Identifying the Influence of Opponent Ranking and Game Characteristics on Alcohol-Related Stadium Ejections

Sporting events in the U.S., particularly college football games, provide an opportunity for high-risk alcohol consumption that can result in alcohol-related consequences and associated public safety issues. Policy implication and predicting alcohol-related misconduct at college football games has become a concern for university administrators. To address this issue, we explored the extent to which the profile of a game or opponent-whether that be operationalized by classification (e.g., in-state opponent, conference opponent) or opponent quality (e.g., top-25 status, ranking average)-influences the reported stadium ejections of a college football venue, and whether these associations existed beyond the influence of several noteworthy covariates (e.g., time of kickoff, attendance, temperature). We suggest that time of kickoff and opponent quality measures predicted increases of ejections from college football stadiums. We conclude by discussing policy implications for college athletic departments and university stakeholders.