Jets Ban Alcohol Sales

[TEXANS84]

Alcohol sales will be banned at next Monday night's New York Jets-New England Patriots game at Giants Stadium - a move apparently in response to the numerous alcohol-fueled incidents at the Jets-New Orleans Saints contest the night of Nov. 27.

Jets spokesman Ron Colangelo called the move "a precautionary measure."

"It's for the safety of our fans, so that they can have a comfortable environment at a time when the holiday season can get very festive," Colangelo said.

Luxury suite holders got a heads-up on the plan last week in an e-mail from the New Jersey Sports and Exposition Authority.

"Please be advised that no alcohol, including beer and wine, will be sold once the gates open that evening," reads the message, a copy of which was obtained by The Record. "However, as a suite member, you have the privilege of preordering. All orders must be in advance, and there will be no exceptions once the gates are open. Please inform your guests that reorders will not be permitted that evening. Thank you for your cooperation."

The e-mail was signed by Arleen Marino, director of stadium and arena suites for the Meadowlands Sports Complex.

Suite members preorder various forms of alcohol before every event. The difference this time is that reordering is not an option.

Sports authority President George Zoffinger said he had no comment on the policy.

Earlier this year, Zoffinger vowed to crack down on the problem of football fans drinking to excess.

In January, a jury found a drunken New York Giants fan and Aramark, the stadium beer vendor, liable for $135 million in damages for serious injuries suffered by a 7-year-old Cliffside Park girl in a 1999 auto collision. The fan, Daniel Lanzaro, left Antonia Verni paralyzed from the neck down after he crashed his car into the Verni family's vehicle several hours after he had been drinking at a Giants-Saints game.

Police made nine arrests during and after the Nov. 27 Jets-Saints game. Two fans were stabbed outside a men's room during a second-half altercation, and a state trooper broke a leg while ejecting another fan for allegedly throwing a beer bottle.

Stadium operators traditionally face more alcohol-related incidents at evening games, because fans have many extra hours to drink as they tailgate in the parking lot beforehand. In addition, the Jets have been eliminated from playoff contention, shifting the focus from the field to the beer line for some fans.

This is not the first time Giants Stadium has been beer-free. The sports authority banned beer sales at occasional night games in 1989 after fires were set and numerous arrests made during a Monday night Jets-Buffalo Bills game. Colangelo said a beer ban has been in effect as recently as 2001 for a night game at the Meadowlands.

http://www.bergen.com/page.php?qstr=...Y3dnFlZUVFeXk2

[jaayteetx]

Its good to know the wealthy can still drink. If your going to ban alcholic beverage sales, do it for everybody.

[Double Barrel]

Good for them!

I could care less if they stopped serving booze at all sporting events. The level of intoxication is surely related to the rising level of idiocy at any given event.

I'm not a tee-totaller (well, maybe, since I drink once every five years), but I can't stand morons who can't handle their drinking.

[Ranger]

I heard Woody Paige talk about this today on some TV show today, and I thought it was a good idea. He said that they should give each person an arm band or something like that that can be marked to tell how much beer a person has bought and put a limit on the number or beers a person can buy at a game. They can go up to the Concession Stand, buy their beer and then get marked so the beer seller knows exactly how much beer they have bought already and after their 3rd one they are not allowed to buy anymore. Solves the problem and makes the venders happy.

It doesn't matter if you cut the beer off before the game, they will just drink it outside first and then come in and be roudy as ever.

[cap1]

Originally Posted by Ranger

I heard Woody Paige talk about this today on some TV show today, and I thought it was a good idea. He said that they should give each person an arm band or something like that that can be marked to tell how much beer a person has bought and put a limit on the number or beers a person can buy at a game. They can go up to the Concession Stand, buy their beer and then get marked so the beer seller knows exactly how much beer they have bought already and after their 3rd one they are not allowed to buy anymore. Solves the problem and makes the venders happy.

It doesn't matter if you cut the beer off before the game, they will just drink it outside first and then come in and be roudy as ever.

The armband thing wouldn't work. All you have to do is have someone with you who is the DD use their armband to buy other people alcohol.

But I also see where something needs to be done about the drunkenness of some of the fans.

[Holden135]

I don't see them doing too much in the long run to combat this problem. If you completely ban alcohol in all nfl venues then attendance and especially revenues will drop. Think about it. The charge like $7 a beer and almost all of that is profit. They would be ignorant to stop it. Is what they need to do is make the vendors such as Aramark more aggressive on cutting people off if they have had too much to drink. I doubt wrist bands and the like will work, mainly because most of the drinking is done pre-game and secondly if people wanna drink then they will drink some how.

[Frills]

On a related note...there is now a shortage of flasks in NJ and Det.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by Holden135

I don't see them doing too much in the long run to combat this problem. If you completely ban alcohol in all nfl venues then attendance and especially revenues will drop. Think about it. The charge like $7 a beer and almost all of that is profit. They would be ignorant to stop it.

It depends. If people stop bringing their families (ie. kids, wives, etc.) to football games because of the imbecile actions of drunks, they might have to consider it. Sure a lot of money is made from alchohol sales, but I'd venture that they make a lot of money off of the other sales, too (ie. ice cream, cotton candy, concessions, merchandise, etc.).

Personally, if I brought my son to a game and some drunk doofus started shouting vulgarities and fighting people around him, I'd get him kicked out in heartbeat.

But some folks have to get drunk to have a good time, and honestly, I feel sorry for them for being complete fools.

[ghostlight]

Double Barrel you are right on the mark.

[swisher]

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

I feel sorry for them for being complete fools.

and you would have to be to pay $7 for a beer.

[Holden135]

You guys act like nfl games are as bad as soccer games in europe. It's not like people are rioting in the stands. Now i can't speak for those yankee's in new york/jersey but i see plenty of people drinking at sporting events (Rockets, Astros, Texans) and i personally have never seen an incident. Im sure there are some but i really don't think it is an epidemic. And for the people that don't want to bring their family because of the environment, there are 10 other people who would be glad to take their spot.

[Double Barrel]

Originally Posted by Holden135

Now i can't speak for those yankee's in new york/jersey but i see plenty of people drinking at sporting events (Rockets, Astros, Texans) and i personally have never seen an incident. Im sure there are some but i really don't think it is an epidemic.

I see it almost every game, both in the stands and in the parking lot. I do a lot of people watching, though, so maybe my gaze just happens to catch these incidents.

Originally Posted by Holden135

And for the people that don't want to bring their family because of the environment, there are 10 other people who would be glad to take their spot.

Not this season. You'd have to ask at least 10 people before finding someone to take a FREE ticket. (guess 2-12 will do that to some fairweather fans, 'eh?)

I'd say at least 50% of the stadium was empty last game, and I wouldn't be surprised to see it with fewer people at tomorrow's game.

[Holden135]

Yea your right about the half filled stadium. I was pertaining to a game in Jets or Giants stadium, they fill up whether or not their team is in the running.