Big and bold initiative by the BoG:

Revised Policy Request
Board Chair Carolyn Long announced a request from the Department of Intercollegiate Athletics to amend BOG Policy 18 (Section 4.1) to permit controlled beer sales at certain athletic events. Details of the proposed policy will be available on the Board’s web site (bog.wvu.edu) sometime next week for a 30-day comment period.

The proposal is one of several changes the athletic department is considering for game day operations centered around improving security, fan behavior and public safety at Milan Puskar Stadium this fall. These include revisions to practices around exiting and re-entering the stadium and moving smoking areas outside the concourse, athletic officials say.

A little more after the jump.

The statement from Oliver Luck:

“Public safety is paramount to our game-day operation of the football stadium and other athletic venues. We have an obligation to provide a safe, friendly atmosphere for Mountaineer fans and our visiting supporters. We recently completed a thorough review of all aspects of our operation at the stadium and believe three changes are appropriate.
 
First of all, we took a very close look at the stadium re-entry practice which currently permits, except for night games, to leave the stadium and re-enter after halftime. The recommendation is to standardize the procedure and not permit re-entry at any time. Very few stadiums across the country, and none in the Big East, allow the practice of re-entry. We believe that this will help eliminate the abuse of alcohol in the parking lots at halftime and improve fan behavior.  
 
“Secondly, smoking is not permitted in the seating areas, aisles or restrooms and we plan to extend that to the concourses to provide a better environment for our fans. We will establish smoking areas outside of the concourses and totally remove smoking inside the facility.
 
“And finally, we believe we can improve fan behavior with the controlled sale of beer inside the stadium, which would require BOG approval. With responsible serving practices and proper vendor training coupled with the elimination of stadium re-entry, we can control the consumption of alcohol. Many college stadiums, including all of our counterparts in the Big East Conference, are selling beer in some capacity. We would have a management plan in place to govern the sales, promote responsible drinking, control alcohol consumption and provide a safer environment at the stadium. We also anticipate a financial benefit, which would help our self sustaining athletic department.”

Obviously some things to balance and manage are mentioned within there, but I’m told there’s a plan in place for all of that. The re-entry — and WVU is one of the few that allows that condition — and the smoking items are practicies and not policies and do not need BoG approval. It’s included to be seen as part of WVU’s plan.

The smoking thing is interesting. Sure, people love beer, but they love tobacco, too. No one’s been able to tell me smoking will be permitted in a capacity that doesn’t require leaving the stadium … and WVU is doing away with re-entry. I wonder if they’ll provide a centralized area in an open-air spot that’s inside the stadium, but Luck does say the idea is to “totally remove smoking inside the facility.” This affects the press,  too, by the way. Or does it? I don’t know. Nor do I smoke. Many do, though.

Lastly, there’s going to have to be a standard sales procedure in place. The vendors will be trained in accordance to state regulations. There will be ID requests for every purchase. There will be start and stop times. There will be limits on what can be pruchased at one time. Just like going to your local NFL game.