Beer sales have not met West Virginia University's highest expectations in terms of goal for selling beer this season at Mountaineer home football games: quelling fan misbehavior.
When compared to the first four home games played last year, across-the-board decreases have resulted this season in the number of calls received by WVU police (from two hours prior to kickoff to two hours after the game), the number of incident reports filed and the number of arrests made (spanning the entire game day).
Police reports saw the largest drop, from 68 during the first four games of 2010 to just 24 during this season's first four games - a 35 percent decrease. Sixteen fewer arrests were made, for a decrease of 20.5 percent. The number of calls fell by 27, or 15 percent.
WVU police chief Bob Roberts attributes the across-the-board declines to "the combination of the no-reentry policy change, the 'High Five' program and the sales."
Fans can no longer partake in the long-standing tradition of leaving Milan Puskar Stadium for their tailgate parties at halftime and returning to their seats. Introduced in August, "The High Five Rules" for fans entering the stadium are:
No excessive drinking - intoxicated fans are not allowed inside or outside the stadium.No foul or abusive language.No smoking in the seating or concourse areas.No throwing stuff (anything) onto the field.No ignoring of the instructions of Event/Security personnel.
Still, the most arrests of any of the eight home dates in our comparison came this season during a Sept. 24 night game against Louisiana State. It was also the game that saw the highest attendance of 2011 and the most single-game beer revenue, with WVU netting $120,469 from sales.
With two games remaining on the home schedule (an Oct. 8 home game against Connecticut is not represented in the above comparison), it can at least be said that fan-behavior indicators are heading in the right direction. Says Roberts, "We are hopeful that trends continue."
