Lexi Browning/The Parthenon

Beer sales are expanding at Joan C. Edwards Stadium after Marshall University’s Board of Governors approved sales Tuesday into the chairback sections on the west side of the stadium.

Starting in 2005, beer had been sold exclusively in the Big Green Room and was not allowed to be taken out into the stadium.

With the recent approval, beer can now be taken from the Big Green Room to chairback seats and bought from roaming vendors working the chairback sections.

Aaron Goebbel, associate director of Athletics for External Affairs, said implementing beer sales stadium-wide just was not possible for the upcoming season because several upgrades to Edwards Stadium would be required.

“It’s one of those things where it comes to infrastructure,” Goebbel said. “We knew with the way things are right now in regards to finances, in order to sell it in the entire stadium this year there would be some wholesale changes that would need to take place to our facility in regards to restrooms, entrances, fencing, exteriors and things of that nature, it wasn’t really feasible. The next best thing was to expand our alcohol sales. The infrastructure was already there to sell the beer because of the Big Green room, essentially all we’re doing is adding some additional hawkers in those sections.

“It came down to the feasibility, in regards to if we turned the switch on to sell it to the entire stadium, was it going to be reasonable to get that done overnight and make sure we did it the right way,” Goebbel said. “The answer to that was probably not, so that’s where we are now. We’re expanding it into that area with the intentions to expand further in the future.”

While fans outside of sections 108, 110, 112, 114, 116 and 118 will not be able to buy beer in the stadium, the athletic department is still maintaining its pass out policy allowing fans to leave the stadium and return.

“Before moving forward with additional selling points, we felt this trial run, of sorts, was necessary,” Marshall Director of Athletics Mike Hamrick said in the press release. “This is a growing trend in college athletics and this approach has been used recently at other schools, including Ohio State, Penn State and Pittsburgh.”

Marshall Athletics had been discussing the possibility of expanding its beer sales for a while, but a new, smaller revenue television package and state budget cuts brought the discussion to the forefront.

“The conversation amongst administration, the athletic department and Mr. Hamrick has been going on for a couple of years,” Goebbel said. “It’s been a solid year out talking about the nuts and bolts. Then in the spring was when it was introduced to the Big Green board and the survey was sent out to Big Green members after that. It’s a proven commodity that people know generates an additional revenue stream. To the level of what it can do is yet to be seen, hence the approach we’re taking.”

According to the Charleston Gazette-Mail, Marshall figures to net somewhere between $15,000 and $20,000 from the expanded alcohol sales this season after splitting the total revenue with Sodexo, the university’s concession vendor.

“We have an estimated dollar amount of what we think it can do, but we don’t have a ‘hey if we don’t generate an extra $25,000 then it’s not worth it,’” Goebbel said. “We’re not going to say if we don’t increase our sales in that area by 100-percent it’s not worth it.”

Additional revenue is a driving force for the expanded alcohol sales, but Goebbel said it does more for the athletic department than bring in additional money.

“Allowing alcohol to be sold in our venue also opens the door to addition events that can be held there,” Goebbel said. “We’re having FEST, the music festival that Campus Activities Board has put on the last few years, at the stadium this year.”

The ticket office does allow fans to upgrade their season tickets if the expanded alcohol sale to the chairback section entices them to do so.

“Upgrading your seats is a ticket office policy regardless of what might trigger an individual to do so,” Goebbel said. “We’ve actually already gotten a couple of calls from people wanting to move over.”

Joan C. Edwards Stadium has 38,016 seats and approximately 4,200 of those are in the chairback sections.

Adam Rogers can be contacted at [email protected].