MLB pitch clock rules accelerate beer sales

Article posted by Coliseum, April 19^th, 2023

Image: MLB

It’s not just the players who are having to adjust to baseball’s new rules.

‘FOX NEWS’ stated that with the implementation of the pitch clock in Major League Baseball (MLB), games are moving faster than ever before, and even the concession stands are making changes.

New York (US)-based Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. The MLB is composed of 30 teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (AL), with 29 in the United States and 1 in Canada.

Apply for membership

A pitch clock is used in Major League Baseball (MLB), college baseball and Minor League Baseball (MiLB) to limit the amount of time a pitcher uses before he throws the ball to the hitter. This is one measure that has accelerated the pace of play. The MLB began using a pitch clock in the 2023 season.

‘FOX NEWS’ further stated that traditionally, most ballparks stop serving alcohol to patrons past the seventh inning in order to avoid over serving customers.

But as games have been significantly shorter to start the 2023 season – the game time is down 31 minutes – some ballparks are extending beer sales through the eighth inning.

The Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Milwaukee Brewers, and the Minnesota Twins have all made alcohol available through the eighth inning as games have sped up.

Remarked Rick Schlesinger, Brewers President of Business Operations, “This is [reflective] of the fact that the games are shorter. From a time perspective, we’re probably looking at selling beer for the same amount of time by extending to the eighth inning that we did last year through the seventh. Obviously, the safety and the conduct of our fans have primacy. We’ve had no issues, but it’s a small sample size and we’re going to continue to test it and see if it makes sense. I know a number of other teams are doing the same thing.”

Milwaukee will extend beer sales on an experimental basis and has not ruled out going back to the seventh-inning rule if need be.

Added Schlesinger, “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. While most teams stop selling alcohol past the seventh, Major League Baseball does not regulate when teams can sell adult beverages.”

With games flying by, the Rangers have also started to offer all fans in-seat service in order to avoid long lines and missing out on game action.

The MLB’s average game time is on pace to be its lowest since the 1984 season.

Continue to follow Coliseum for latest updates on venues business news. Coliseum is dedicated towards building the best global community of sports and entertainment venue executives and professionals creating better and more profitable venues.

Become a member of the only Global Sports Venue Alliance and connect with stadiums, arenas and experts from around the world. Apply for membership at coliseum-online.com/alliance and make use of the 365Coliseum Business.

Watch 250 member-exclusive videos with valuable tips for your venue