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Pennsylvania Law Allows Teams to Mix Up Drink Menu

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Following a change to state law, teams in Pennsylvania now have the ability to sell wine and liquor throughout their ballparks. 

Act 166 is one of the recent changes Pennsylvania has made to its liquor laws. The act was signed into law last fall before taking effect early this year, and includes language that allows for the sale of wine and liquor throughout all areas of ballparks.

This offers a change in approach for many teams. Whereas before, liquor and wine were limited to private areas of these facilities–leaving beer as the lone alcoholic beverage in most sections–clubs are now permitted to sell those drinks in any part of their venues, including the main concourse.

Now, it is a matter of seeing what resonates with fans. In the case of the Erie SeaWolves (Class AA; Eastern League), the team and concessionaire Professional Sports Catering are still working to get fans used to their new options. More from GoErie.com:

“I don’t want to dream too big for it,” [William] Cleis said. “If you’re a beer drinker, you’re a beer drinker. But some people just generally don’t like beer.”

He doesn’t expect wine and liquor sales to ever exceed beer sales, and so far the public has been slow to embrace rum-and-Cokes with their baseball.

“We haven’t seen lines (for wine and liquor) yet because, frankly, we’re still conditioning the audience,” SeaWolves President Greg Coleman said.

“We’re still getting the word out,” he said.

Given Pennsylvania’s wide range of teams and facilities, changes to state liquor laws have an effect on numerous ballparks. The York Revolution (independent; Atlantic League), for example, were able to add a full-service bar to PeoplesBank Park this season after a change to the state liquor laws.

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