The long-lingering thirst at Gophers football games will soon be quenched.
The Legislature has overwhelmingly approved letting University of Minnesota football fans drink alcohol at TCF Bank Stadium. Gov. Mark Dayton said he will sign the measure that passed the House Monday and the Senate last week.
"It's nice to finally bring some resolution to it," said Rep. Joe Atkins, an Inver Grove Heights DFLer and chief sponsor of the plan.
Alcohol has been banned at the new stadium since it opened because lawmakers objected to the university's plan to allow drinking only in the arena's expensive suites. With a cry of "beer for one, beer for all," the Legislature put the brakes on any alcohol sales unless folks in the cheap seats were allowed to drink as well.
The new plan, a compromise that passed the House on a 115-13 vote and the Senate 55-3, allows beer for all in special tents during college football games through halftime.
"This is absolutely fabulous," said Bob Hughes, president of the Goal Line Club, a Gophers football booster organization, who called it a good deal for the suite owners who want to entertain clients and a bonus for those in the cheap seats.
"It makes it that much more of a festive experience," Hughes said. "It will set us apart. We'll be the only Big Ten stadium that will actually have a beer garden of that nature. ... This will give people a chance to mingle and have some good football chatter right there in the beer tent. ... It was surprising that Wisconsin didn't do this years ago. The beer tents, the music is a Wisconsin thing. But we're the ringleaders."
A university official previously said the U of M and three other Big Ten schools currently don't sell any alcohol and eight others allow booze only in premium seats.