Four Major League Baseball teams have extended the time for selling beer through the eighth inning as the pitch clock has shortened game times.
The Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins, and Milwaukee Brewers have all announced that they will sell beer longer into the game this season because games are not as long as they have been, and people have had less time to order alcohol, NBC News reported.
Though it isn’t a rule, for years, most teams in the league have cut off beer sales in the seventh inning as a way to cut down on unruly, alcohol-fueled fan behavior.
A vendor sells beer during the game between the Baltimore Orioles and the Cleveland Guardians at Oriole Park at Camden Yards on June 05, 2022, in Baltimore, Maryland. (G Fiume/Getty Images)
But according to the data, games have been considerably shorter this season, largely thanks to the new pitch clock rules. Through the first 1 1/2 weeks of the season, game time was down 31 minutes. That puts this season’s games on track to being the shortest since 1984, according to NBC.
The Milwaukee Brewers noted that moving the cut-off time is an experiment.
“If it turns out that this is causing an issue or we feel that it might cause an issue, then we’ll revert to what we have done previously,” said Brewers President of business operations Rick Schlesinger.
Another concern is that the league doesn’t want plastered fans to get in their cars and drive home after a game, so beer sales are cut off early to give fans some time to sober up.
A vendor sells beer during the fourth inning of a game between the Houston Astros and the Toronto Blue Jays at Minute Maid Park on May 07, 2021, in Houston, Texas. (Carmen Mandato/Getty Images)
“If it cuts off sales in the seventh inning, the eighth inning or the ninth inning, that really doesn’t affect our stance because regardless, we just don’t want people to drink alcohol and then drive home from the game,” Erin Payton, Regional Executive Director for Mothers Against Drunk Driving told NBC.
Baseball is not alone in stopping the sale of beer before a game is over. For example, soccer cuts off beer sales at the 75th minute of the game, both the NFL and NBA stop sales at the end of the third quarter, and the NFL stops their sales at the end of the 2nd period.
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