Alcohol sales "nearly doubled at Purdue home football games" in '18 compared to the previous season, according to Mike Carmin of the Lafayette JOURNAL & COURIER. In '17, the first season alcohol was sold in the concourse, the Purdue athletic department "generated $567,778.76 in gross sales." Last season, the figure jumped to $1,063,632 "thanks to a seventh game at Ross-Ade Stadium and three kickoffs starting under the lights." Sales throughout the concourse make up 73% of the "gross revenue in the last two seasons." The largest alcohol sales figure in '18 was $217,440 for a night game against Ohio State. Purdue "averaged $187,327 in gross sales during night games." In '17, two games "generated over $100,000 in gross revenue sales compared to six games last season" (Lafayette JOURNAL & COURIER, 1/16).
LISTEN TO THE FANS: SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL's Michael Smith notes Purdue "wants to plan a major renovation to its football home," but first AD Mike Bobinski is "bringing in Elevate Sports Ventures to get feedback from fans on what they want." Elevate will embark on a "massive data-driven study to find out preferences for all of the things that go into the fan experience -- parking, seat location and comfort, communication, concessions, technology and more." The study will "incorporate feedback from tens of thousands" of Purdue fans. Purdue will "work with designer Populous on the Ross-Ade Stadium improvements" (SPORTS BUSINESS JOURNAL, 1/14 issue).
