Alcohol sales will be allowed at Rupp Arena during UK games now. (Vicky Graff Photo)
After using baseball and softball as a “test” market for alcohol sales, Kentucky will now offer beer sales not only at football but for all athletic events during the 2023-24 season.
Kentucky athletics director Mitch Barnhart said Friday that he would have more details on the alcohol sales later.
Georgia and Auburn are the only SEC schools not permitting beer sales at football games.
Kentucky had been in the no-alcohol group but Kroger Field and Rupp Arena will now offer adult beverages. Barnhart noted what UK learned from alcohol sales at baseball and softball will factor into how future alcohol sales are handled.
The first home football game will be against Ball State on Sept. 2.
Kentucky has allowed alcohol in suites at Kroger Field but not offered alcohol for the general public to buy during games.
3 Responses
let’s look back in 2 years and see if the atmosphere at UK games is better or worse.
Sad day. I am just about through with sports. This NIL nonsense, conference realignment, alcohol sales, etc. They have ruined college sports with this stuff. Looks like the booze crowd will be happy now, until some drunk runs over and kills someone on the way out of Kroger field, or going home. Or a drunk falls and kills himself, or somebody else, inside the stadium. It’s all about the money today. There are not many of us left, it seems, who think like some of us Christian non drinkers. Booze does not belong in any college stadium or field house, for no other reason than the safety of the crowd. There will be the devil to pay in due time. There will be consequences, always is with alcohol. AD Barnhart caved on this serious issue, and I never thought he would.
It was wrong to allow alcohol sales to fans in "suites", while denying it to general admission fans. This was one of two ways to remedy that injustice. Good job Mitch Barnhart.