Original article published on VenuesNow (05/02/18) by Don Muret

Officials with the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) are scheduled to vote this summer on whether to approve beer and wine sales in public spaces for the 2019 Final Four men's basketball tournament. The vote extends to committees supervising 23 sports across all three of the NCAA's divisions, although official L.J. Wright says not all events would be affected by the transition. “If it passes, we'll be working with each of the host venues to determine whether they'll be able to do it,” he notes. “It all depends on their capacity to serve alcohol.” The NCAA Board of Governors in fall 2017 removed the association's longtime ban on alcohol sales at NCAA postseason events, and Wright says the decision to lift the ban stemmed from member schools' requests. The NCAA has tested public beer and wine sales for the 2018 Men's Frozen Four at Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul, Minn., and its Wrestling Championships at Quicken Loans Arena in Cleveland. “The NCAA is strongly considering selling beer in public areas for 2019,” says Patrick Talty with Minneapolis' U.S. Bank Stadium. “They're asking us to prepare for that and what it would look like in our building." Talty also stresses that the venue conducts alcohol awareness training with Aramark and the stadium's ushers. He expects there to be an alcohol sale revenue-sharing agreement with the NCAA for Final Four.

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