While the West Virginia University athletic department's decision earlier this year to sell beer at Mountaineer home football games has brought positive feedback from fans, actual sales have fallen on the low end of expectations.
When WVU athletic director Oliver Luck proposed the new policy, he said he hoped beer sales would bring between $500,000 and $1.2 million in revenue to the athletic department. According to an Associated Press report, a profit of $279,445 on gross sales of $792,245 had been realized through four home games, with three remaining on the schedule. A Sept. 24 night game against second-ranked Louisiana State (the Mountaineers' only loss of the season so far) proved most profitable at the beer stands, when WVU netted $120,469. Last week's homecoming game against Bowling Green brought in the least beer revenue at $26,216. A difference in attendance between the two games of 15,453 was no doubt a factor in the sales disparity.
Luck's other goal for the new policy, which coincided with the termination of WVU's halftime pass-out policy, was to improve fan behavior in the stands. Athletic department spokesperson Michael Fragale indicated that fan feedback has been decidedly positive, as reported by the AP. However, the WVU athletic business office did not immediately respond to AB's request for stadium ejection and arrest figures for this season and 2010.
