UT to begin selling beer and wine at home football games, begins Sept. 12
On Wednesday, University of Texas officials announced beer and wine will be at all home football games beginning with this season's home opener in September.According to a news release, the beverages will be sold in all public and private areas at Darrell K Royal-Texas Memorial Stadium.
"Fan safety and enjoyment remains our number one priority as we work through the process of expanding beer and wine sales into all seating areas of the stadium," said Texas Men's Athletics Director Steve Patterson. "During our extensive pilot, we found fans and staff handled the situation responsibly and we had no negative issues or situations. We will continue to monitor the service closely."
The new policy for home football games comes after a lengthy pilot program conducted at other Texas Athletics events since early 2014.
Just as similar services are offered in eateries, sports facilities, theaters and other establishments around Texas, all adult beverage sales at UT events is conducted through licensed vendor Sodexo and within regulations established by the state, university and Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission.
UT became the fourth UT System school — after The University of Texas at El Paso, The University of Texas at San Antonio and The University of Texas at Arlington – to serve adult beverages at sports events. Other in-state institutions offering similar service are the University of North Texas, SMU and the University of Houston.
UT's home opener against Rice is scheduled for September 12th.