Some baseball fans don't have to treat the "Seventh Inning Stretch" like it's last call anymore. To combat shorter games, a few MLB teams are extending beer sales into the eighth inning.
The Arizona Diamondbacks, Minnesota Twins, Texas Rangers and, fittingly, the Milwaukee Brewers are among the teams allowing fans to purchase beers in the eighth inning, according to the Associated Press.
That's a significant change from previous seasons, when most teams would stop selling alcohol after the seventh inning. That policy still exists in 2023. The Miami Marlins and New York Mets are still halting beer sales after the seventh inning, per the AP.
But it wouldn't be a shock to see more teams adopt the Brewers' style.
The pitch clock has been a rousing success through the first couple weeks of the 2023 MLB season. Game times are down roughly a half hour as a result.
This is a good thing for fans watching the game. If you're at home, you don't have to wait 30 minutes between pitches and can enjoy an extra half hour of your day. If you're at the game, there's a chance you can get the kids home and sleeping before it's waaaaaaaay past their bedtime.
If you're a team owner, though, you're probably seeing some negative effects of the pitch clock at concessions. With games being shorter, fans have fewer opportunities to run and grab a hot dog and a beer. Given the breakneck pace of games — compared to the past, at least — fans have even more incentive to stay in their seats and remained engaged in the action. That's likely going to lead to reduced revenue from concessions.
How do you combat that? Extending beer sales seems like an obvious first step.
While MLB does not mandate when teams are allowed to sell alcohol, clubs had a good reason for cutting off beer sales in the seventh inning. Most teams did it to make sure customers wouldn't be over served before getting in their cars after the game ends.
That's a noble reason for halting beer sales, and some teams will have to take that into account when debating whether to lift the seventh-inning policy.
For responsible alcohol consumers and customers who took public transportation to the game, extending beer sales into the eighth inning will likely be viewed as a massive win, and yet another positive development of the pitch clock.
