Identifying the Influence of Opponent Ranking and Game Characteristics on Alcohol-Related Stadium Ejections

Abstract

Sporting events in the U.S., particularly college football games, provide an opportunity for high-risk alcohol consumption that can result in alcohol-related consequences and associated public safety issues. Policy implication and predicting alcohol-related misconduct at college football games has become a concern for university administrators. To address this issue, we explored the extent to which the profile of a game or opponent-whether that be operationalized by classification (e.g., in-state opponent, conference opponent) or opponent quality (e.g., top-25 status, ranking average)-influences the reported stadium ejections of a college football venue, and whether these associations existed beyond the influence of several noteworthy covariates (e.g., time of kickoff, attendance, temperature). We suggest that time of kickoff and opponent quality measures predicted increases of ejections from college football stadiums. We conclude by discussing policy implications for college athletic departments and university stakeholders.

The Impact of Alcohol Sales in A College Football Stadium on Healthcare Utilization

“…Previous studies showed that game characteristics, such as later kickoff times, higher opponent rankings, and in-state or conference rivalry games, were associated with increased numbers of alcohol-related ejections. 14 This suggests that there is a link between the importance of a game and misconduct/unhealthy behavior. Interestingly, our data demonstrated no such association between game characteristics and alcohol-related ED visits.…”