Tennessee sold $2.67M in alcohol at football games with Lane Kiffin's return providing biggest spike
Alcohol sales and fan misbehavior at Tennessee football home games were at their highest on the night trash was tossed on the field in a Vols’ loss to Ole Miss, university records obtained by Knox News show.
That’s not shocking.
Lane Kiffin’s return, questionable officiating and a sellout crowd of frustrated fans created a rowdy scene at Neyland Stadium on Oct. 16. Water bottles, beer cans and other debris were thrown on the field in an incident that paused the game for 18 minutes.
UT was fined $250,000 by the SEC under its regulations of alcohol sales. But UT avoided the league suspending alcohol sales at football games because the university conducted an internal review and took additional steps to help prevent a similar incident in the future.
The reprieve paid off. UT generated $2.67 million in alcohol sales for the 2021 season, which included eight home games, according to figures the athletics department provided to Knox News in response to a public records request.
That revenue is split 50/50 between UT’s athletics department and Aramark, the stadium concessionaire, meaning the university’s take was almost $1.34 million.
The 2019 season, the first with alcohol sales at UT games, generated $1.46 million in revenue in seven home games and a $730,000 take for UT. Attendance was restricted by COVID-19 protocols during the 2020 season.
Here’s how much alcohol was sold at Ole Miss game
There were 18 arrests and 51 ejections in UT’s game against Ole Miss. Ejections can include individuals who were turned away at the gate and never actually entered the venue. UT sold 47,890 alcoholic beverages for $547,726 in revenue.
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Those numbers were the highest for a single game since UT started selling beer and wine at football games
UT barred 16 students and nine additional fans from all Vols athletics events through the spring sports season for throwing objects onto the field during the Ole Miss game.
In UT’s eight home games in 2021, there were 42 arrests (5.3 per game) and 125 ejections (15.6 per game). That’s an increase over the 26 arrests (3.3 per game) and 89 ejections (11.1 per game) in 2019, the previous season of full attendance.
Another game had high sales in alcohol
In UT’s next home game against Georgia on Nov. 13, alcohol sales and figures measuring fan misbehavior weren’t far behind those from the Ole Miss game.
There were 12 arrests and 34 ejections at Neyland Stadium when the Vols lost to Georgia, and 44,997 alcoholic beverages were sold for $522,208 in revenue.
But attendance likely contributed to those high figures. UT announced a sellout crowd of 102,455 for the Ole Miss game and 100,074 for the Georgia game. No other home game recorded an attendance of at least 90,000 or revenue from alcohol sales of at least $400,000.
In 2019, UT’s home game against Georgia featured 33 ejections, its highest mark that season. In 2018, there were a season-high 35 ejections for UT’s home game against Florida.
On the low end in the 2021 season, there were no fan ejections or arrests in UT’s 56-0 win over Tennessee Tech on Sept. 18. And UT generated $169,110 in revenue from alcohol sales in the Vols’ 60-14 win over South Alabama on Nov. 20, the lowest mark of the season.
Fan Misbehavior at 2021 Tennessee football home games
Opponent: Arrests | Ejections
Bowling Green: 5 | 10
Pittsburgh: 2 | 8
Tennessee Tech: 0 | 0
South Carolina: 2 | 5
Ole Miss: 18 | 51
Georgia: 12 | 34
South Alabama: 1 | 9
Vanderbilt: 2 | 8
Totals: 42 | 125
Alcohol sold at 2021 Tennessee football home games
Opponent: Alcoholic drinks sold | Revenue
Bowling Green: 21,191 | $250,158
Pittsburgh: 28,676 | $333,358
Tennessee Tech: 18,754 | $219,698
South Carolina: 34,598 | $394,686
Ole Miss: 47,890 | $547,726
Georgia: 44,997 | $522,208
South Alabama: 14,224 | $169,110
Vanderbilt: 20,008 | $235,167
Totals: 230,338 | $2,672,111
Reach Adam Sparks at adam.sparks@knoxnews.com and on Twitter @AdamSparks.
This article originally appeared on Knoxville News Sentinel: Lane Kiffin return biggest spike in Tennessee football alcohol sales
