I’m a bad Tennesseean
I have lived in Tennessee since 1982. I am currently 30 years old and this past Saturday was the first UT football game I’ve ever been to. My few observations about the experience are as follows:
Man, UT fans are harsh when the Vols are playing poorly. Favored by 41 points, the Vols got no sympathy from their fans at the half when they were trailing. The fans let them know when they suck and, I guess, the players pick up on that since 107,000 people are screaming it at them.
The intellectual capacity some Vol fans is questionable. The guy behind be kept referring to the opposing team as ‘The Rutgers.’ I suppose he thinks a Rutger is some sort of ferocious, small, furry animal.
Apparently, you don’t tip the service people at these games. I had a couple sodas and a few hotdogs and the vendors never stood around long enough for me to tip them. Oh well, their loss.
People have no respect for children at these games. I’m all for the freedom provided us by the First Amendment but at the same time I think adults should watch their language around small children. There were kids every where, but that didn’t refrain some loud fans from telling the players, referees, and ‘The Rutgers’ what they could do with themselves and to some goats.
And the most important observation: There is no beer sold at these games! I repeat, There is no beer sold at these games! Someone explained to me that, since it was a dry campus, UT would lose funding if they sold adult beverages. So, I did some quick math. Here goes:
Per Kegworks, a keg of beer holds roughly seven cases of beer. Or 168 12oz beers. A keg costs roughly $40 bucks (and that’s retail). So, the cost per beer is $0.24. You could probably sell a 12oz beer at a UT game for $3.50 (hell, I’d buy them). That yields a profit margin of $3.26 per beer sold! We’ll round it to $3 even since we’ll probably have to hire more service people (who surely will now want tips) to carry this beer to the fans.
Also, per NWBA, 56.7% of us drink beer. Also, I know that NWBA didn’t limit their study to ‘people who attend football games.’ So, we’ll assume about 60% of the fans will drink beer. Now, I drink a lot of beer. I could drink 10 or so during a game. Some folks pass out at about one beer (the lightweights). I find it reasonable to conclude that most of these 60% will drink four beers. The stadium (I read somewhere) holds about 107,000 fans. So, 64,200 people drinking four beers is 256,800 beers, at a profit of $3 per beer. That is $770,400 per game. This year, UT will play seven home games. Total annual profit is $5,392,800. Gentlemen, I have a business plan.
It seems to me that maybe UT needs to stop kowtowing to the Bible Belt mentality, embrace the 21st Century, and give adults their choice in beverages. $5.3M could buy a lot of education.
