Best case/worst case scenario for booze sales at Ole Miss

The day many Ole Miss fans have been waiting for is finally here — there’s a green light for alcohol sales at Southeaster Conference sporting events, effective August 1st, 2019.

While there are no exact details on how Ole Miss will proceed with alcohol sales, the university hasn’t come right out and said it won’t be selling booze this fall. Mississippi State, Auburn, Alabama, and Georgia have all announced in one form or another that stadium wide sales of alcohol will not happen this season.

Go ahead and rev up the engine of “you shouldn’t have to drink to enjoy a ball game” if you must. Your ivory tower is so shiny and pristine, congrats, and if you choose to sit in your La-Z-Boy rather than Ole Miss games from now on, that’s even better for you!

This is a potential revenue stream completely untapped for the university. Other large schools such as Texas and Ohio State have seen upwards of $1M per football season of sales, which is roughly the going rate for a good offensive or defensive coordinator these days.

So while we don’t know the exact details just yet, the sale of alcohol has been the buzz of the Red Cup staff this week. We’re always talking best case-worst case scenarios in our discussion about Rebel sports, so we applied it to this situation as well to temper our expectations and wildly let our dreams run away from us.

Here’s how we see this booze cruise rolling come fall in Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

Worst case scenario

There’s only booze sold and served in the club suites and boxes, and general admission is denied alcohol sales, leaving them upset, and continuing to binge drink and/or smuggle it in per the usual.

Yes, the upper crust of Oxford and Ole Miss alums will rejoice in sipping on their booze, but they’ve been doing this already with the locker system that’s in place. Pretty much nothing changes except maybe some new revenue comes in from the less prepared and a maximized convenience factor for these fans.

Best case scenario

Upon entry, you are given the opportunity to purchase a bottomless chalice. There’s beer and wine fountains where you can fill said chalice until the fourth quarter. Additionally, if you purchase a chalice, you are given free childcare for the entirety of the game.

Revenues soar as do the good times had by all. Grumpy teetotalers become fans of other schools, and very few miss them when they depart.

What will most likely happen

Beer and light wine sales throughout the stadium with the typical two per transaction rule in affect until the fourth quarter, 7th-inning stretch, 10-minute mark of the second half, etc. There’s no local brews, but the macro brands are carried for the first season. Other craft brews are added later on.

The childcare deal is out the window, because it’s really just a dream of any parent who has ever brought more than one child to a game where its 90 plus degrees outside. For those uninformed, you get asked when the game will be over starting about 30 seconds after you sit down until you’re driven insane and leave in the second quarter to go back to The Grove.

So what do you want to see happen this fall for this new addition to the gameday experience? What is your best/worst case scenario? Comment or tweet @redcuprebellion with your thoughts.