Beer sales at South Dakota State University football games this season topped $400,000, according to data provided by the university, but student leaders wish the Students’ Association had some say on where that money is going.
During nine home football games this season, 60,213 cans of beer and seltzers were sold at Dana J. Dykhouse, adding up to $420,182 in revenue for the university.
Numbers provided by university officials show 40% going to Sodexo, 35% going to athletics, and 5% going to the Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment program (ADAPT).
The data sent to the Collegian didn’t say where the remaining 20% of the beer sale funds are going. 20% of $420,182 is $84,036.
Although beer sales have gone well this season, some student leaders think they should have a say on where the money goes since it was SA’s idea to push for beer sales.
Previous SA Senators Brandon Frizzel and John Sundet started the initiative to change the policy to sell alcohol at games in 2021.
“I looked at the information and not only does it enhance game day atmosphere, but it also keeps people safe on a number of levels,” Sundet said.
The senators talked to university presidents, shared resolutions with the rest of the regional schools and spoke at a December Board of Regents meeting to plead their case. The policy was officially changed in April of 2022 and beer sales started in August of 2022.
They didn’t have any exact expectations, but the hope was to see some of the money go towards things like mental health services on campus and alcohol abuse prevention, according to Sundet.
“We advocated and the athletic department was open to have some of that money go towards advertisements saying drive safely or for mental health services,” Sundet said.
The ADAPT program received $21,009 from beer sales this year but no funding was put into mental health services, according to data. When asked, Michael Garofalo, SA Government Affairs chair, also said no money was going to mental health services.
Garofalo thinks SA should have had some say on where the money went.
“I would have loved to see oversight for part of those funds be given to the Students’ Association because that’s where the whole thing started,” Garofalo said. “We led the charge for this then the other schools around the state started to follow suit.”
Jennifer Novotny, assistant vice president for Student Life sent an email to the Collegian that outlined part of the policy. The Sodexo SDBOR agreement set a 40% commission rate for alcohol sales. The remaining 35% commission on alcohol sales in athletic facilities is allocated to athletics. No funding is allocated to the Students’ Association.
Garofalo said he supports Sodexo getting a cut of the funds, as well as the athletic program but thinks half of what athletics gets would be a decent amount for SA to oversee.
“I think it’d be nice for us to have a bit of a say at the table because again the project started with us,” Garofalo said.
When the initiative first started, it was an understanding “loosely” among senators that SA would go towards funding new mental health programs, according to Garofalo.
“High-up people in the last set of administration were really confident that’s where those funds would go but then that didn’t end up coming to pass, which was disappointing for me personally,” Garofalo said.
Garofalo said he is not expecting SA to get a say in where the money goes anytime soon.
More revenue will be made from alcohol sales with upcoming basketball games with the same percentage payouts as the money made in the stadium.