Let's Discuss: Pros and Cons of selling alcohol inside DWS

[Johnson85]

Has any one said how much money the University could stand to make from this? It would be a fortune! I say do it and just let the blue hairs bitch. The money will outweigh any cons.

I don't think it would raise as much revenue as you think. Schools are pretty good at maximizing the revenue they can squeeze from their fans. There will be some people that will simply still sneak it in, or if you stop them, the amount they are willing to pay for season tickets will be impacted. That's because they basically have an all in price they are willing to pay to go watch SEC football and drink. Replace a pint of fifth of liquor with $7 beers, and many are not just going to accept that the price of attending for the season just went up $300. You also have people paying premium prices in part to have lockers so that they can drink hassle free. The value of those premium seats goes down some if they have the option of just going to the concession stand (or goes down a lot if you try to force them to buy liquor from the stadium vendor at inflated prices). Or I guess more likely you just won't be able to raise the prices as quickly.

There will still be lots of money to be made, and the two effects I mentioned may be negligible. But I think you'd see it.

[Johnson85]

This stance is just dumb dude. Any lawyer can prove the bells are a dangerous weapon. It's not worth risking our bells over it. Some moron will ruin BOTH alcohol AND our bells. By not allowing alcohol INSIDE the stadium we are then protecting having BOTH for tailgating and games. Anyone can sneak in alcohol. It isn't difficult so why even risk it? Cause some of yall are lazy and want to spend way too much on beer? **** that I ain't letting yall take my ****ing cowbell from me!! Sneak it in like everyone has been doing FOREVER!

Yeah, this isn't really coherent. You have to have a theory of liability for the university. Most of the theories that are arguably non-frivelous do not rely on alcohol. If we sale alcohol in the stadium, a person could sue the university and argue that the combination of serving people that were already heavily intoxicated and allowing cowbells in the stadium essentially contributed to the injury. But right now they could argue that by not barring visibly intoxicated people, not having enough security, and/or not taking appropriate steps to prevent alcohol from being smuggled in combined with allowing cowbells is enough to establish liability. These are all pretty thin, and even if they weren't, the way to address most of these issues is not to ban the cowbell but to address the alcohol part of the equation.

You can always sue for nuisance money, but I'm not sure nuisance suits would cause the university to ban cowbells. If you named the SEC, that might motivate them to ban it, but you don't really need alcohol sales to do that. You just have to find a lawyer willing to ignore ethical considerations (which is unfortunately not very hard to do).

[Aces High]

Yeah, this isn't really coherent. You have to have a theory of liability for the university. Most of the theories that are arguably non-frivelous do not rely on alcohol. If we sale alcohol in the stadium, a person could sue the university and argue that the combination of serving people that were already heavily intoxicated and allowing cowbells in the stadium essentially contributed to the injury. But right now they could argue that by not barring visibly intoxicated people, not having enough security, and/or not taking appropriate steps to prevent alcohol from being smuggled in combined with allowing cowbells is enough to establish liability. These are all pretty thin, and even if they weren't, the way to address most of these issues is not to ban the cowbell but to address the alcohol part of the equation.

You can always sue for nuisance money, but I'm not sure nuisance suits would cause the university to ban cowbells. If you named the SEC, that might motivate them to ban it, but you don't really need alcohol sales to do that. You just have to find a lawyer willing to ignore ethical considerations (which is unfortunately not very hard to do).

He has drawn a line in the sand, even though the entire board disagrees. You can explain it to him but you cant learn it for him. He is going down with that ship come hell or highwater. It is OK to admit youre wrong sometimes. Makes you a man.

[Dawg61]

He has drawn a line in the sand, even though the entire board disagrees. You can explain it to him but you cant learn it for him. He is going down with that ship come hell or highwater. It is OK to admit youre wrong sometimes. Makes you a man.

MSU can't sell alcohol to a person holding a cowbell who then uses the cowbell as a weapon. Sorry you don't see the final outcome but I'm not sorry you don't get to drink your overpriced beer and continuously walk in and out of the aisles to get your overpriced beer. Stay in your seat and watch the game. We will have mass exodus of students and younger fans leaving early when the alcohol sales get cut off after the 3rd quarter too. I am failing to see the positives besides minimal monetary gains for a limited time. Want to really see money increased then allow MSU to sell alcohol OUTSIDE the stadium before and after the games. Put a beer stand in the junction and you'll really see big money being raised. This I am all for just not for selling it INSIDE the stadium during games.

[FlabLoser]

MSU can't sell alcohol to a person holding a cowbell who then uses the cowbell as a weapon. Sorry you don't see the final outcome but I'm not sorry you don't get to drink your overpriced beer and continuously walk in and out of the aisles to get your overpriced beer. Stay in your seat and watch the game. We will have mass exodus of students and younger fans leaving early when the alcohol sales get cut off after the 3rd quarter too. I am failing to see the positives besides minimal monetary gains for a limited time. Want to really see money increased then allow MSU to sell alcohol OUTSIDE the stadium before and after the games. Put a beer stand in the junction and you'll really see big money being raised. This I am all for just not for selling it INSIDE the stadium during games.

What is it about other alcohol-selling football stadiums that makes your fears not come true?

[Dawg61]

What is it about other alcohol-selling football stadiums that makes your fears not come true?

Cowbells

[Dawg61]

You guys don't understand that every other SEC fanbase is just itching for any reason possible to get the cowbells banned permanently. Having an opponent's fan getting beat to shit by a drunk MSU fan wielding a cowbell will result in us losing our bells. Have conversations with other fans and see how much they like our cowbells.

[shannondawg]

I assumed he was talking about just drinking and ringing and getting the SEC office down on us.

If fans were gonna be slinging cowbells at each other, there are plenty of well oiled folks in the stands as it is and you don't see it.

[FlabLoser]

I assumed he was talking about just drinking and ringing and getting the SEC office down on us.

If fans were gonna be slinging cowbells at each other, there are plenty of well oiled folks in the stands as it is and you don't see it.

No way there are any dunk people inside DWS. Ever.

Dawg61 may have a point. Intoxicated people inside DWS could be a problem. In fact, there are probably DV cases in people's homes where one person beat another with a cowbell that was laying in the house. Those things should be locked up.

[BeardoMSU]

He's got a point: I've been trying really hard to get my ass kicked by a drunk LSU fan hoping that they'd then have to ban all the drunk LSU fans***

[sandwolf]

You guys don't understand that every other SEC fanbase is just itching for any reason possible to get the cowbells banned permanently. Having an opponent's fan getting beat to shit by a drunk MSU fan wielding a cowbell will result in us losing our bells. Have conversations with other fans and see how much they like our cowbells.

Wait, is it going to be a slam dunk lawsuit that any lawyer could win or the conference that is going to take them away? Because as I said in my previous post, I just don't buy that this results in a sure fire lawsuit. And the SEC doesn't have to justify their decision in court, so they could ban the cowbells today based on the fact that they could be used as a weapon and alcohol is everywhere on game day.....and they could use that same logic to ban forks.

But I don't buy the idea that the conference is looking for any excuse they can find to ban the cowbells. At the 2009 Egg Bowl, an MSU student had some OM friends sitting with him in the student section......after the game, some shit talking escalated into a fight and the MSU student got hit in the head with a cowbell. The student that got hit turned around and hired 2 attorneys out of Oxford and in 2011, he filed a lawsuit.....not against MSU, but against the SEC and Mike Slive for refusing to enforce the ban on cowbells (LINK).

So in 2009, a cowbell is used as a weapon in a fight in a situation that undoubtedly included plenty of alcohol. Then in 2010, the SEC decides to allow the cowbells on a 1 year trial basis. In 2011, a lawsuit is filed against Mike Slive and the SEC based on the idea that this student wouldn't have been hurt with a cowbell if the cowbell ban had been enforced. Then in 2011, the conference decided to continue to allow the cowbells, and we have been using them ever since.

Based on all of that, I don't think that the cowbells are nearly the controversial topic that you are trying to make them out to be. And I still have yet to see an argument that leads me to believe that selling alcohol would lead to them being banned.

[Dawg61]

No way there are any dunk people inside DWS. Ever.

Dawg61 may have a point. Intoxicated people inside DWS could be a problem. In fact, there are probably DV cases in people's homes where one person beat another with a cowbell that was laying in the house. Those things should be locked up.

Of course there's drunk people right now which MSU isn't liable for but as soon as MSU serves alcohol to that person they become liable in the eyes of the law. Think of it like this. MSU is the bartender and when the bartender serves alcohol to an underage person or a person already intoxicated MSU then becomes person of liability. When that drunk person uses a cowbell that any capable lawyer can prove can be used as a dangerous weapon inside a stadium MSU knowingly and encourages fans to bring in cowbells MSU ALSO becomes liable for that. So now you have MSU the liable bartender providing alcohol to a person holding a dangerous weapon that MSU encourages to bring with them. That's a lawyer's wet dream of a case.

[FlabLoser]

Just like all those bars that get sued for serving booze while doing nothing to prevent weapons from being brought in.

[Dawg61]

Just like all those bars that get sued for serving booze while doing nothing to prevent weapons from being brought in.

Actually bars get sued all the time and that's just for serving alcohol.

[shannondawg]

What it boils down to is lawyers, lets ban them and open the taps.

Use to be, the question was; am I going to get my ass kicked for doing that, now its am I going to be sued?

[Dawgcentral]

Any incident caused by drunken fans wielding a cowbell is covered by general liability insurance. And those would be ISOLATED incidents.

No one is going to make a national fuss about a cowbell in combination with alcohol. Your liability coverage makes an offer of settlement and the thing goes away. I watched a boxer from USM put a beat down on a drunk with a cowbell at Mississippi Memorial Stadium back in the early 80's. You woulda felt sorry for the guy wearing maroon if you had seen it. He never had a chance.