Senate reconsiders TCF Stadium booze ban

​Good news for Gophers fans and stadium-goers looking to get their booze on in TCF Stadium: a bill that would allow stadium vendors to sell alcohol passed through the Senate Finance Committee yesterday and is heading toward the full chamber.

University regents originally wanted beer and liquor to be sold in premium seating only. The Legislature subsequently stepped in and decreed that either sell it throughout the entire stadium or not all. University officials ultimately decided that making booze available to the rabble was out of the question, hence the stadium-wide ban on booze.

As it's written now, the bill mandates all profits from liquor go toward funding athletic scholarships. Its sponsor, Sen. Sandy Pappas, DFL-St. Paul, lambasted the current ban "really put the university at a competitive disadvantage," though she has no problem with the U of M keeping booze out of the cheap seats.