Last week, Baylor athletic director Doug McNamee sat down with SicEm365’s Colt Barber to discuss a variety of topics, with one of the highlights being an honest review of McLane Stadium’s tailgating scene, as well as giving the latest on whether Baylor would ever allow alcohol to be sold at sporting events.
Tailgating, in particular, has been a hot-button issue amongst the fanbase for quite some time now, as the days of rowdy tailgates outside of Floyd Casey Stadium are long gone. Nowadays, the McLane Stadium tailgating scene has been sanitized to an extent, something that’s frustrated a ton of people, including McNamee, who immediately said, “We’ve got to get better there,” when asked about fixing the tailgating situation.
McNamee continued, “I’d love to have this conversation in a few weeks, because I think there’s some — I’m going to tease — some good news on the way. If I were announced on December 8, this was probably a December 9 morning discussion. Stand by because I think we’ve got some good news coming.”
As for why the tailgating scene has declined in recent years, McNamee didn’t want to blame any particular individuals but admitted that, given the beautiful surroundings of McLane Stadium, it should be much more lively and spirited on gamedays in the fall than it currently is.
“What’s happened over the last few years, I want to be respectful of why decisions were made; I wasn’t here, but as a fan, I watched what I’d call the decline of tailgating,” he said. “When I came to the games, walking across the bridge from the law school to the stadium, I almost wanted to look away because it made me sad. It frustrated me to see an atmosphere that I knew how hard it was to build, and to see it not vibrant in the place it was designed to be.”
Having frequented tailgates at Floyd Casey Stadium, McNamee, a 2003 Baylor graduate, understands the power of tailgating for both Baylor and the broader Waco community. He described it as a “door to get involved,” adding that it “made me proud, like the university was connecting to a larger audience.”
“Tailgating is hard work, but it’s a great experience if it’s done well,” he said. “Then we built this across the river: a stadium built for a great fan experience inside and outside, on the river, and those first few years… I remember the biggest ‘problem’ was people worrying the bridge was going to fall because it was shaking — so much action on it. The engineers proved it was fine, but it’s like: that’s a good problem.”
As for whether alcohol sales will be allowed in McLane Stadium or other Baylor sporting events in the near future, McNamee said in his introductory press conference on Dec. 8, said that “Every rock will be flipped over to be evaluated if there’s a revenue opportunity.”
When asked to provide an update last week, McNamee said, “It’s a significant decision for the university, understandably. We’re doing our due diligence — analyzing the opportunity and understanding the risk, and being respectful of the university’s heritage and position. No updates other than: it’s part of the conversation, we’re evaluating pros and cons, and we’ll share when called upon.”
