College football game day stadium incidents: policy and environmental effects on alcohol-related ejections and crime

Abstract

Alcohol-related crime and misconduct remain an ongoing problem at university-sponsored sporting events in the USA. Prior research has focused on the impact of alcohol on spectator behavior at sporting events, but has not linked policy and environmental factors to behavior inside venues. This study seeks to explore the connection between policy and environmental variables' impact and reported alcohol-related crime and ejection rates within college football stadiums. The analysis tested the effect of alcohol sales policy (sales allowed or prohibited), law enforcement ejection policy, temperature, time of game, whether the home team is ranked, whether the visitor team is ranked, conference game, in-state rivalry, and attendance on college football games in seven stadiums in the USA over the course of three years. Attendance, followed by alcohol sales policy and start time of game, had a direct relationship on and influenced an increase in crime. Law enforcement policy on reporting ejections, followed by temperature, attendance, conference games, and rivalry games, influenced the frequency of alcohol-related ejection reports. Thus, policy variables were significant indicators of alcohol-related law enforcement activity at college football stadiums.