Alabama athletics announced Monday it “will not be moving forward with alcohol sales at this time” thanks to a new service fee approved by the Tuscaloosa City Council last week.
During a meeting on February 8, the Tuscaloosa City Council okayed a public service fee for “ticketed events of at least 1,000” where alcohol is sold. The fee will be increased depending on capacity.
Alcohol was scheduled to be available soon at Coleman Coliseum, but that plan has been suspended pending review of the new ordinance.
“It is very unfortunate that the City of Tuscaloosa’s plan would unreasonably target Alabama Athletics and our fans with a service fee on all tickets where alcohol is sold, even tickets sold to children,” Alabama AD Greg Byrne wrote in a statement on Twitter. “There are so many positive impacts our athletics events –and the University as a whole–have provided that are being discounted, including the extraordinary economic and tax benefits to the city.”
— Greg Byrne 🥋 (@Greg_Byrne) February 14, 2022
According to a report from the Tuscaloosa News, the scale for the new service fee is as follows:
• $1 per ticket sold at any event with the capacity of 1,000 to 19,999 people;
• $2 per ticket sold at any event with a capacity of 20,000 to 49,999 people; and
• $3 per ticket sold at any even with the capacity of 50,000 people or greater.
Alabama men’s basketball has three home games remaining on its schedule, while the Crimson Tide women’s hoops program has two home dates left.
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