North Texas Daily

Reece Waddell | Senior Staff Writer

@ReeceTapout15

Before last season, it was impossible for Mean Green fans to order a cold beer during a football game at Apogee Stadium.

But after what athletic director Rick Villarreal called a successful inaugural season selling alcohol, North Texas will continue to sell alcohol at Apogee in 2015 with hopes of not only increasing sales, but also enhancing the fan experience.

“We knew a lot of people wanted to come inside, have a cold beer and watch North Texas football,” Villarreal said. “I’m not saying it brought in thousands of fans, but it gives people the option. All around the DFW metroplex, whether it be at a Cowboys game, Stars game or RoughRiders game, people can get a beer if they want it. You spend $45 on a ticket, we want you to come out and enjoy yourself.”

To improve on last year’s endeavor, North Texas has moved the location of alcohol booths inside of Apogee Stadium. Last year, beer was sold at booths housed at the four corners of the stadium.

This year, two of those have been moved closer to entrance gates to make for easier fan accessibility, and a fifth alcohol booth was added in the concourse of the south end zone.

Metzler’s Barbecue will provide the alcohol for the stadium again in 2015. Owner Roy Metzler said he is happy to report they will be serving a Denton craft beer as well as the usual selections.

“We’re proud to pour a local favorite” Metzler said. “We’re going to be serving Sunset and Bulletproof beers, which are brewed by Audacity Brew House over off Shady Oaks, so it’s great to be able to support the community in that regard.”

Like last year, all of the vendors serving alcohol will be TABC certified licensed bartenders. Metzler said this helps speed up the process of serving customers and ensures safety.

“Everyone out there is extremely well trained,” Metzler said. “Our goal is for everyone to enjoy responsibly.”

Overall, Metzler said he is pleased with how the first year of sales went, but said there is one area in particular he hopes to improve upon.

“Speed of service, without a doubt,” Metzler said. “Last year, we were having to pour beers from bottles into cups. That isn’t going to happen this year, which helps a lot. We’ve also added alcohol-only lines to help speed up service as well.”

WIth the sale of alcohol comes the risk of intoxication and safety concerns. UNT Interim Chief of Police Ed Reynolds said there were few alcohol-related incidents last year and is hopeful that trend continues.

“I was happy with the way things went last year,” Reynolds said. “We had very few, very minor problems. Actually, the biggest problems we had stemmed from the tailgating area, where alcohol is not monitored. That’s where the bigger risk of intoxication is. People go out there, have a few too many and come inside.”

While exact numbers were not available for alcohol sales, Villarreal said it was profitable for the university and brought in much needed revenue.

“At a university there are so many expenses, cost of attendance, tuition,” Villarreal said. “So without a doubt, this experience has been profitable and beneficial for all parties involved.”

North Texas will kick off its home opener at 1:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 19 when the Mean Green take on Rice University. And like last year, alcohol sales are expected to thrive.

Featured Image: Apogee’s alcohol selection is expected to expand to include local brewery Audacity. File Photo | North Texas Daily