College Problem-Solving: And the Answer Is ... C) Beer
By: Students often get in trouble over beer but the ice-cold, frothy beverage may, in fact, be the answer to one problem on college campuses: Juicing athletic revenue.
Due to the high number of under-age attendees at college football games, many college athletic stadiums only sell beer in the luxury suites. But as colleges and their athletic departments feel the crunch of the economy, they’re increasingly turning to alcohol to solve their problems.
West Virginia is one of 20 college venues selling beer throughout the stadium — even in the cheap seats — and they’re expecting an extra $1 million in revenue from it, the Des Moines Register reported.
Some people are opposed to it, saying it sends the wrong message to the students. But others say it’s too lucrative a revenue source to toss out with a penalty flag.
University of Northern Iowa Athletic Director Troy Dannen said he thinks it will have to happen at his school at some point as the school tries to get as much of the athletic budget off its books as possible.
“We have to look out of the box sometimes, and we also have to look at what others are doing,” Dannen told the Register.
I say, why stop at college stadiums? If beer can be such a lucrative source of income, let’s put in some bleachers on the House and Senate floors and start selling beer there, too. Then we can expand to the White House Rose Garden and the Federal Reserve.
There’s your triple-A idea right there.
I’ll drink to that!
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