Blues’ Tuesdays on Tap: How’d this idea get so far?
The St. Louis Blues had this idea for boosting attendance to Tuesday night games: Tuesdays on Tap. Buy a ticket for $25 or more and you’ll get free beer all night.
“You get the tickets, we’ll get the drinks,” says the offer, which was e-mailed to many fans late Thursday morning. The offer applied to bottled water and soft drinks, too.
Meanwhile, on the same day, according to our story, “news wires carried a story from Ontario, Canada, that former Blues defenseman Rob Ramage was sentenced this morning to four years in prison for a drunken-driving crash that killed a fellow former pro hockey player.”
Later, after inquiries from the media about “Tuesdays on Tap,” there’s this update in our story:
Peter McLoughlin, Blues Enterprise CEO, said this afternoon that the team was withdrawing the offer. He described the second thoughts only as a “business decision.” “We were discussing a lot of creative ideas,” McLoughlin said. “It’s unfortunate the e-mail went out… This one is not happening.”
How do you suppose this idea got as far as it did?
Kurt has been an editor at the Post-Dispatch since August 2002, working on both STLtoday and the newspaper. He's been a journalist since 1982, covering municipal government, courts, education and two hurricanes as a reporter before becoming an editor. 
We received that email yesterday at work. Guess I’ll not be going on those Tuesdays afterall. Darn the luck!!
How stupid! Maybe there should be a “dry” night in honor of all of the loved ones that have been killed by drunk drivers coming home from sporting events. And we wonder why our teens are drinking and driving.
Terri, how does this relate to teens drinking and driving? I don’t recall the article mentioning that the Blues would be flagrantly disregarding liquor laws and serving minors. The Cardinals and Blues already have certain seats that are all inclusive of food and drink (including beer). What’s the difference between that and this? It’s a little hypocritical to say the rich can drink all they want but not those people who can only afford $25 seats. Furthermore, current laws provide that a visbly intoxicated person should not be served more beer. If that law is followed to the furthest degree, there is no problem (and it would be in the Blues best financial interests to observe this strictly). The Blues could have also capped the free beer to 2 or 3 by punching the tickets or using some sort of punchable wrist band to keep count.
Thanks Terri for your “think about the children” plea, and equating drinking with drinking and driving. You can already buy tickets that are all you can drink; this would just have expanded that idea to cheaper seats. Adults at a hockey game that want to have more than a few are perfectly capable of taking Metro or a cab home. If teens are drinking and driving, it’s because they are dumb, not because the Blues come up with an innovative and fun sounding promotion. Every night can be a “dry night” at the hockey game if you don’t want to drink. Maybe the Blues should cancel their free food promotion so teens don’t get the idea that overeating is acceptable.
upon hearing of this promo 20 friends and i bought tickets, when they pulled the offer we gave the tickets back. Way to go Blues management!
When I was much younger and living in Cleveland, Ohio, the Indians sponsored a “beer night” ball game. There was so much beer consumed for free that eventually the Umpires stopped the game and declared a forfeit. Is this really a good idea?
This actually isn’t such a bad idea, given a limit. Beer is so darn expensive there, that us in the cheap seats (who aren’t alcoholics) don’t buy it. It would be nice to get a free beer or two. Another great idea smashed by the political correctness crowd.
Regarding post 4. Hey, why don’t the Blues take a cue from public schools. Have a free condom night to encourage sexual activity between periods.
Terri, you’re right on. Many drunk drivers didn’t PLAN on driving, but too much alcohol impaired any judgement they previously had. Unfortunately, those same drunk drivers kill our families whether they be children, parents, wives or husbands. You can spin every adult/fan as a model citizen, but that is clearly not the facts. Blues games are exciting on their own.
I sure hope the police increase their patrol of drivers leaving the stadium grounds. That is a great way to increase revenues by giving DWI’s out to all the sloshed beer drinking fans driving home.
Thanks Blues…….my wife came home and told me about this promotion and I was excited. When I read that they canceled Tuesdays on Tap…..I went out and bought a 12 pack and now I am going to quit my job and leave my wife. Its her fault…..her and my lousy mother are always are telling me what to do. GOsh dang that makes me angry.
Dave Checketts is a very relgious man….I seriusly doubt he would authorize a ppromotion like this if it wasn’t ok with GOD.
Now instead of drinking free beer at the game I am going to have to smoke crack and beat my wife to get all amped up for some Blues action.