This season, Major League Baseball is rolling out a new pitch clock that will limit the amount of time between pitches during a game in an effort to speed up the action. So far this season, it’s worked with games across the country noticeably shorter. But naturally, that’s had a few unforeseen consequences – and one of them has to do with alcohol.
Since baseball games are now shorter than they’ve been in recent memory, that allows fans in attendance less time to buy and consume alcoholic beverages at the stadium. This not only affects fan enjoyment, but it could hurt the teams financially as they’re now seeing a small dropoff in the number of alcoholic beverages purchased throughout the game.
Given this concern, the Milwaukee Brewers and other teams have made a simple move: allow fans to purchase alcohol later in the game.
Previously, the Brewers and all other teams throughout the MLB cut off alcohol sales at the end of the seventh inning. But in response to the shorter games, the Brewers are now experimenting with allowing fans to purchase alcohol through the end of the eighth inning.
“This is [reflective] of the fact that the games are shorter. From a time perspective, we’re probably looking at selling beer for the same amount of time by extending to the eighth inning that we did last year through the seventh,” Brewers president of business operations Rick Schlesinger told MLB.com.
We’ll have to see how this plan works out for the Brewers and what other kinds of unforeseen consequences arise due to the shorter games.
[MLB.com]
