Illinois curbs alcohol sales Sat. with Final Four at stake

Alcohol sales will be limited on the University of Illinois campus Saturday night due to concerns about potential property damage and excessive partying. Illinois beats iowa in the Elite Eight to advance to the Final Four, Champaign city officials announced Friday.

The emergency order will include a requirement for all bars on premises to sell liquor in paper and plastic cups, a ban on all sales of “packaged liquor” beginning one hour after the notification and a rule that no liquor establishment on premises may sell more than one cask to an individual customer. The order will also include a ban on bringing liquor on or off the premises by any delivery driver from one hour after receiving the notice.

The order was issued after local police expressed concern about Illinois fans celebrating their team’s victory over Houston in the Sweet 16 on Thursday and feared that “celebratory activities by members of the public within the described geographic areas could threaten public health, safety, and welfare” after Saturday’s game.

“Although we are cheering on the Illini basketball team to victory this weekend, I want to remind fans to follow the team’s lead and celebrate responsibly,” Champaign Mayor Deborah Frank Fennen said in a prepared statement. “These steps are being taken to reduce the potential for public safety threats before and after the game. I look forward to all of our students, residents and visitors celebrating all of the accomplishments of this amazing team respectfully, responsibly and safely.”

Jeff Hamilton, deputy liquor commissioner in Champaign, told ESPN that students were “climbing over the statues” on Thursday night, which alarmed local officials who enforced the ban the next day.

He said the city hasn’t issued such alcohol restrictions in 20 years.

“We made it to the championship game in 2005. At that time, they did the same thing,” Hamilton told ESPN. “We’re doing something similar to what we did the last time we had an intense tournament.”

He said the city doesn’t want glass bottles to become a “menace” on Saturday nights, which is why it is limiting the sale of packaged alcohol and requiring campus bars to strictly sell alcohol in paper and plastic cups.

“We’re doing this for public safety reasons,” he said. “The bars are still open. They just have to do it in paper and plastic cups. That’s the biggest thing. No, it’s not a ban on alcohol.”

Illinois is in the Elite Eight for the second time since 2005 after beating Houston at the Toyota Center in Houston on Thursday night. Saturday’s game against Iowa will be the second of the year between Big Ten schools. Illinois won the previous meeting 75–69 in January in Iowa City.