Beer vendor: ‘Stop buying beer on the concourse’

Beer is a serious issue in Wisconsin and now a baseball vendor at Miller Park is taking it to the streets, buying two billboards to try to get baseball fans to buy theirs from vendors, not from the beer stands at the concourse, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports today.

Ryan Strnad isn’t limiting his campaign to the Milwaukee stadium. He thinks sports fans everywhere should pay a little more attention to the working stiffs in the stands.

“We’re past the point where we are thinking ‘enough is enough,’ ” said Strnad. “Sales in the concourses are hurting our sales.”

Like many stadiums, Miller Park has added concession stands to provide craft beers, an alternative to the swill beer sold in the aisles.

“Fan feedback is our ultimate report card, and we have been very pleased with the positive response to the reimagined concessions at Miller Park,” said Rick Schlesinger, Brewers chief operating officer.

That’s the free market at work, which is significant, perhaps, because Strnad is a former Republican candidate for state assembly in Wisconsin.

He’s now started “Drinks in the Seats”, which he hopes to parlay into political pressure to strip concession stands of their beer-selling license.

“We’ll be asking elected officials to intervene and stand up for the low and middle income workers” at Miller Park, Strnad said.