The University of Texas opened its football stadium to alcohol sales this year, and the results were huge for the school: Alcohol generated $1.8 million in revenues for the Longhorns during the 2015 football season.
Leading the way in those earnings was Miller Lite, which accounted for nearly $500,000 of those sales on its own. Only bottled water sold more at Longhorns concessions stands than Miller Lite. Beer on the whole crushed liquor and wine sales, according to data published by the Houston Chronicle.
When it was first announced that beer sales would be allowed at Texas football games, the university's president said doing so was important to keep fans happy. "I think being able to serve beer to them is part of that experience," he said, per the Chronicle.
But another motivating factor was the realization that binge drinking at tailgates and before games was having a negative effect on the in-stadium experience. Offering alcohol sales inside the stadium was seen as a way to reduce binge drinking and drunkenness at the start of games.
Texas' transition to selling alcohol at sporting events is part of a larger national trend in which schools see an opportunity to combat binge drinking, control alcohol access and increase event revenues all in one fell swoop. Dozens of Division-I schools now sell alcohol at on-campus stadiums.
Check out the Houston Chronicle's video on the team's alcohol sales:
The Chronicle has a full breakdown of the alcohol sales, listing the popularity of each drink item. A worthwhile footnote: Liquor floaters have proven deeply unpopular among the Longhorn faithful. Priced at three dollars a pop, the entire stadium sold just nine all year.
