When the UNC-Chapel Hill men's basketball team begins its 2024-25 season on Monday night against Elon, fans of the Tar Heels streaming through the doors at the Dean Smith Center might notice something different.
Yes, Armando Bacot is finally gone. But there's something else, too.
At the concession stands, there will be a new beverage offering: Booze.
For the first time ever, fans will be able to purchase beer and wine when they attend UNC men's and women's basketball games at the Smith Center and Carmichael Arena. Sales at the Dean Dome will begin Monday night, while alcohol at Carmichael 鈥� home to the Tar Heels' women's basketball, volleyball, gymnastics and wrestling teams 鈥� will go on sale later in November.
"Many of our fans have asked for us to expand alcohol sales to our indoor events, and after five years, we think the time is right,'' UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham . "Not only is it consistent with many other events around the country, including NCAA championships and ACC tournaments, but it also adds a key financial stream as we prepare for revenue-sharing with student-athletes."
Indeed, this is a move more than five years in the making.
In 2019, North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper , which allowed the sale of beer and wine at campus sporting events for UNC System schools. Before then, alcohol at on-campus sporting events was mostly prohibited. Some folks who could afford club-level seating at N.C. State's Carter-Finley Stadium or UNC's Kenan Memorial Stadium had access to booze, but that was about it.
Since the bill was passed, most UNC System schools quickly got on board with the sale of in-stadium alcohol 鈥� from Appalachian State to East Carolina 鈥� to reap the rewards of revenue that beer and wine can provide. UNC allowed it at its outdoor stadiums, like Kenan and baseball's Boshamer Stadium, but not Carmichael or the Smith Center.
It's worth noting that former UNC men's basketball coach Dean Smith 鈥� whom the men's basketball arena is named after 鈥� was a staunch and vocal opponent of college athletics being involved with the sales of alcohol whatsoever.
"I'm not telling anyone to not have a beer, but through the years I've asked the presidents of the ACC to do away with the silly ads that say, 'And now, a word from our good friends at Budweiser,'" .
Smith, who coached the Tar Heels to a pair of national championships and 13 ACC titles, retired in 1997 and died in 2015. While he was coaching inside the building that bore his name though, there was no advertising inside 鈥� never mind the sale 鈥� of alcohol.
But now, as college athletics continue to evolve, the Smith Center 鈥� the 21,000-seat arena that first opened in 1986 鈥� will begin selling beer and wine this season, beginning with Monday night's game against Elon.
A statement from UNC Athletics says beer and wine sales will start when doors open. At men's basketball games, sales will stop with 10 minutes left in the game, and at women's basketball games, sales will end at the start of the fourth quarter. Fans are allowed up to two alcoholic beverages at a time per state law.
No outside alcohol will be allowed. A statement from UNC Athletics said that "student sections will be closely monitored."
UNC's men's basketball begins the season ranked 9th in the AP Top 25 Poll, while the women's team checks in at No. 15.
