Iowa football alcohol sales topped $3M in 2023, marking 29% increase

IOWA CITY — In heaven, there is no beer — as the polka song played at Iowa games says — so Hawkeye fans are drinking plenty of it at Kinnick Stadium.

Iowa Athletics netted $3.2 million in revenue after sales tax from 2023 Iowa football home games, according to data reviewed by The Gazette under an open records request. That marks a 29 percent increase from the 2022 figures.

Iowa received another $1.3 million from alcohol sales at all nonfootball sporting events during the 2023-24 academic year, including basketball, wrestling, baseball and softball. That was up 45 percent from 2022-23.

Iowa’s 12-10 loss to Minnesota on Oct. 21, 2023, had the highest alcohol sales of any individual game in the period, with $539,722 after sales tax. The win over Utah State on Sept. 2, 2023 had the lowest sales of any football game with $393,504.

The only nonfootball game to exceed $100,000 in alcohol sales was the women’s basketball exhibition against DePaul at Kinnick ($124,024) in October 2023. The men’s wrestling match against Penn State last February had the highest alcohol sales of any event at Carver-Hawkeye Arena, with $88,655.

“As long as we can continue to provide an environment where our fans can drink responsibly and can be respectful to those around them, I think it’s something that’s continued to be a benefit for us,” Iowa athletics director Beth Goetz told The Gazette. “And certainly there’s some revenue that’s generated there.”

Starting in fall 2021, the university expanded beer and wine sales at its athletic facilities. That first year brought in about $3 million across all athletic facilities, a number that has shot up since. Fans are not allowed to bring their own alcohol into Kinnick Stadium or the Carver-Hawkeye Arena.

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In Iowa Athletics’ 2023 end-of-season survey, which The Gazette also reviewed via an open records request, 36 percent of fans indicated that beer and wine sales had a positive impact on the game-day experience at Kinnick. That’s down from 37 percent in 2022 and 43 percent in 2021.

About 42 percent neither agreed nor disagreed that it had a positive impact, and 22 percent disagreed. The percentage who disagreed rose from 21 percent after the 2022 season and 18 percent after the 2021 season.

Despite the slightly higher level of dissatisfaction, it has not dissuaded many fans from flocking to Kinnick. The survey indicated alcohol sales did not impact 89 percent of fans’ attendance, and another 8 percent were more likely to attend games because of it.

“We continue to be in a position where we see a decrease in alcohol-related incidents,” Goetz said. “You certainly are never going to eliminate that.”

Comments: john.steppe@thegazette.com

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