By Kate Royals The Clarion-Ledger

In an effort to revamp the game day experience, Millsaps College is partnering with Jackson-based Lucky Town Brewing Company to offer fans and alumni a unique sideline amenity: a beer garden.

At its first football game on Sept. 6, fans, alumni and students (over 21 years old) will have their choice of Lucky Town's Ballistic Blonde or Lucky Town Pub Ale.

The Division III college's new Athletic Director Josh Brooks spearheaded the effort upon his arrival to Jackson after six years at the University of Georgia.

"I spent the last six years at the University of Georgia noticing a trend in the decline in attendance of college athletics and college football," Brooks said. "Up to 21 to 22 schools in Division 1 are selling beer now as a form of revenue generation obviously and a method to keep people attending."

These days, sports fans tend to watch games in the comfort of their own homes, often with a beverage of their choice.

"This is a way to help bridge that gap," Brooks explained.

Attendance at football games has remained pretty steady in the last several years at about 1,000 to 2,000 people per game, according to Sports Information Director Dan Griffin. At special events like Homecoming, the number may rise to 2,500.

The beer garden may play an especially important role this year after Millsaps will no longer play Mississippi College at its annual Backyard Brawl. Mississippi College, its biggest rival since 2000, jumped from D3 to D2 this year.

Lucky Town and Millsaps' partnership, in a way, dates back to last year.

In early 2013, Else School of Management professor David Culpepper and local attorney and Millsaps alum Matthew McLaughlin approached Chip Jones, Lucky Town's co-founder, and encouraged Jones to consider Midtown, the area north of downtown Jackson, as the site for the brewery.

"They definitely helped out with the search and even helped us out in navigating the hurdles we had in getting a zoning ordinance passed" for the building, Jones said.

"From our standpoint, we think it's really exciting. I don't know of any other college program coming out and publicly embracing local craft beer in such a way as Millsaps is," Jones said.

To contact Kate Royals call (601) 360-4619 or email kroyals@gannett.com. Follow @KRRoyals on Twitter.