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Steve Reid and his wife Katie, of Gulph, Ontario, look for their seats for the start of the NHL 2014 Winter Classic at Michigan Stadium in Ann Arbor, Mich., on Wednesday, Jan. 1, 2014.

(Patrick Record | The Ann Arbor News)

Also read: Wolverine football carries ever-growing University of Michigan athletic department

No matter how thirsty fans get, Michigan Stadium is bone dry and plans to remain that way.

Alcohol isn't sold anywhere in America's largest football venue, not even to donors who pay up to $85,000 a season for a luxury box.

Michigan athletic director Dave Brandon says that's not going to change, despite a number of other big-name college stadiums that have begun, or are seriously considering, selling beer during games.

Most recently, the Texas Longhorns — one of the most profitable college sports enterprises in the nation — began selling beer and wine during baseball, basketball and softball games, and the school is considering selling alcohol during football games next season.

West Virginia sells beer to all of-age ticket holders. Some schools, like the Big Ten's Iowa, Wisconsin, Illinois and Purdue, sell alcohol in premium seating areas.

Dave Brandon

"I just don't think we need to do that," Brandon said.

Why? The liability and risk of serving alcohol to a stadium filled with thousands of passionate fans seems like an unnecessary headache.

"You've got to set up places to vendor this stuff and you've got to make sure you're selling it to the right people, not the wrong people, and then you've got to deal with all the ramifications of alcohol being served in an area where you've got a lot of young people and a lot of underage people," he said.

"Sometimes people lose track of the fact that we have to organize and manage 110,000 to 115,000 people all in one tight space, and get them in there and out of there safely," he continued. "I don't think serving alcohol is going to make that job any easier."

Alcohol was served at the Winter Classic, held at the stadium on Jan. 1, 2014.

Michigan had to receive special approval from the legislature to allow the National Hockey League to sell alcohol at the Big House. Without the approval, the Winter Classic, which was sponsored by Canada's Molson Brewery, would have been held elsewhere.

Alcohol is available in the football stadiums at about one-fifth of the Division 1 FBS schools in the NCAA. Almost all schools that sell beer during football games see a spike in concessions revenue, but Brandon says the decision to sell alcohol is hardly ever revenue-driven.

Supporting new infrastructure and managing the sales would be costly, he said.

"I'm not sure at the end of the day you would ever do it for financial reasons," Brandon said. "You do it because you've got a lot of pressure from your fans and they expect it and it starts to become more the norm."

Kellie Woodhouse covers higher education for the Ann Arbor News. Reach her at kelliewoodhouse@mlive.com or 734-255-5303 and follow her on twitter.