Fans at Jazz games in the Delta Center, for example, must get their alcohol before the end of the third quarter, said Mark Stedman, vice president of food services for the center and Franklin Covey Field, where the Stingers play AAA baseball.

At baseball games, customers have to buy beer before the end of the seventh inning, and at concerts, they can't purchase alcohol within one hour of the show's end.

"That gives them a chance to sober up or whatever before they ever leave the building," Stedman said. "It allows for time from the time they consume their last beverage before they leave here so that they're able to drive."

Stedman said that security officers, police officers and an alcohol patrol make sure that patrons don't pass off beer to underage drinkers or imbibe too much themselves. "We have all these checks and balances in place that we take very seriously," he said.

USU allows fans to tailgate in parking lots around the 30,000-seat stadium before games begin, but no beer is sold anywhere on campus, said Mike Strauss, the director of athletic media relations for the school.

"It's been that way for so long that it's just kind of a given, and people know that's how it is here," he said.

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E-mail: kswinyard@desnews.com