Credit: J.L. Lacar | Managing Editor of Design
Ohio State fans poured out more than a few cold ones for the Ohio State football team in 2017, surpassing last season’s total revenue from in-stadium beer sales.
The university made $1,231,280 in total net revenue from 2017 beer sales in Ohio Stadium, according to public records. It is a 5.6 percent increase from the $1,166,497 generated in 2016 — the first year the ‘Shoe implemented stadium-wide beer sales.
The revenue obtained by the university is directed toward funding four additional University Police officer positions, increased security, campus safety initiatives and financially supporting Ohio State’s Higher Education Center for Alcohol and Drug Misuse Prevention and Recovery, university spokesman Ben Johnson said.
The $1.23 million is the revenue after expenses, not the total amount of money from beer sales.
While the total revenue increased for the university, so did the number of in-stadium arrests.
Ohio State recorded 39 arrests in the ‘Shoe this season, 21 of which were in the first two home games. Only 22 arrests occurred inside the stadium in 2016.
Johnson said very few of the arrests involved a fan being removed and taken to jail. “Most of the arrests inside the stadium are of underage individuals attempting to purchase alcohol,” he said. “The individuals receive a summons to appear in court and are released.”
The total number of incidents recorded inside and outside the stadium — which includes all arrests, citations and ejections — increased from 61 in 2016 to 87 in 2017. Alcohol-related arrests outside the stadium increased from five to 10, and other arrests outside the stadium increase from one to seven.
The number of alcohol citations decreased from four to two, and ejections decreased by one, 25 to 24.
A number of factors can affect the number of incidents during a particular game. One of the most prominent factors is the time of the game. The Oklahoma game, for example, which kicked off at 8 p.m., had 30 total incidents, including 11 alcohol-related in-stadium arrests, six alcohol arrests outside the stadium and nine ejections.
In September, The Lantern conducted a review of gameday incidents related to alcohol sales in the ‘Shoe. Total stadium incidents are still well below the total number of incidents in the two years before alcohol was available stadium-wide.
The university instituted a pilot program for the 2015 football season, selling alcohol exclusively on the suite and club levels, before making it available throughout the stadium the following season.
There were 85 ejections and 179 total incidents in 2015, which was down from 269 total gameday incidents in 2014. University Police Chief Craig Stone said in September the statistics related to 2016 season will be a benchmark for the two-year-old stadium policy moving forward.
Before the season, stadium policy changed to allow fans in the south stands to purchase just one alcoholic beverage per ID. This move was done to minimize pass-offs, which is when fans of age purchase alcohol for someone underage. The south stands are primarily comprised of students.
Every other location in the stadium has a limit of two alcoholic beverages per ID.
Correction 1/13/18: The originally reported net revenue of $1.35 million was corrected to $1.23 million after the university said it realized it had made a mistake in calculating the total net revenue when this story was published on Dec. 11. The percentage increase from the 2016 season has subsequently been corrected with the correct information provided by the university.
