Entire stadium to sell liquor

The Tampa City Council is one step away from making it possible for fans to buy drinks made with hard liquor at Buccaneer football games.

By JANET ZINK
Published July 20, 2007

TAMPA - Football fans at Raymond James Stadium thirsting for more than a beer with their Buccaneers likely will soon be able to buy hard liquor at games.

The Tampa City Council on Thursday gave initial approval to a wet zoning that opens the entire stadium to liquor sales.

Currently, hard liquor can be sold only in the club seating area, luxury suites, restaurants and a few other locations that seat about 15,000 people. Raymond James holds nearly 66,000 people. Beer and wine are sold throughout the stadium.

"This will allow all the fans in the facility to purchase liquor," said Mickey Farrell, operations director for the Tampa Sports Authority, which runs the stadium.

The council, which passed the measure unanimously with little discussion, is expected to take a final vote on it in two weeks.

Farrell said he doubted the liquor sales would be in place by the Buccaneers' preseason, which begins next month. But cocktails like rum and Coke and frozen daiquiris might be on sale by the Bucs' first regular season home game Sept. 16 against the New Orleans Saints.

Farrell said the Sports Authority and Levy Premium Foodservice, the stadium's concessionaire, need to determine sales locations and sales people need to be trained.

Buyers will be limited to two drinks per person, the same for beer and wine, Farrell said.

"This just got approved so now we're going to sit down and review all that," he said.

George Scott, director of operations for the concessionaire, said the change will not apply to University of South Florida football games at the stadium. And for other events, sales will be "on a case-by-case basis."

The St. Pete Times Forum and Tropicana Field both sell mixed drinks to patrons throughout their facilities. Andrea Davis, a spokeswoman for Tampa police, said the Raymond James Stadium has made safety a priority at games, hiring 150 off-duty Tampa police officers in addition to off-duty sheriff's deputies and state troopers.

"Obviously, it's up to the individual drinker to be responsible," Davis said. "For us it's going to be as it is. It doesn't matter if it's beer or liquor, we're going to be policing all behavior."

Eric Land, chief operating officer for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, said the City Council's unanimous approval of the request "is a sign that our fans have proven over the years they can be responsible."

"We hope our fans continue to, when they drink, drink responsibly," he said.

Council member Charlie Miranda offered this prediction about the interest of Bucs fans in mixed drinks: "They're drunk before they get in, so you're not going to have much sales."

Times staff writer Rebecca Catalanello contributed to this report. Janet Zink can be reached at jzink@sptimes.com or 813 226-3401.

[Last modified July 20, 2007, 06:49:20]