'Do the right thing': Inside Mitch Barnhart's inbox during UK's alcohol sales decision

LEXINGTON – Whatever lingering resentment may exist over Kentucky’s decision not to sell alcohol in the general seating areas at its sporting venues, it was hard to spot during Saturday’s football game against No. 8 Florida.

The first sellout of the season included an announced crowd of 63,076, the fifth-largest attendance since Kentucky lowered capacity at Kroger Field in 2015.

When Kentucky jumped out to a 21-10 lead, the crowd roared. When the Wildcats collapsed down the stretch and a last-ditch Hail Mary attempt was intercepted at the buzzer for a 29-21 loss, fans looked confused about how quickly the tide had turned, just as they had so many times before.

The no-alcohol decision did nothing to dull enthusiasm at Kroger Field. 

That’s just how UK athletic director Mitch Barnhart wanted it. In announcing in August UK’s decision to keep alcohol sales to just premium suites, Barnhart cited the family atmosphere he wanted to preserve at UK games.

Many fans shared Barnhart's sentiment — and many vehemently disagreed — according to email correspondence he received in the months leading up to the decision and obtained by The Courier Journal in response to an open records request. 

Background:University of Kentucky will not sell alcohol at games this year

“I know you are probably getting a lot of pressure to approve alcohol sales and I know it would lead to a lot of additional money,” one fan wrote to Barnhart in an email dated July 21, forwarding a message to him she also sent to the SEC office. “However hopefully you’ll see in my email that there’s other things more important then (sic) money in maintaining the Integrity of the game and the University.”

The SEC, which removed its general ban on alcohol sales on May 31, left the decision of whether to sell up to each of its member schools. Of the 14 SEC universities, only six — Vanderbilt, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Missouri, LSU and Arkansas — announced expanded alcohol sales for the 2019-20 football season by the SEC’s Aug. 1 deadline.

During an August news conference, Barnhart shouldered the weight of the decision.

“At this point in time I feel like that’s the right place for us to be, and that’s my call,” Barnhart said. “(UK President) Dr. (Eli) Capilouto has been terrific and supportive and we’ve talked about it, but between our campus safety folks and everyone else, we feel like it’s the right place for us to be.”

See also:Kentucky's defense could be shorthanded again at Mississippi State

Fans' input on UK's alcohol sales decision

Upon the SEC lifting the ban, and in the days after Barnhart made his call on Aug. 1, dozens of fans sent him emails to voice their opinion on the issue.

Critics were quick to blast Barnhart on social media for the decision not to sell, but in at least his email inbox, the feedback received before that announcement skewed the other direction.

“I renewed (season tickets) this year with the understanding that alcohol sales would of course be prohibited at Kroger Field,” Woodford County Attorney Alan George wrote to Barnhart and Capilouto on June 2. “I had no idea that the SEC would change its policy, to be effective by the start of THIS football season. I probably would NOT have renewed if I had knowledge that alcohol sales were likely to be approved for the 2019 home football season.

"I think to institute alcohol sales for this upcoming season would be incredibly unfair to those of us who just once again invested thousands of dollars on football tickets thinking the stadium would continue to be ‘dry.’ Little did I know, to use a football analogy, that the goalposts might literally be moved on us in the middle of the game.”

George argued ticket sales at Kentucky would actually decrease if expanded alcohol sales were allowed, citing the potential change in the game-day atmosphere. He pointed to his personal experience prosecuting alcohol-related crimes as further evidence of a negative effect such a move might have.

“This is not an indictment of all of those who would welcome sales, as many, if not most, will probably do so responsibly, and still be respectful of others,” George wrote. “But let there be no mistake — the home environment will become less welcoming, and more hostile, if alcohol sales are allowed.”

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Among the emails provided by UK, nine voiced an opinion about expanded alcohol sales between the SEC’s adoption of the new policy on May 31 and Barnhart’s announcement on Aug. 1.

Only one of those urged Barnhart to approve expanded sales.

Multiple fans called on Barnhart to rely on his religious beliefs to make a decision.

“I know you to be a Christ Follower and one who takes his Christian service seriously,” one fan emailed on June 6. “You are active in Christian Student Fellowship and the Fellowship of Christian Athletes among other Christian organizations. Your ministry to young people tells me you care about their development, their character and who they are to become as young men and women.

“Because of who you are and because of the leadership position you hold, you have a responsibility to do what you know to be right — not because of emails like this, but because of your leadership principles and personal convictions. Because you are a person of integrity, professionally and personally, I will be especially grateful to you when you decline the opportunity for alcohol sales at UK sporting events.”

Last year following a UK pregame tailgate, 4-year-old Marco Shemwell was killed when police say a student fatally hit child while driving under the influence. Barnhart did not mention the tragic incident as part of his decision, but several fans who wrote to the athletic director did.  

“As we all know now, alcohol is believed to have played a role in that incident,” one woman wrote. “Beginning alcohol sales now, doesn’t seem very sympathetic in the light of this loss.”

Earlier:Game ball from UK win to go to family of 4-year-old Marco Shemwell

The only email included in the documents advocating for expanded sales before Barnhart’s decision cited safety as a reason to do so.

“I have witnessed firsthand the binge drinking that occurs in the parking lots prior to our football games,” one fan wrote. “The most often cited excuse for their inebriation is that they won’t be able to get a drink once inside the stadium so they choose to get loaded before the game. … Having someone’s beer intake measured and monitored by trained stadium staff seems like a safer alternative long-term rather than continuing to allow the power drinking in the parking lot that I’ve witnessed.”

That same email foreshadowed of the most common complaints Barnhart would receive.

“There is a perception that there exists a two tiered system when it comes to UK athletics,” the fan wrote. “… Since the stadium renovation created the lounge level it has always made some of us regular season ticket holders feel somewhat inferior when we would glance over at the lounge patio and see someone enjoying a warm meal and a cold beer while we are trying to wash down cold pizza with warm water.”

The response to UK's alcohol sales decision

Barnhart is no stranger to criticism.

It was just more than a decade ago that a subset of Kentucky fans proudly displayed “Ditch Mitch and Rich” bumper stickers to express their displeasure with Barnhart’s hiring of former football coach Rich Brooks. The disaster of the Billy Gillisipie era of UK men’s basketball drew ire toward Barnhart, as well.

Judging by Barnhart’s inbox, the reaction to his decision on expanded alcohol sales could rival those low points in his tenure.

While the pro-expanded sales crowd may have largely abstained from reaching out directly to Barnhart via email before his announcement, many were not shy about voicing their displeasure after it.

“Thanks, dad, for telling us low middle class people what we can and can’t do,” one fan emailed on Aug. 3. “Your alcohol ruling is discriminatory and illegal, last time I checked UK was a public university. I hope we can all band together in the spirit of populist brotherhood and sue the s--- out of you a------- and I hope you’re removed from your position so us peasants can enjoy our lives just a hair more.”

Multiple fans threatened to cancel their season ticket renewals in response to the decision, but thus far there has been little concrete evidence the policy has actually affected ticket sales.

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Kentucky sold out of its pocket pass and four-game flex pass season ticket packages in August. After a historic 10-win 2018 season, UK reported an increase in total season ticket sales leading up to the 2019 opener. The Florida game, UK’s SEC opener, sold out in July.

Still, many of Barnhart’s emails reflected the unrest that was evident on social media.

“Did you make this decision to endear yourself to the wealth, or did you make it because you think the die hard fans filling the majority of seasons are so stupid you must nanny state them to keep them out of harms way?” one fan wrote. “Your decision (is) hypocritical by allowing one group to have advantage over another simply because they pay more for their seats.

“… Wise up and treat all fans the same, beer for all or beer for none.”

Asked during his Aug. 1 news conference about growing complaints that the so-called common fan was being ignored by the athletics department, Barnhart said it was easier to provide adequate staffing and monitoring in confined spaces, such as the luxury seats in the Woodford Reserve Club at Kroger Field where sales were permitted even before the SEC's policy change.

“I think there’s experiences that you have in different areas of your stadium, and I understand that that’s a concern,” Barnhart said. “We’ve got a fan experience in the public areas of our stands that I think is sort of where we want to be right now.”

In the four days following UK's announcement, Barnhart received 19 emails weighing in on the policy, according to documents provided by UK. Opinions were almost split evenly, with 10 voicing support for his decision and nine criticizing the policy.

Even some of the critics were magnanimous, praising Barnhart for his work elsewhere before taking issue with his latest decision.

“You’ve always seemed to be the athletic director that is about seeing the future,” one fan wrote. “Building for the future. You have accomplished this. I’m VERY appreciative. Especially for standing behind (Mark) Stoops. I’ve been behind him since day 1 and glad you have been too. But this alcohol thing? This is taking a step back 50 years. Do the right thing.”

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Among those voicing support for the decision was Rep. James Tipton, the chairman for the Kentucky House of Representatives' budget review subcommittee for postsecondary education. He passed along his support in a voicemail left for L. Bart Hardin, UK’s director of government relations.

“He asked me to convey his appreciation to both of you for the decision that was made regarding alcohol sales at our sporting events,” Hardin wrote in an email to Barnhart and Capilouto on Aug. 2. “He was most appreciative and complimentary of this decision. He sees this as a very positive move for UK.”

In addition to support from Frankfort, Barnhart can look to his SEC brethren for reinforcement.

Several of the schools that elected not to sell alcohol in general seating areas at football games left the door open to sales at winter and spring sports, or in future seasons. According to a document emailed to Barnhart and the other SEC athletics directors by SEC Commissioner Greg Sankey on July 1, schools have until Nov. 1 to inform the league office of whether they will sell alcohol in general seating areas at winter sports and until Feb. 1 for spring sports.

Schools that expanded alcohol sales are required to provide the league office with a summary of game-day incident reports "for the purpose of evaluating fan conduct related to the revised SEC policy." It seems likely some of the schools abstaining from expanded alcohol sales this year might open the door in the future if those test cases proceed smoothly, especially considering The Advocate in Louisiana reported LSU generated at least $220,000 by selling 27,235 beers at its 2019 opener.

Barnhart left the door open to future changes at his news conference, but he said there is no plan to evaluate the policy on a year-to-year basis.

It seems unlikely, then, that Barnhart's email inbox will quiet anytime soon.

“I think that as I read my mail – and I read a lot of it – there wasn't this overarching piece that said, ‘Hey, if you open up alcohol sales … your season ticket sales are going to explode and you're going to get all this new fan base,’” Barnhart said. “The other side to that was – I'll be honest with you – I felt like if we said we are going to do that at this point in time with what people have enjoyed about the experience at Kroger Field and at Rupp Arena, part of that is that they would walk away from us if we did that.”

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Jon Hale:jahale@courier-journal.com; Twitter:@JonHale_CJ. Support strong local journalism by subscribing today:courier-journal.com/jonh.