NU regents OK alcohol sales for Husker football, volleyball

On a 7-1 vote, regents approved allowing for the sale of beer, wine and liquor at all NU athletic events, replacing a previous policy that required venues to be approved individually.

“We have shown that our athletic departments can do this in a safe, responsible way,” NU President Jeff Gold said.

Gold said alcohol sales would be done using best practices developed at other universities across the country where alcohol sales already take place.

The change was supported by University of Nebraska-Lincoln Student Regent Elizabeth Herbin, who said the measure had the support of the student body.

The Association of Students of the University of Nebraska adopted a resolution supporting the sale of alcohol at football and volleyball games.

A portion of the proceeds from those sales would be returned to the student government to conduct alcohol and binge-drinking education campaigns, Herbin said.

Other regents said they also believed it was time for NU to join the majority of NCAA schools that offer alcohol as an amenity to fans.

Regent Jim Scheer of Norfolk pointed to a study done at the University of Iowa that showed alcohol-related incidents at Kinnick Stadium had decreased between 2019 and 2021 after alcohol sales began.

“Our job is not to assume what’s going to happen, it’s to take what actual information is out there,” Scheer said.

Lincoln Regent Tim Clare, who sits on the Joint Public Agency governing Pinnacle Bank Arena, said many of the fears of allowing beer at that venue have not materialized.

Clare said he believes Husker fans would also act responsibly while consuming alcohol at Memorial Stadium or the Devaney Sports Center, understanding if they don’t they could be banned from either venue.

But Regent Kathy Wilmot of Beaver City, the lone dissenting vote, said she believed alcohol sales would have a negative impact on Husker events — as well as other university sports — moving forward.

“We’re overlooking the fact that these are family events,” Wilmot said. “We’re setting examples, we’re putting things out there we say we often want to protect our children from.

“I feel like we’re selling our soul,” she added.

With the approval, regents have now put NU on track to join the rest of the Big Ten Conference in allowing for the sale of alcohol at football games.

Memorial Stadium is the only venue in the 18-team conference where fans cannot consume beer or other alcoholic drinks inside the stadium.

The University of Michigan and the University of Wisconsin turned on the taps at their stadiums this year, while Northwestern University is planning alcohol sales at its new stadium.

In an interview last week, Husker Athletic Director Troy Dannen said the sale of alcohol at Memorial Stadium could move forward independent of a proposed $450 million renovation of the century-old facility.

Instead, he said NU would include the sale of alcohol and the infrastructure to support it in its contract with a new caterer, which could be selected by the end of the year.

“We don’t need to redo the stadium to do this,” Dannen said. “We can retrofit things to get by.”

Dannen told the board that the sale of alcohol would likely follow “a holistic safety evaluation” at Memorial Stadium following the end of the season.

Among the items Dannen said he anticipated looking at is the ability of Husker fans to leave the stadium at halftime and return before the third quarter.

This is a developing story. Stay with www.journalstar.com for updates.