Alcohol sales at Dana J. Dykhouse stadium were similar in 2024 compared to 2023, despite having one fewer home football game this season, according to data provided by Sodexo.
Julia Neer, district manager for Sodexo, said sales totaled $434,394.08 in fall 2024, with a total attendance of 130,070 over eight games. In fall 2023, alcohol sales totaled $432,808.36, over the course of nine football games and a total of 143,942 attendees.
Since SDSU started selling alcohol at athletic events in fall 2022, the amount of sites to purchase alcohol in the stadium have increased.
Jennifer Novotny, assistant vice president for student life said that in 2022, there were two concession stands on the south end of the stadium where alcohol could be purchased, one on the visitor side and one on the home side. In 2023, Sodexo added a west kiosk, which is by the main gates.
“They [Sodexo] were doing that not just to increase sales,” Novotny said. “It was probably more focused on just customer experience, not waiting in line as long.”
Additionally, last season Sodexo added a self-serve kiosk on the west side of the stadium.
“The slight increase in revenue can largely be attributed to the addition of pop-up locations by our new on-site leadership team, despite fewer games,” Neer said.
So far, alcohol sales for this semester are also on the rise. In January and February of this year, sales equaled $53,659.79, compared to $41,999.32 in January and February 2024.
Alcohol has been sold at the stadium since fall 2022, after Students’ Association (SA) senators in 2021 started the initiative to sell alcohol at athletic events.
Previous SA senators said they were disappointed that none of the proceeds of alcohol sales had gone to SA, according to a story written by the Collegian last year. Current SA president Trinity Peterson wasn’t involved with the original bill when it was introduced.
“I would encourage the cut of the funds that go toward alcohol prevention programs to be better utilized and more easily available to students,” Peterson said when asked if that sentiment still exists within SA. “There is a fund dedicated for this use, but it currently lacks a structured application process and its availability is not advertised to students.”
As it stands, 60% of the revenue from alcohol sales goes back to Sodexo as the vendor and the university receives the other 40%, according to Novotny. 35% of the university’s cut goes to athletics and 5% is reserved for alcohol prevention programs for the university.
In the 2023-2024 academic year, $26,410.81 was allocated to the alcohol prevention fund, said Toby Uecker, dean of students.
“My voice and the voice of the student affairs division did advocate for some percentage of sales coming to prevention programming because we knew that it was important to continue helping students make good decisions around these issues,” Uecker said. “We wanted some good alternatives for students, so that there was never a sense that this was just the expected way to take in a football game or the expected way to celebrate.”
Uecker outlined the alcohol prevention programs that are funded from this money.
Bystander intervention training, online alcohol education programs and parent handbooks on substance abuse are just a few programs sponsored with money funded by alcohol sales. The division of student affairs and enrollment management also partners with the residence hall program council on Hobo Night Live.
Uecker added: “We wanted to make sure that we had both messages and actions that backed up that we fully believe that students can be active and engaged participants in any event on campus, without having alcohol be a part of that experience.”
