University of Maine sports fans have been singing about filling their cups and drinking for a long time. But until Saturday’s home football game, they had never been able to drink alcohol in the stands on campus.
As one UMaine alum pointed out, the Black Bear faithful have been singing the Maine “Stein Song,” the school’s official tune that centers around toasting with beer mugs, for years.
“We sing, ‘Fill the steins to dear old Maine,’ but we had never been able to,” said Greg from Augusta, who preferred not to have his last name included.
That disconnect between the song and stands changed on Saturday when, for the first time ever, fans were allowed to bring beer, spiked seltzers and wine to their seats at a University of Maine sporting event in Orono.
But it wasn’t as if the stands suddenly turned into one big keg party.
“No one’s stumbling around or anything,” said James, another UMaine fan, who was enjoying a beer during halftime. He said people were generally being responsible and that the ability to drink in the stands added something positive to the fan experience.
“We always had a good time without it,” he added on the sunny Saturday afternoon. “It’s a beautiful day to be out and have a beer or two.”
UMaine started offering alcohol, except hard liquor, at the Alfond Arena hockey games for the first time last season. But fans were only allowed to drink in a beer garden located in the arena and couldn’t bring the drinks to their seats.
There has been an outdoor beer garden at UMaine football games for several years with the same approach: Drinking was limited to just the beer garden itself.
UMaine announced earlier this month that it would allow fans to take certain alcoholic beverages to their seats at home football and hockey games.
Saturday’s football game against North Carolina A&T was the first look at this new system.
“There’s been a lot of thoughtful consideration from a lot of people on campus, in the community, to move forward,” UMaine athletic director Jude Killy said earlier this week.
He said Saturday’s game offered the chance to unveil the new approach “in a more limited sample size” with an emphasis on approaching it in a “safe and educational way.”
He explained how, in addition to the beer garden and the new ability to bring alcohol out of that area to the stands, there would also be a new pop-up stand on the mezzanine level where people could get IDed, get a wrist band, and buy an adult beverage.
“We’re certainly excited about the opportunity to modernize the fan experience as part of it,” Killy said.
It wasn’t always easy for fans, or a reporter, to find that new pop-up location.
Caleb Hall from Rockland is a UMaine alum who was at his first team football game to watch his daughter play in the band. He had trouble finding that new location in the stands, so he went back and forth to the beer tent instead.
He called the new process a work in progress but wasn’t concerned about it.
“They’ll figure it out,” Hall said.
Once the reporter was able to track down the new card-only beer register, he found a happy group of workers at the helm serving up equally cheery customers.
Edwina Strout, Lynn White and Victoria Riley were behind the counter to provide the historic round of beer, wine and spiked seltzers to stadium fans for the first time.
White said during halftime that business had been steady, and Strout said the fans seemed happy to have the new location as an option.
And there hadn’t been any rowdy behavior in sight.
“We haven’t had to cut anyone off,” Riley added.
Though alcohol is now allowed in the stands, it remains prohibited in the student section and the athletic department has created new alcohol free zones for fans who do not want to be around it.
But not everyone is totally sold on the change.
Jeff and Laurie Boulanger from Fairfield have been to pro sporting venues like Fenway Park and witnessed unruly behavior from fans who had too much to drink — including the unfortunate experience of having beer spilled on them.
Jeff Boulanger said that behavior can be hard to control and expressed concern about bringing small children, like grandchildren, to a game where people drink.
“It would be great if they had a drinking section,” he said, proposing an alternative to the non-drinking sections.
Lew and Eleanor Miller from Glenburn expressed a similar sentiment.
“We’ve been to Red Sox games where the behavior was less than desirable,” said Lew Miller.
“People can get stupid,” said Eleanor Miller.
Lew Miller said everyone will have to see how the change to allow alcohol in the stands plays out, and how the university manages it.
Suzanne Orcutt of Dexter said she likes the idea “as long as it is done responsibly.” And several people enjoying the new rules on Saturday thought that was going to be the case.
Joe McCafferty lives in Massachusetts and his son is a student at UMaine. McCafferty was “super happy” about the change as he brought himself and his wife each a beer back from the beer garden.
He sees other schools starting to coalesce around the move to allow alcohol in the stands.
“I think it’s time, and people will be responsible about it,” McCafferty said.
It was a sentiment echoed by several others throughout the game.
“It’s a nice thing to be able to enjoy a beer while you’re watching football,” McCafferty said. “And nobody’s going to get crazy about it, everybody’s adult about it. It’s more the spirit of enjoying the game.”
Colin Roy thought the ability to buy alcohol on the mezzanine and take it back to your seat is “pretty convenient” and said that it’s nice “having a chance to have a sip of something different than soda” in the stands.
As a former Maine high school athletic director, he’s had his share of trying to manage fan behavior at games. But he didn’t envision people getting out of hand with the arrival of alcohol sales in the stands at his alma mater.
“They’re not going to sit here and get drunk,” the season ticket holder said about his fellow Black Bear fans.
