an executive order removing the prohibition and “allowing campuses to decide if they wish to do so responsibly.”

College programs across the country have increasingly made the decision to sell beer and wine at its football games. VinePair, an alcohol industry news site, reported in 2015 that 34 college stadiums allowed the sale of alcohol, a figure that doubled over the previous six years.

The University of Texas began selling alcohol at its football games in 2015, and last year increased sales by 70 percent year-over-year, according to the Austin American-Statesman. The increase netted the school’s athletic department about $1.3 million, according to the American-Statesman. Ohio State reportedly made over $1.1 million in alcohol sales in the 2016 season, its first season of selling alcohol in the stadium, according to USA Today.

The Bay Area’s two other Division I college football programs, Stanford and Cal, do not sell beer or wine during games. However, Stanford is offering tickets for a “Beerfest” at two of its home football games, which offers pregame tastings outside the stadium from several local breweries.

Earlier this month, the Cal student newspaper reported the university was considering selling alcohol at football and basketball games as a way to cut its massive budget deficit. However, at a news conference last week, new Cal Chancellor Carol Christ responded to a question about the prospect of selling beer at football games as “stupid.”

Earlier this year, the NCAA approved a one-year pilot program to sell beer and wine at the baseball and softball College World Series.

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