UA: $235,000 from stadium alcohol sales

But university’s cut small, newspaper study predicts

Arkansas fans cheer prior to a game against Georgia on Saturday, Oct. 18, 2014 at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

Beer and wine sales in premium seating areas of Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium are expected to total about $235,000 for the football season, according to a projection of revenue from the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville's Athletics Department.

But the university's expenses and aspects of its deal with concessionaire Sodexo might leave less than $30,000 for the UA Athletics Department to keep as revenue, based on an Arkansas Democrat-Gazette analysis.

UA and Sodexo signed a contract March 7 for the university to receive 40 percent of alcoholic beverage net sales, which started this fall for "club" seating areas of the football stadium. Approximately 9,000 fans in club seats and another 2,800 suite holder patrons were able to purchase beer and wine at six home games held at Razorback Stadium.

The university emailed the revenue projection after the Democrat-Gazette submitted a public records request for documents showing sales or receipts from alcohol sold at Razorback Stadium. No documents were released by the university, and officials stated that UA had no records to satisfy the request.

"We expect to have final revenue numbers within the next 30 days," wrote Clayton Hamilton, chief financial officer for the UA Athletics Department, in a statement the university released Dec. 16.

The statement continued: "What has been shared thus far is a projection of $235K in revenues for the season. Additional costs related to serving alcohol that were incurred by Athletics and Sodexo were projected to be $133K. In addition there was $27K paid in sales taxes related to the sale of beer and wine."

Based on the contract's 40 percent figure -- and not considering sales tax -- the university would have been in line to receive about $94,000. Kevin Trainor, a UA spokesman, clarified this week that the university's share of expenses totaled $67,841.

The difference between the two numbers would leave UA with about $26,000.

In an email, Trainor wrote that the Democrat-Gazette calculations "appear on target," adding that the "city/state gained about as much as Razorback Athletics did on beer and wine sales in 2014 season," referring to sales taxes.

More generally, Trainor commented on the move to begin alcohol sales.

"The sale of beer and wine through our partner Sodexo at designated indoor locations was responsive to requests from club seat holders and offered another game day amenity at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium," Trainor wrote. "We were pleased to be able to add this new option and will continue to be receptive to the feedback of our ticket holders on ways to enhance their Razorback Football game day experience."

Beer and wine were sold only in indoor club areas of the stadium. Trainor wrote that no expansion of beer and wine sales to other parts of the stadium is being considered, citing Southeastern Conference policy that he described as prohibiting sales in general seating and public areas of on-campus sports venues.

Trainor wrote that about 25 percent of UA's expenses can be considered one-time costs associated with the startup of alcohol sales at the stadium.

Sodexo racked up $64,918.47 in expenses, Trainor wrote. Of that total, $14,252.48 would be considered a one-time expense.

Apart from boosting Athletics Department revenue, UA also sought to enhance the experience for fans in pricier club seating. Season tickets for club seating ranged from $600 to $900 for 2014 compared with $300 for season tickets in other parts of the stadium.

In an email, Trainor wrote that "much of the feedback we received came from club seat holders who were appreciative of the option to purchase beer and wine."

Metro on 12/25/2014