LSU fans are going to have to wait at least another year for a long-discussed beer garden in Tiger Stadium.
The university has shelved the concept until the end of the upcoming football season, which begins next Saturday.
“We just said we’re going to put it on the back burner this year, and put our energy and focus on making the Skyline Club come to life,” says Eddie Nunez, LSU’s deputy director of athletics.
Nunez says the school still hopes to move forward with a beer garden in the future, but that more dialogue was needed with SEC officials. LSU earlier this year said it was working toward getting a beer garden inside Tiger Stadium for the upcoming season.
But the university had several projects underway inside Tiger Stadium, Nunez says, including the demolition of former dorms at the south end of the stadium, where the proposed beer garden would be. School officials also needed more time to work out the kinks with SEC officials, he adds, so they decided to shelve the beer garden project for now.
LSU did, however, add a new premium section—the Skyline Club—this season. The 1,500-seat section, which was pitched as a more affordable premium area, will serve alcohol and is located on the south deck of Tiger Stadium.
LSU Athletic Director Joe Alleva for years has floated the beer garden concept as a way to give more fans access to alcohol inside the stadium, partly to tamp down on binge drinking outside. The SEC prohibits alcohol sales at the athletic events of its member schools, but the Tiger Athletic Foundation operates premium sections that are allowed to serve alcohol.
“We’re gonna continue to work on ways to improve our fan experience,” Nunez says. “And this is one of those.”
—Sam Karlin
