When Syracuse University begins play in the Atlantic Coast Conference in 2014, it will bring something unfamiliar to the current 12-team conference: on-campus beer sales at home games in the Carrier Dome.

SU’s move to the ACC likely will not affect the university’s decision to sell beer at home games in the Dome, as the ACC allows its member schools to decide whether or not to sell beer during athletic events — the same policy as the Big East.

‘Regular-season and conference tournament games for any sport are overseen by the individual schools and their conferences, so obviously they determine how they want to handle alcohol sales — that’s up to them,’ said Cameron Schuh, associate director of public and media relations for the NCAA. The NCAA bans the sale and advertising of all alcohol in postseason championship venues, he added.

Unlike SU, none of the 12 ACC teams sell beer to the general public or students in on-campus sporting facilities. Athletic department officials from the 12 schools said their respective school’s policy to not sell beer on campus has been in place for a long time and was made in part to avoid problems with students drinking underage.

Beer has been sold in the on-campus Carrier Dome during SU home football and basketball games since the venue opened in 1980. Beer sales have since been halted at halftime during sporting events.

‘At Syracuse University events, it has been sold,’ said Sue Edson, SU’s assistant director of athletics for communications. ‘It has not been sold at, for example, when we host the NCAA Tournament because that’s an NCAA event held in the Carrier Dome.’

SU last played host to the NCAA Men’s Basketball Championship back in 2010, when the Carrier Dome was used to host two Sweet 16 games and one Elite Eight game.

Of the eight Big East football teams, Rutgers University is the only school that does not sell beer at home football games. West Virginia University’s decision to start selling beer at home football games this season was approved back in June.

‘At Big East championships, there’s no policy against it,’ said Chuck Sullivan, director of communications for the Big East. ‘In fact, we sell alcohol at some of our championship events.’

But in the ACC, longtime policies on beer sales at home games are still being followed.

Brian Hennessy, associate director for sports information at Clemson University, said beer isn’t allowed to be sold to the general public or to students during any athletic events, whether on or off campus.

‘It’s always been like that,’ he said.

The culture in the South is different than the North, Hennessy said, as the South is more conservative and rural. In South Carolina, it is only lawful to sell and consume alcohol between 10 a.m. and 2 a.m. the following morning, while beer sales aren’t allowed on Sunday, according to Article 5 of the South Carolina Code of Laws.

Duke University, Boston College, North Carolina State University, Virginia Tech, the University of Virginia and the University of North Carolina also don’t sell beer to the general public or to students at any home sporting event, athletic department officials said.

At Florida State University, beer isn’t sold to the general public or to students during football games because Bobby Bowden Field at Doak Campbell Stadium is located on campus. But Florida State does allow sales to attendees during basketball games because its home facility, the Donald L. Tucker Center in Tallahassee, Fla., is off campus, said Elliott Finebloom, assistant athletic director and sports information director at Florida State.

The decision to not sell beer at athletic events on Florida State’s campus is mirrored around the country, Finebloom said.

‘I think it’s pretty much lockstep with everyone else around the country for beer sales,’ he said.

At Miami, beer is not sold during home basketball games because the arena is on campus. But Miami’s football stadium, Sun Life Stadium, is located off campus and is shared with the Miami Dolphins and Florida Marlins, allowing the sale of beer.

At the University of Maryland, beer is only sold during home football games in the suites of Capital One Field at Byrd Stadium, Maryland’s home football facility, said Doug Dull, associate athletics director for media relations at Maryland. At Wake Forest University, beer is also sold in private suites of its home athletic facilities, said Corey Jenkins, assistant director of event management and facilities at Wake Forest.

People are allowed to bring their own alcohol into the private suites of Georgia Tech’s Bobby Dodd Stadium at Historic Grant Field, as the school doesn’t regulate the suites, said Wayne Hogan, associate director of athletics for public relations at Georgia Tech.

Although Georgia Tech’s home basketball arena is on campus, the facility is currently undergoing renovations, meaning the basketball teams will play in Philips Arena — the Atlanta Hawks’ home stadium — this season, Hogan said. Despite the temporary off-campus location, there will be no beer sold to the public at Philips Arena during Georgia Tech home basketball games, he said.

At N.C. State — a dry campus — beer isn’t sold at home football or basketball games even though the basketball teams share a stadium with the Carolina Hurricanes, said Annabelle Myers, assistant athletics director for media relations at N.C. State.

Myers said that besides selling beer in private suites, she doesn’t know of any ACC schools that sell alcohol for home football or basketball games.

Not until 2014 anyway.

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Published on September 26, 2011 at 12:00 pm

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