Beer Sales Reconsidered Following NBA Brawl December 2, 2004
News Summary
Following a Nov. 19 brawl at a Detroit Pistons basketball game, some sports observers are questioning whether the U.S. should follow Europe's lead and take measures to limit or ban alcohol at games, the Denver Post reported Nov. 28."You've got to care about this stuff, and you've got to be willing to say safer arenas matter more than a little profit," said Joseph Kinney, a stadium security expert.
In Europe, measures taken to curb violence stemming from drunken behavior at soccer games have included teams forced to play in empty stadiums or having police in riot gear on standby. In the U.S., college football teams sometimes employ additional police officers to discourage fans from destructive measures following big games.
Some say the same steps should be implemented at professional sports games. However, the end result could mean fewer fans at games.
"That would not bother me," said Kinney. "This is an important issue. We don't need more violence, we need less. We talk about zero tolerance for drugs. I've seen as much damage from violence in this society as I have seen from drugs."
In addition to the Pistons melee, major league baseball has experienced five confrontations between players and fans over the last five years.
"The biggest problem we have now is ushers are not trained to look for people who are drunk, who are verbally abusive," said Kinney.
Ilana Kloss, a former pro tennis player and head of World Team Tennis, supports doing away with alcohol at games. Maybe you do have to give up some of that revenue from alcohol sales," he said. "But in the long run, you want the product to be safe. That would be one thing everybody has to look at."
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