Student and Fan Behavior/ Abuse of Alcohol
The theories and research presented by Wann and Melnick on sports fans aid in the development of recommendations within an appropriate theoretical framework. Recognition of their and other's research will help ensure that conference, institutional and community responses are efficient and effective. Best practices related to student/fan behavior and alcohol abuse include the following:
• Institutional policies and penalties regarding spectator aggression must be clearly and repetitively communicated to students and fans. For example, institutions can endeavor to make all season-ticket applicants aware of institutional policies and penalties for poor sportsmanship during the application process. Also, institutions can frequently publish those policies and penalties in the sports section of the school newspaper, on fan-based Web sites and via email to season-ticket holders (also encouraging them to forward the email to other fans who may not be season-ticket holders )
Campus Environment / Community Relations
Campus and community discussions regarding fan behavior associated with intercollegiate athletics events are often fragmented, taking place in administrative silos of student affairs offices, athletics departments and community organizations. Pre-event collaboration of institutional and community representatives, as well as campus and community police agencies, can help facilitate a unified response to major events. The university and community should speak with one voice, which is clear, coherent and coordinated on issues of fan behavior.
Below are examples of campus and community interactions to address spectator aggression.
• Town communications need to be continuous and involve all relevant segments of the institution and the community. At Miami University (Ohio), athletics department and university staff members frequently meet with city police to discuss crowd size and other expectations before athletics events.
• State laws specific to riots on or near a campus were adopted in Michigan in response to the 1999 riot at Michigan State University.
• Student codes of conduct should include regulations specifically related to highly disruptive and destructive actions during or surrounding competitive events. Given the frequent turnover rate of student populations, efforts must be made to continually educate students on these issues.
• Communication plans should be developed for the event, university and community that include risk assessments and specific protocols to be used.
• In many cases, neither the city nor the university can provide sufficient law enforcement alone. Therefore, a unified command is needed to blend teams from the police department and university public safety agencies. This would help facilitate a joint ownership of the situation and provide better management of the situation.
• Positive, alternative activities should be scheduled throughout the campus and community during the week of a potential "goal post game." Several weeks before big games, Michigan schedules social activities (e.g., golf outings) for alumni, coaches, fans and community members from opposing institutions.
• Campus and community leaders should produce public service announcements encouraging positive fan behavior before, during and after athletics events.
• Institutions should know the areas on or around campus where students tend to congregate to celebrate (e.g., particular avenues or grassy areas). Before certain games, a visible police presence should be established in those areas before students and fans assemble.
• At the request of the Michigan State president, East Lansing, Michigan, bar owners located near campus formed the Responsible Hospitality Council. Among its practices, the group of bars endeavor to stop selling bottled alcohol after the first half of postseason basketball games, promote the sale/distribution of food, use a phone tree to alert other bar owners of potential problems with patrons, avoid promotions that encourage high-risk drinking (e.g., $1 pitchers and shots) and actively communicate with local law enforcement.
• As a possible deterrent, institutions should communicate to students how spectator aggression tarnishes the image of the university and how that may have a direct impact on students and alumni (e.g., how the university is perceived in the job market).
Because celebratory riots are not restricted to sporting events, the aforementioned campus/community communication techniques also should be practiced for non-athletics events. Positive relations between a campus and community can ensure there is a consistent level of enforcement in the campus community, regardless of the context (e.g., athletics events, political rallies, concerts). While the aforementioned policies and practices may cost institutions and communities valuable resources, decisions about whether to employ those techniques should be weighed against the toll taken on campuses and their surrounding communities in terms of property damage, potential lawsuits and negative public perceptions.
• While tailgating before games, fans can consume large quantities of alcohol. Institutions can choose to strictly enforce open container laws or attempt to better manage alcohol consumption in tailgating areas. To do so, institutions can encourage alumni associations to discourage fellow fans from irresponsible tailgating, set up alcohol-free tailgating tents sponsored by local businesses throughout the tailgating area, or disperse positive tailgating messages throughout the tailgating areas (e.g., on signs, cups, napkins, etc.)
• The West Coast Conference does not allow alcohol to be sold or provided anywhere (including VIP suites) in the arena during its conference basketball tournament.
• While messages about appropriate fan behavior must come from the top down, institutions should enlist the support of student leaders to champion the message to their peers. There needs to be peer consensus that certain behaviors are unacceptable before students will change the way they act.
• The University of Maryland created a lottery for student seating in coveted areas. Student groups could place their names in the lottery if they agreed to occupy these seats and be role models for good sportsmanship. Because they are highly prized seats, students have been eager to participate, and because they were representing their organizations, students have been determined to represent them positively.
• At the beginning of the fourth quarter of football and basketball contests held at the Georgia Dome, fans are videoed and have their pictures taken by event staff. The practice has a three-fold purpose: it helps fans develop a positive relationship with event staff (fans are given Polaroid pictures of themselves), it reminds fans who have been videoed that their identities have been collected, and it provides the game management staff with visual evidence if a celebratory riot erupts. It was noted, also, that the warning effect of videotaping fans could be accomplished without even putting film in the cameras.
• At Ohio State, egregious acts of poor fan behavior can lead to the loss of season-ticket privileges for students and fans. Other deterrents that may be particularly effective in preventing fan violence within and outside the arena are academic suspension or expulsion and financial penalties that prevent registering for classes the following term unless paid.
• Rather than seating athletics department staff as a part of their complimentary admissions privileges to home contests in one section, some staff members at North Texas are seated in various areas throughout the student sections. While staff members are not technically on duty, their presence can help curb poor fan behavior. Similarly, institutions can use their student-affairs staff members to more formally monitor and address fan behavior during contests. Few student-athletes, fans, coaches or administrators want their contests to be conducted in calm and quiet environments. A loud, supportive and boisterous crowd is desired by many and envied by others. Attentive and energized crowds can act as a 12th or sixth player in football or basketball, respectively. However, crowds can maintain those qualities while still being responsible. This can be achieved by communicating clear and unmixed messages about appropriate fan behavior, the development of consistently applied consequences for spectator aggression and better institutional and community management of alcohol abuse .
Some institutions need funds from alcohol sales and sponsorships to support their athletics programs. For other institutions, responsible alcohol consumption before athletics events in tailgating areas dates back several decades and has been woven into the institution's fabric of athletics tradition. Institutions must decide locally about whether to regulate or eliminate alcohol consumption. While alcohol is clearly recognized as a factor in spectator aggression, institution/ community-specific decisions must be made about how to address alcohol consumption in a manner that respects an institution's fiscal needs and traditions, but also recognizes its impact on fan behavior.
Excerpts taken from www.ncaa.org
