Alcohol Ban at Tailgate Parties? Ram Fans Upset

For George Rogers, a Los Angeles Rams season ticket holder for nearly 10 years, Sunday pregame tailgating parties are a rite.

The Placentia resident, his wife, Ann, and up to 20 of their friends gather early before the game to start laying out the repast: everything from casseroles to barbecue to fried chicken. They bring a variety of beverages, mostly soft drinks, beer and champagne. They think of themselves and their accouterments as part of the sport’s tradition.

So Rogers said Saturday that he was shocked when he received a notice with this season’s tickets telling him that Anaheim police will enforce a city law that prohibits the consumption of alcohol in the parking lot at Anaheim Stadium.

Anaheim police insisted they won’t take “a hard-line approach” to enforcing the law against well-behaved fans. But the tailgaters remained suspicious about the crackdown.

‘A Real Surprise’

“Parties have been going on since the Rams have been here, and I haven’t seen any serious problems,” Rogers said, “so it was a real surprise to get this notice.

“I think it’s ridiculous, and I think a lot of other people feel the same way.”

Indeed, several Rams season ticket holders said Saturday that they were unhappy about the notice, which began going out at the end of June. Many said they thought it was a bid to prohibit tailgating parties outright or a ploy to force fans to buy beer at concession stands.

Most said they would continue holding parties--and consuming alcohol--notice or not.

“Tailgating parties are a part of football, aren’t they?” asked Daryle Houseal of Santa Ana, a Rams season ticket-holder since 1959. “Most of the people who are tailgating are not the rowdy type but people who have come out to enjoy themselves. There is a lot more drinking inside (the stadium) than there is in the parking lot. I don’t think they will be able to enforce the policy, and I don’t think they should.”

In fact, although a law prohibiting consumption of alcohol in the parking lot and at other city-owned locations has been on the books for years, few fans knew of it and it had rarely been enforced, admitted Greg Smith, stadium operations manager.

But an increase in the number of alcohol-related incidents at the stadium led management, city officials, the California Angels and the Rams to agree to begin cracking down, Smith said.

“This is part of an overall awareness on the part of stadiums and teams nationwide to the problem of alcohol abuse,” he said. “We had begun receiving a number of letters from people complaining about the amounts of alcohol being consumed. It is an effort to maintain safety and a family environment.”

Smith denied that enforcing the law was tied to a bid to sell more beverages through stadium concession stands or that management wants to stop the tailgating. The stadium already restricts tailgating to specified areas.

He noted that stadium managers around the country have begun controlling sales of alcohol more stringently. Many cut off sales after the seventh inning of baseball games. And at many stadiums, including Anaheim, beer is sold that has a lower alcoholic content than that of regular brands. The Angels, beginning in 1985, have limited sales of beer to two per customer on each trip to the concession stand.

Smith said the stadium management will stop selling alcohol at any point or in any section of the stadium whenever advised to do so by police.

Sgt. Ray Welch, the city’s special events police supervisor, said nearly 93% of all disturbances at the stadium involve alcohol.

New Signs Posted

Welch said new signs are posted around the parking lot, and soon fans entering the stadium will be handed flyers noting the law.

So far, officers have received no complaints, he said.

But Welch said the law won’t be enforced across the board: “We are not taking a hard-line approach. All officers can use their discretion. We don’t want to discourage a good time, but we do want to discourage fan violence and alcohol abuse.”

So do well-behaved tailgaters have anything to fear? Probably not, he said: “We will not be citing people just for drinking a beer or having a glass of champagne. But if we spot someone with large amounts of hard liquor, then we would inform them of the ordinance and ask them to go in and enjoy the game. If the drinking continued, then we would cite them.”

The fine on such a citation would depend on the judge’s discretion, he added.

Such an arrangement would be all right with George Rogers, but he said he is still miffed about getting the notice and thinks that the Rams should share the blame for upsetting loyal fans.

The notice that came with his Rams tickets states flatly that consumption of alcohol in the parking lot is prohibited by city law and that police will actively enforce it.

“The Rams and Angels should be looking out for their fans, whether it is their policy or not,” Rogers said.

“They ought to have known what the reaction would be and could have done something--worded the notice differently maybe--to quell our concerns.”

Team’s Position

Angels officials could not be reached for comment. But Rams spokesman John Oswald, who is with his team in London for tomorrow’s pre-season NFL game with the Denver Broncos, said about the notice: “The city asked us if we could put the supplement in the mail and we said yes. It was just something to back the city in case of a big disturbance. It (the notice) is something they could fall back on.”

Oswald also said the notice was a show of support from the team on the issue of alcohol at professional football games.

Smith said: “I don’t think anyone would argue that their safety and that of others should take a back seat to a tailgating party.”

Times staff writer Chris Dufresne contributed to this story.