Authority: Northwestern State Athletics
Date enacted or revised: Enacted August 6, 2019

Purpose
The primary purpose of these Policies and Procedures are to ensure that Alcoholic Beverages served at athletic events are carried out in a safe and responsible manner.  Alcoholic Beverages shall be defined as beer and/or spiked seltzers.  This policy is intended to align with the NCAA Championship and Ancillary Event Alcohol Sales Policy and University of Louisiana System Policy and Procedure Memorandum FB-IV.VII-1, Sales and Distribution of Alcoholic Beverages.  Public safety and compliance with all applicable laws, regulations, ordinances, and university policies will be given first priority consideration when making decisions related to management of Alcoholic Beverage sales at Northwestern State University athletic contests. 

Management
The Northwestern State University Athletics Director  and Associate Athletics Director for External Affairs will monitor Alcoholic Beverage sales and consumption activities for compliance with University policies as part of their game management responsibilities. Sodexo, the University’s exclusive food service provider, will manage and operate alcoholic beverage sales at the athletic contests.  Sodexo will employ all alcoholic beverage sellers at athletic games. Sodexo will be responsible for notifying applicable regulatory agencies as required and shall be responsible for obtaining and maintaining the required licenses and permits to sell Alcoholic Beverages at the athletic games. Sodexo and its employees shall ensure all State and Federal Laws are followed.

Education and Licensing
As required by State and Federal laws and regulations, all sellers of Alcoholic Beverages will be required to have successfully completed the required education and possess a valid State of Louisiana bar card at all times when selling alcoholic beverages.  Sodexo will be responsible for ensuring that all alcoholic beverage sellers have the required credentials.  Sodexo will contract with a qualified third party to provide the required education, as needed, and Sodexo will pay for the cost of training.

Legal Age Verification
No Alcoholic Beverage may be possessed, distributed, served, or consumed by persons under the age of 21. Sodexo employees will verify that all alcoholic beverage purchasers are of at least the legally required age of 21 years, as required by Law, before alcoholic beverage sales are transacted. Alcoholic beverage sellers may not under any circumstance sell an alcoholic beverage if legal age cannot be verified. The purchaser’s state driver’s license or equivalent form of official identification will be the accepted form of identification. At Sodexo’s discretion, verification of age may occur at the alcoholic beverage selling venue or at a separate location determined by Sodexo.  If a seller has doubts as to whether the purchaser is of the legally required age, the alcoholic beverage seller should ask for the purchaser’s driver’s license to verify age.  If a purchaser refuses to provide proper identification, the seller may rescind the request, and the seller shall refuse to sell the alcoholic beverage to the purchaser no matter how old the customer appears. 

Sales Limitations
Sellers shall limit purchasers to no more than two (2) containers of alcoholic beverages for each sales transaction.  Maximum serving sizes per container will be as follows:
• Beer: 16 ounces
• Spiked Seltzers: 16 ounces
** Sellers shall refuse to sell Alcoholic Beverages to anyone perceived to be inebriated. Alcoholic Beverage sales shall cease at pre-designated times at particular athletic contests as stated below.  See individual sports for specific times.

Security and Law Enforcement
Event Security shall include a search for alcohol when searching for items entering the athletic venue.  Law enforcement shall not allow persons entry into the athletic venue with alcohol in their possession.  At least one (1) law enforcement officer per selling point will remain in a reasonably close visual distance of all alcoholic beverage sales venues/concession stands. Law enforcement shall assist alcoholic beverage sellers in the safe and responsible selling of alcoholic beverages and in the enforcement of these policies and procedures as needed. 

Law enforcement and/or other University designated personnel will not allow athletic event attendees to leave the athletic venue with a container containing an alcoholic beverage.  Attendees will be required to discard the alcoholic beverage before leaving the athletic venue.  Trash receptacles will be placed at venue entrances/exits for disposal of alcoholic beverages. In the interest of public safety, if an attendee leaves the athletic venue, re-entry into the facility will not be permitted (see baseball/softball the doubleheader exception below). 

Specific Athletic Venues:
Alcoholic Beverages will be served only at baseball, softball, and football games.  The following are specific policies and procedures for these individual sports. 

Baseball 
Alcoholic Beverages will be sold from the baseball concession stand.  Alcoholic Beverage rules signage will be placed at entrances and at various locations around the stadium.  Alcoholic Beverage purchasers will be allowed to bring Alcoholic Beverages to their seats, but Alcoholic Beverage hawkers will not be used.  Attendees will need to have a valid ticket to enter the stadium through the end of the 7th inning.  Alcohol Beverage sales shall cease at the end of the 7th inning.  For doubleheader games, if the second game of a doubleheader begins within 30 minutes of the end of the first game, alcoholic beverages may be sold through the 7th inning of the second game without interruption between games.

Softball
Alcoholic Beverages will be sold from the softball concession stand.  Alcoholic Beverage rules signage will be placed at entrances and at various locations around the stadium.  Alcoholic Beverage purchasers will be allowed to bring Alcoholic Beverages to their seats, but Alcoholic Beverage hawkers will not be used.  Attendees will need to have a valid ticket to enter the stadium through the end of the 5th inning.  Alcoholic beverage sales shall cease at the end of the 5th inning.  For doubleheader games, if the second game of a doubleheader begins within 30 minutes of the end of the first game, Alcohol Beverages may be sold through the 5th inning of the second game without interruption between games.

Football
Football game attendees will need to have a valid ticket to enter the stadium through the end of the third quarter.  Alcoholic Beverage rules signage will be placed at entrances and at various locations around the football stadium, including the concession stands.   Alcoholic Beverages will be sold from the northernmost concession stand on the East side of Turpin Stadium, the Ground level concession stand on the West side of Turpin Stadium, and from the 3rd floor concession stand.  Alcoholic Beverage purchasers will be allowed to bring alcoholic beverages to their seats, but alcoholic beverage hawkers will not be used.  Alcoholic beverage sales shall cease at the end of the 3rd quarter (on the 4th quarter whistle). 

Ride sharing service will be accessible at all demon football games, courtesy of EZ-RYDR. An EZ-RYDR tent will be set up on both the east and west sides of Turpin Stadium for any person(s) needing a ride home from the game for any reason. Visit https://www.ez-rydr.com/ or download the app to book a ride. 

Communication
These policies and procedures are distributed via the Executive Staff, Game Management Staff, NSU Leadership Council, and the University Policy Page.  The policy will also be accessible on the NSU Athletics website: nsudemons.com.  The University Athletic Department will inform season ticket holders, donors, and the general public of these policies and procedures through means it deems appropriate and will continue to remind patrons of our policies throughout the year.

Demons Drink Responsibly