Fans attending LaSalle Vipers home games at the Vollmer Complex will soon be able to enjoy an alcoholic drink from their seat.
LaSalle council met Tuesday evening, with one report looking to approve a pilot project for the 2026-27 season that would allow alcohol purchased from The G.O.A.T. Tap & Eatery to be consumed within Rink A during Vipers games.
This is an expansion of a pilot project from last season, where alcohol was sold to individuals within a small, roped-off area outside of Rink A. All alcohol had to be purchased and consumed within the roped-off area.
The pilot will maintain requirements including Smart Serve certification, age verification, refusing service to intoxicated patrons, insurance and incident reporting.
As part of the first year of the expanded pilot, alcohol sales would begin 45 minutes before the game and would end after the second intermission, meaning there would be no alcohol sold during the third period.
According to town staff, The G.O.A.T. will be responsible for the liquor license and for ensuring all rules are being followed.
Mayor Crystal Meloche says there was very positive feedback from last year’s pilot, except for the fact that those who purchased a drink couldn’t be within the rink.
“So it was a roped off area so that only adults could go in. You purchase alcohol there and you had to also consume it standing in that little area. You couldn’t go back in and watch the game. So now they’ve come forward with a proposal to allow them to serve and have alcohol inside of all Rink A.”
She says The G.O.A.T. will be responsible for making sure staff and volunteers follow the rules.
“They have to be smart served. It’s just like serving alcohol in their restaurants, they wouldn’t want to risk their liquor license, so they’re going to ensure that they follow the rules and regulations. They would be the one going for that permit. It wouldn’t be the town applying for an alcohol permit, and so it will be up to them to follow the protocol and make sure that they have the proper people in place to protect it.”
Meloche says council did make a minor change for when the cut off of alcohol sales would be.
“They’re allowed to start serving alcohol 45 minutes before a game. And they had asked for up until 10 minutes until the game’s over. Our council would like to see for the first year of the pilot program that alcohol sales end at the end of the second intermission so that it wouldn’t be any service during that third period.”
Meloche says there were no incidents reported during last year’s pilot.
Administration says the town’s existing alcohol policy was designed mainly for special events and isn’t tailored to fixed-seat arena settings, with the results expected to help inform a future policy specifically for alcohol service at arena sporting events.
Some staffing and security requirements will therefore be modified for the pilot, while provincial alcohol requirements will remain in place.