A field-based community assessment of intoxication levels across college football weekends: does it matter who's playing?

While alcohol consumption has been consistently linked to college football games in the United States, this literature lacks (a) field-based event-level analyses; (b) assessments of the context of drinking, such as days leading to an event, that occurs in conjunction with a contest; (c) investigations of non-student drinking; and (d) objective assessments of opponent rating. Therefore, the present study: (1) examines the extent to which breath alcohol concentrations (BrAC) among restaurant and bar district patrons differ for low- and high-profile games and (2) explores the relationship between an objective rating of a team's opponent and BrAC levels. Data were collected throughout the fall 2011 football season via six anonymous field studies in a bar district within a southeastern college community. During low-profile game weekends, respondents recorded significantly lower BrAC levels than those during high-profile game weekends. Additionally, there was a positive correlation between opponent rating and BrAC levels, such that mean BrAC readings were highest prior to the game featuring the highest rated opponent. Overall, participants exhibited significantly higher BrACs when a higher-rated opponent was playing that weekend. When resources (money, manpower) are limited, community-based prevention and enforcement efforts should occur during the weekends surrounding higher-profile games.