At least four Major League Baseball teams have begun to extend alcohol sales into the eighth inning this season in reaction to an increased pace of play and shorter games created by the introduction of the pitch clock, according to the Associated Press. The group of teams currently includes the Arizona Diamondbacks, Texas Rangers, Minnesota Twins and Milwaukee Brewers.
Traditionally, MLB teams have stopped selling alcohol after the seventh inning, even though MLB itself does not mandate when teams can sell alcohol and at what point those sales must be cut off. But with rule changes for 2023 shortening games considerably -- and many parks having areas where alcohol could be sold after the seventh inning anyway -- several teams have begun to experiment with adjustments to their traditional practices.
"From a time perspective, we're probably looking at selling beer for the same amount of time by extending to the eighth inning that we did last year through the seventh," Rick Schlesinger, the Brewers' president of business operations, told MLB.com. "Obviously, the safety and the conduct of our fans has primacy. We've had no issues, but it's a small sample size and we're going to continue to test it and see if it makes sense. I know a number of other teams are doing the same thing."
Through the first week and a half of the 2023 season, the pitch clock and other related changes have reduced the average game time by minutes, which is on track to be baseball's lowest since 1984.
