By Elena Durnbaugh
Assistant Editor
Posted: May 1, 2023 7:57 AM

A recently introduced bill that would allow alcohol to be sold at certain on-campus sporting events at Michigan universities made a splash last week, but it's not clear that the legislation will get a hearing any time soon.

Rep. Graham Filler (R-St. Johns) and Sen. Sean McCann (D-Kalamazoo) are leading a bipartisan effort to allow university governing boards to apply for liquor licenses to sell alcohol at basketball, football and hockey games.

HB 4328 and SB 247 would allow the Michigan Liquor Control Commission to issue up to three tavern licenses or three Class C liquor licenses to be used for events within the public areas of university football, basketball and hockey stadiums. Sales would be permitted one hour before each game.

The legislation was referred to the House Regulatory Reform Committee and Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee for consideration, but Rep. Tyrone Carter, who chairs the House committee, said the bill wasn't one he was in a hurry to move.

Mr. Carter (D-Detroit) said the bill wasn't at the top of his list priority list for the committee as there were other reforms he felt needed to be discussed first.

"That's one of those things that if we do nothing, it's not a big deal. It's not a huge need," he said. "But we'll wait and see what side wants what."

Other committee priorities include eliminating sunsets on some laws and addressing legislation related to the cannabis industry.

"We'll get all the facts, and I'm sure that if and when we do get a hearing, we'll have people for and against. I'm sure that both sides will…advocate pretty strongly for their positions," Mr. Carter said.

One thing Mr. Carter said the committee would need to keep in mind is balancing the potential to generate revenue with any concerns about liability and safety.

"We know that people are tailgating in the parking lots and other places before and after games, and nobody's asking for ID. But the thing of it is, at least if it's being done at the stadium, we at least know that to purchase it, you have to be of legal age," Mr. Carter said.

He also said that he didn't want to create unnecessary work for people in charge of campus safety, but that lawmakers would need to be honest about what was already going on at university games.

"If you can't control it, you have to figure out a way to manage it," he said. "So, would that give us an opportunity to manage some things? Possibly."

Managing what is already going on at college games is an important part of the conversation for the bill sponsors.

"Giving universities the option to serve alcohol at their sporting events is about freedom, fairness and recognizing that the responsible consumption of alcohol inside the stadium is much safer that the binge drinking that goes on in the parking lot," Mr. Filler said in a statement. "Multiple examples exist that show alcohol-related incidents inside stadiums declining after alcohol sales are allowed."

Of the 14 schools in the Big Ten, eight allow alcohol sales at football games, and most have seen positive results with the decreases in the number of alcohol-related incidents, a press release from House Republicans said. After Ohio State started selling alcohol stadiumwide in 2016, university police reported a 65 percent decrease in alcohol-related incidents inside its sport venues.

Mr. Filler introduced similar legislation last year, but the plan did not get brought up for a vote. The current plan has bipartisan support in the House and in the Senate.

Sen. Jeremy Moss (D-Southfield), chair of the Senate Regulatory Affairs Committee, could not be reached Monday to discuss the Senate bill's chances of getting a hearing.

"To me, it's not one of those hot button issues, because when you look at it, it really to me circles around capacity," Mr. Carter said. "But there's a lot of things that would have to go into that. And I'd have to probably reach out to some universities and have them come and testify…what would be the economic impact versus what would be some of the unintended consequences."

Those unintended consequences could be related to what happens if a university overserves someone and other liability concerns.

"As the old saying goes…is the juice worth the squeeze, in terms of that," Mr. Carter said.