Florida State University will sell beer and wine at five locations for home football games during the 2019 season.
Two of them will be inside Doak Campbell Stadium and the other three will be in tailgating areas outside of the stadium, according to an FSU news release.
“We have worked closely with both FSU and Tallahassee police to monitor our alcohol sales at athletic venues, and we believe we have a good plan in place to continue a successful program at our football games,” said FSU’s Director of Athletics David Coburn in the release.
The release said the two areas inside Doak Campbell Stadium will require fans to drink the alcoholic beverage in an area next to the concession stand. Fans will not be allowed to return to their seats with their drink.
Beer and wine sales inside of the stadium will stop at the end of the third quarter.
FSU said the three concession stands outside of the stadium will open when parking lots open and will end sales 10 minutes before kickoff.
The Tallahassee Democrat reported the five new locations do not include the Dunlap Champions Club, where the university has sold alcohol since it opened in 2016.
FSU has sold alcohol at its men’s basketball games since the Tucker Civic Center opened in 1981, and at women’s basketball games since the program moved from Tully Gym.
For the last two seasons, FSU has sold beer at home baseball and softball games.
In May, the Southeastern Conference announced its schools could sell alcoholic beverages at athletic events starting in August. The University of Florida has yet to make a decision.
The Orlando Sentinel reported in March 2016 that UF began selling alcohol to fans with premium seating at Ben Hill Griffin Stadium and the O’Connell Center.
Perhaps FSU's decision to sell beer and wine at football games is due in part to make up for the lost ticket-sale revenue from declining fan attendance.
The Tampa Bay Times reported FSU's average attendance of 68,288 fans in 2018 was its smallest at Doak Campbell Stadium since 1992 (62,797).
It includes FSU's smallest crowd of 57,274 fans for the Boston College game. The Times reported the Nov. 17 game was FSU's smallest in 30 years.
CBS Sports reported in March college football attendance sank to its lowest mark since 1996. The network reported an average college football attendance last season was 41,856 fans among the 129 FBS programs.
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