LSU Broadens Booze Footprint at Football, Baseball

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Louisiana State University continues to leverage alcohol sales at athletic events with two recent announcements. Football fans will soon have access to a second Tiger Stadium location of "The Chute," where a $20 entry fee afforded access to seven brands of beer — and, by midseason, a selection of three wines — in 2018. Meanwhile, baseball fans will be able to purchase beer and wine in two tented areas dubbed "The Yard" at Alex Box Stadium.

The original Chute, so named for its proximity to the tunnel players use to enter and exit the field, reached its capacity of 1,250 fans at some point during every home game last season. It opens two hours and 30 minutes prior to kickoff and closes at the start of the fourth quarter. Two beverages are included in the $20 entry fee, and additional beverages can be purchased for $6 each. Per Southeastern Conference policy, all consumption must take place within The Chute.

“The capacity remained the same from the beginning to end,” LSU senior associate athletic director Robert Munson told The Times-Picayune of New Orleans. “We thought it was just right. The lines were never long to get in. The lines were never long to get beverages, so it worked out really, really well.”

The new locations at Box Stadium will open two hours before first pitch and will sell alcohol until the end of the seventh inning of games, and pricing will mirror that of The Chute. According to The Advocate of Baton Rouge, the SEC remains the only Power 5 conference to prohibit the sale of alcohol in general seating areas, but LSU has pressed forward to give its fans alcoholic beverage options. The SEC policy states that its alcohol ban "shall not apply to private, leased areas in the facility or other areas designated by the SEC."

LSU's athletic department operated at a profit of nearly $8 million during the fiscal year ending June 30, 2018, that that figure represented a drop of more than 50 percent from 2017's $16 million.

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