Any list of the top athletic directors would be incomplete without Iowa State’s Jamie Pollard.
Since 2005, Pollard has been in charge of Cyclone athletics and has done a fantastic job there.
Whether it’s facility renovations, Cy-Town, and, most importantly, his coaching hires, numerous data points suggest that he is not just one of the best athletic directors in the Big 12—he is one of the best in the entire country.
As great as Pollard has been in Ames, there’s one topic that I’ve never entirely agreed with him on.
That, of course, is alcohol sales at sporting events.
Pollard has been against the idea for years, but this week, he took his stance to a new level.
Jamie Pollard: “People Are Flat-Out Slobs”
During Iowa State’s Student Government “Know Your Leaders” Town Hall Series this week, Pollard answered questions from students concerning things like Iowa State athletics, student-athletes, and CyTown. The topic of selling alcohol in Jack Trice Stadium came up, and Pollard had quite a strong stance on the matter.
“It is a much more complicated issue than most people even realize,” Pollard said. “There are a whole host of issues servicing that. The stadium is not set up for it. If you think the lines are long today and the concourses get blocked by people now, add beer to it, and you aren’t walking through it.”
“My second reason is behavioral issues,” Pollard continued. “I get to see what our police department deals with post-game. People are slobs. People are flat-out slobs, and that’s without selling alcohol.”
Not only did Pollard call fans slobs once, but he doubled down in his third reason, saying, “Number three is I’m not convinced the people that buy our seats in the stadium actually really want it. They don’t want the drunk slob behind them spilling beer on them because they haven’t had their first beer ever.”
“At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter what Jamie Pollard thinks; it’s not my call. It’s the president’s call and the police chief’s call,” Pollard said. “If you can’t refrain from drinking for three and a half hours from the game, then don’t come to the game. I don’t care.”
Derek’s Take: Where’s the Drawback to Selling Beer In-Stadium?
Let’s break this thing down from a couple of different viewpoints.
First, if you can create Cy-Town and make renovations, you can certainly make changes or updates to Jack Trice Stadium. The fact that nothing has been done already tells me that selling alcohol was never even a thought.
I was there in person for the George Strait concert last May, and you could buy alcohol. Sure, it wasn’t the greatest experience when it came to buying it, but guess what? People were able to enjoy a cold beer in the stadium.
As for the “behavioral issues,” I found something quite interesting. If you talk to most schools that recently started selling alcohol, they will actually tell you that incidents have decreased inside the stadium.
In fact, just look at Iowa State’s in-state rival, Iowa. The Hawkeyes started selling alcohol at sporting events in 2021, and, as shocking as it may be, reported their lowest amount of gameday citations over the past decade.
“The UI Department of Public Safety (DPS) issued 24 game day citations during seven home dates at Kinnick Stadium in 2021. The previous five-year average (2015-19) was 33 citations per year, and the five-year average from 2010-14 was 397 citations per year. Fans did not attend games in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Call me crazy, but it sounds like a win-win situation to sell alcohol inside the stadium for a markup rather than have people chug as many beers and take as many shots as they can before even getting to their seats.
Ever wonder why people leave at halftime and there are empty seats in the third quarter? It’s because those people are back in the parking lot cracking a cold one. There’s a simple fix to that issue: Provide the fans access to beer in the stadium.
Honestly, the final comment wasn’t even a matter of disagreeing—it flat-out pissed me off, and I’m not alone in that sentiment.
Calling fans—your own fans—slobs? Those “slobs” are the same people who spend their hard-earned money to support Iowa State athletics. Those “slobs” are the same people who are buying merch and supporting the athletic department through NIL opportunities (like Ames Lager).
Is it really that detestable that they want to pay for a beer or cocktail—that is marked up, mind you— while they watch the game?
The Iowa State athletic department could potentially make millions by simply offering it, and the last time I checked, the Cyclones aren’t in the Big Ten or the SEC, making money hand over fist.
Conclusion: Either Take the High Road or Don’t
There’s really no way to dance around this—Pollard needs to stop taking this “moral high ground” stance on alcohol and make the obvious decision here. Fans shouldn’t have to be five-figure annual donors and members of the Sukup End Zone Club to have the opportunity to buy a beer.
Whether he meant to or not, Pollard’s comments portrayed the idea that if ISU fans want booze, then they’d better donate more money.
If he decides that the moral high ground is the route he’s taking, then there shouldn’t be a drop of alcohol inside the stadium. If you’re going to offer it to the big-money donors for free, then it’d better damn well be available to the common “slobs,” too.
If Pollard had just said, “No, we aren’t considering selling alcohol inside Jack Trice Stadium,” or something along those lines, there wouldn’t have been any issues. Instead, he decided to attack the fan base. I am no public relations expert, but there is no scenario that makes it okay to call fans—especially the ones who support your school—slobs.
I know everyone may not agree with this take, and I understand. But the fact of the matter is people are going to drink whether there is alcohol sold inside the stadium or not. Maybe offering a $12-$15 cocktail would make people think twice about drinking as much as possible. Then again, perhaps it wouldn’t.
Either way, at least it would afford the standard responsible Iowa State fan to have a drink while they cheer on their beloved Cyclones.
Taking the moral high ground is one thing; doing it and labeling the very people who support you as “slobs” is another, especially when you’re turning a blind eye to folks with thicker pocketbooks.
