'People are flat-out slobs': Jamie Pollard

[Cloned4Life]

I think everyone can agree there can be a financial benefit, but some are ignoring (or not understanding) the complications and risks associated with it. It’s not a simple matter.

I do not believe many are ignoring or misunderstanding the risks/complications. Nothing about stadium concessions is easy or simple -and we know definitively that many, many other places sell alcohol and are still very safe and family friendly values.

 

[Dgilbertson]

We keep debating should we / should we not sell alcohol…

I’m just worried that ISU eventually gets so desperate that it starts an OnlyFans

 

[drlove]

Kinda cracks me up that the discussion around this lives on, people debating the pros and cons of this and trying to figure out whether we can make it work or not, as if this is a Rubik's Cube we just can't solve despite literally every other athletic program in the country solving it on the first try.

+ nearly every other school doesn’t allow for people to re-enter stadiums. not a popular idea, but that needs to change?

i Sometimes wonder if how the end zone was structured was largely JPs idea, and the thought that he didn’t have the foresight to envision a day beer would be sold throughout looks bad.

id bet a case of AmesLagers that the next AD, whatever decade that happens, will put beer in the venues As one of the first policy decisions.

 

[LAClone]

the reason is fairly simple and obvious. ISU thinks they get more profit by making alcohol only available in one section of the stadium than if they did it stadium wide.

JP has already given at least two terrible excuses for leaving money on the table and decreasing the fan experience. Do we really need to start making up better excuses?

 

[Tailg8er]

We're living through the absolute best era in the history of Iowa State athletics, but we've got fans who are obsessed with the lack of stadium wide beer sales. Good Lord.

Posting about it on a message board or X = obsessed? It's not like people are picketing outside of Pollard's office or paying for billboards on the topic.

 

[CyDude16]

Start up overhead would be closer to nothing than something to even worry about

lol that’s not true in the slightest.

 

[CyDude16]

Iowa football alcohol sales topped $3M in 2023, marking 29% increase

IOWA CITY — In heaven, there is no beer — as the polka song played at Iowa games says — so Hawkeye fans are drinking plenty of it at Kinnick

www.thegazette.com

Iowa sold $3m.

So Pollard’s numbers are about right.

$3 million is just revenue, not profit. Which many here are confusing.

 

[CyDude16]

If $400,000 doesn’t move the needle at all, neither can any donation I manage to scrape together.

Send him a sternly written email then. Lol

 

[CyDude16]

Gross profit, operating profit or net profit at 90%?

Not a chance in hell that margin is 90%. Laughable for someone to even claim that.

 

[CyDude16]

Why the hell do you have the stupid idea they aren't making money? OF COURSE they are making money! No one has said they aren't. Your inability to understand the difference between revenue and profit is astounding.

Almost all stadiums contract out concessions. A HUGE chunk of the revenue is going to the contractor so ISU doesn't have to deal with finding all the staff, inventory management, etc. This is not a hard concept to understand.

It is for a lot of people here. Clearly they’re all experts even with zero knowledge of the beverage and/or concessions industries.

 

[1SEIACLONE]

We're living through the absolute best era in the history of Iowa State athletics, but we've got fans who are obsessed with the lack of stadium wide beer sales. Good Lord.

It's more along the lines of why cannot we not have both, winning and a beer. We keep hearing we need to raise additional funds, the price of tickets and parking is increasing, they want us to donate more, but one easier ways to raise funds is not being tapped into. Now it may be that UNI and EIU are not making money or losing money on selling alcohol, but maybe at least we should be looking into it as a way to bring in extra funds.

 

[StPaulCyclone]

I'm curious if there's any thought given to the opportunity cost for fans buying beer in the stadium vs. donating. For instance, suppose beer were available and a fan spends $30 in the stadium on it, and the athletic department gets $6 in profit from that. But with those numbers, the AD would really prefer if the fan spent $15 on the same amount of beer outside the stadium, donated $10 to the AD, and kept $5 for themselves.

Now that probably shouldn't be used as a reason not to sell alcohol, because I don't think that most people budget or use their money that way. But I'd be curious if there's any negative relationship between something like alcohol or concession sales and donations.

This might be a small factor. Another maybe the with our small donor base, some percentage of the 80/20 rule is in place. Meaning maybe 80% of the donations/revenue come from 20% of the fan base. Opening up alcohol sales across the stadium may take away from the benefits of the clubs/suites. Perhaps the AD is concerned that some of the 20% may move to the 80%.

(It may not be a 80/20 breakdown, but something simliar. You get the point)

 

[CyDude16]

It's simple to me, we need money. That means you need more revenue. They will be forced to do this at some point.

No one is saying they won’t be forced to.

 

[StPaulCyclone]

I do not believe many are ignoring or misunderstanding the risks/complications. Nothing about stadium concessions is easy or simple -and we know definitively that many, many other places sell alcohol and are still very safe and family friendly values.

I agree, that’s why I said “some”. I’m more concerned that those some are oversimplifying this topic for the many and fueling the associated anti-Pollard rhetoric: control freak, raised prices, stubbor, etc..

 

[StPaulCyclone]

+ nearly every other school doesn’t allow for people to re-enter stadiums. not a popular idea, but that needs to change?

i Sometimes wonder if how the end zone was structured was largely JPs idea, and the thought that he didn’t have the foresight to envision a day beer would be sold throughout looks bad.

id bet a case of AmesLagers that the next AD, whatever decade that happens, will put beer in the venues As one of the first policy decisions.

I agree about readmittance, but it has to be a concession to not selling alcohol stadium-wide.

i assume you are referring to the NEZ. Interesting point. Could there be areas of the lower “level” of the NEZ concourse that have room for beer ”pop-ups”? That seating areas on the north end of the Jacobsen building on the upper concourse could have enough room for create two beer stands. are those spaces even used that often? I’m not sure where else they could go that would disrupt flow.

 

[Pope]

It's more along the lines of why cannot we not have both, winning and a beer. We keep hearing we need to raise additional funds, the price of tickets and parking is increasing, they want us to donate more, but one easier ways to raise funds is not being tapped into. Now it may be that UNI and EIU are not making money or losing money on selling alcohol, but maybe at least we should be looking into it as a way to bring in extra funds.

I admit you are right. But as a lifelong die hard Cyclone fan who has spent the majority of his life supporting a doormat football program, I'm just so giddy about our current status that I get annoyed at folks taking shots at Pollard over something as stupid as $10 beer sales.

 

[NetflixAndClone]

the reason is fairly simple and obvious. ISU thinks they get more profit by making alcohol only available in one section of the stadium than if they did it stadium wide.

Posting this from a earlier post I made in this thread. It looks like from industry studies on alcohol. Stadium wide selling makes money. Premium seating alcohol doesn’t. Obviously I don’t know how Iowa state handles 3rd party concessions and limited liability. But selling stadium wide and being a power conference team are boxes that Iowa state can check off easily.

• LEARFIELD/IMG College and concessionaires (e.g., Aramark, Levy) have presented case studies indicating alcohol programs are commonly net-positive when:
  • Sales are venue-wide (not limited to premium areas),
  • There’s sufficient attendance (Power Five football, men’s basketball),
  • The school uses third‑party concessions (reducing fixed costs but sharing revenue),
  • Compliance plans limit liability and security overtime.

 

[2speedy1]

This, and bring back the hot tub for a small fee.

Move the band to the middle of the Student section.

Install big money multi level hot tubs on the Band stands.

Huge boost in game day atmosphere. And major talking point for national media.

 

[BWRhasnoAC]

No one is saying they won’t be forced to.

Clearly they're gonna have to be forced into it kicking and screaming.

 

[Cydewayz]

It is kind of wild how at this point everything doesn't have much rhyme or reason....like the beer in the stadium argument (which many have debated in many ways on this thread, the idea our fans are bragged about when we drink Power and Light out of beer but not cool here, etc). This is ironic. Post today promoting booze for tailgates (https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1Aup67eccZ/ but also the rule listed here (https://cyclones.com/sports/2024/8/14/parking) says no glass bottles tailgating.