University Of Minnesota Lost Money Selling Beer To College Kids

Gentle people of Minnesota, you may want to rethink shelling out for that Golden Gophers diploma.

In 2012, an institution that charges people money to teach them things lost money selling beer to young people watching sports. If you are unfamiliar with youth and the watching of sports—specifically football—this would be equivalent to losing money selling peanut butter to jelly. And yet, there is the University of Minnesota, $16,000 in the red after its first year fucking up the Kid In A Candy Store business at TCF Stadium.

“I think it was a surprise that we lost money,” said David Benedict, the school’s executive associate athletic director. “We were not happy when we realized the fact that we had not shown a net profit.”

It is very surprising—the price of a beer at Gophers home games is $7.25—until you learn that Minnesota entered into a contract for a much smaller percentage of the alcohol pie it had been getting from the same company, Aramark, at other venues on campus. Despite agreeing to a contract with very specific negotiated terms with the concessions company, the school is getting Aramark to kick back almost $40,000 so the Gophers don't look quite so silly. They are also renegotiating the contract with Aramark to ensure the institution of higher learning never again winds up on the wrong end of deal.

Photo Credit: Getty

New beer, wine deal on tap for University of Minnesota [Star Tribune]