The crowd at the Kohl Center was as large as it has been for a University of Wisconsin men's hockey game at the Kohl Center in at least 18 seasons, according to available records.
And the 13,658 fans who had a ticket scanned on their way into the building on Feb. 3 to see the Badgers play archrival Minnesota brought their wallets.
That game produced $72,921 in alcohol sales, putting it atop a list of 78 Badgers home hockey and basketball games in the first year of expanded beverage offerings at the Kohl Center and LaBahn Arena.
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Sales for the season totaled more than $1.3 million at Wisconsin basketball and hockey home games.
The university didn't have records of the volume of alcoholic beverages sold, it said in response to a public records request. It provided a breakdown of alcohol sales for home games involving Badgers men's and women's basketball and men's and women's hockey teams in the 2023-24 season.
Those events plus a men's basketball scrimmage and a women's hockey NCAA Tournament game not involving the Badgers totaled $1,368,522 in sales.
Wisconsin didn't have specific expectations for the first seasons of alcohol sales at the Kohl Center and LaBahn Arena, senior associate athletic director Justin Doherty said.
"One of the primary reasons that we wanted to make alcohol an option was for the fan experience, to enhance that," he said. "I think we felt good that we were able to respond to fans' desire to have alcohol as an option in those two facilities."
A separate public records request showed that those 78 Badgers games had 430,833 tickets scanned. Alcohol sales were $3.18 per ticket scanned over the season, without accounting for how many ticket-holders were under 21.
The per capita sales were much higher for men's hockey and men's basketball — $4.25 and $3.00, respectively, than they were for women's hockey ($1.50) and women's basketball ($1.05).
The Feb. 3 Badgers-Minnesota men's hockey game outpaced the second-highest event by more than $10,000. The men's basketball team's victory against Marquette on Dec. 2 generated $62,468 in sales.
Wisconsin's shootout victory over the Gophers also had the highest per cap sales, $5.34. Eleven of the top 12 games in per cap sales across the four Badgers sports were from men's hockey.
Wisconsin became the 12th of 14 Big Ten schools to sell beer to general public ticket holders of legal drinking age when it started in October. Alcoholic beverages previously were only available in suites and club seats. Michigan and Michigan State have since made it unanimous after a change in state law allowed it.
Wisconsin athletic director Chris McIntosh said last summer that the school was following the market in adding alcoholic beverages to the concessions offerings.
UW-Madison Chancellor Jennifer Mnookin, who had the final say in the matter, asked for "sensible and well-defined guardrails" to be put in place before she approved the plan. Wisconsin limited purchases to two alcoholic beverages per person, and anyone appearing to be under 40 had to have their ID verified by an electronic scanner.
"I mean, there's really no good reason to not let somebody be able to enjoy a beer with one of these experiences, even if they're not in the most expensive seats in the house if you believe that you can prevent the downsides," Mnookin said in September. "And we were able to develop a plan that we think does that."
Doherty said there were "very few, if any, issues inside or outside the venue" during the first season of expanded sales.
"It just felt like we had a really good initial year with it," he said.
The menu of beer, seltzer and wine at an October game included more than a dozen items:
• Coors Light, Miller Lite, Busch Light and Bud Light at $9.49 for a 16-ounce can.
• Local beers Spotted Cow, Fantasy Factory and Wisconsin Amber at $9.49 for a 12-ounce can.
• A 12-ounce can of White Claw seltzer for $8.99.
• Flavors of High Noon, Topo Chico and Nütrl seltzer at $10.49 for a 12-ounce can.
• Clear plastic cans of Woodbridge wine in Chardonnay and Cabernet Sauvignon at $10.49 for 187 milliliters, roughly equivalent to a glass.
The top day for alcohol sales at Badgers events was March 2, when men's basketball ($55,308), men's hockey ($48,078) and women's hockey ($3,057) all played home games. The $106,443 in sales that day represented almost 8% of transactions for the season.
The Wisconsin athletic department hasn't started a formal process with campus leaders to explore continuing the expansion of alcoholic beverages sales to Camp Randall Stadium but is open to a conversation, Doherty said.
"Camp Randall would be much more involved in a lot of aspects than the Kohl Center or LaBahn," Doherty said.