Despite adding alcohol sales, Clemson keeping unique gameday rule in place
Clemson is selling alcohol at football games for the first time ever this season.
But that won’t stop you from enjoying a midgame beverage at your tailgate.
As part of a media session previewing safety changes at Memorial Stadium heading into the 2025 season, Clemson athletics spokesman Jeff Kallin said there are no immediate changes to the university’s popular “passout” rule, which allows fans to leave and reenter the stadium.
“As of right now, there are no changes to the reentry policy and we don’t see that changing for the 2025 season,” Kallin said Monday.
With Clemson selling alcohol at football games for the first time, there was some concern among fans about if the school would do away with its reentry policy.
Under the current policy, fans can enter a Clemson game normally then get a “passout” (usually a physical card, or a stamp on their hand) that allows them to exit the stadium and be readmitted. The majority of pro and college sports events have one-time entry policies and don’t let fans go in and out.
Clemson’s “passout” policy was popular because it allowed fans to retreat to their tailgating setups — usually around halftime — to relax and, yes, drink alcohol, since Clemson held off on selling alcoholic beverages at sporting events for decades.
But even with Memorial Stadium now selling beer and seltzer to the general public, Clemson isn’t turning alcohol consumption at the stadium into a monopoly. A fan could still theoretically enter a game, buy a beer in the stadium, leave at halftime to hang out at their tailgate — under the “passout policy” — and then come back in.
Clemson athletics requires returning fans to present a reentry voucher (their “passout”) and a valid game ticket for readmission. Fans also have to go through “the same level of security screening as they did upon entering,” according to the school.
It’s worth noting Clemson’s “passout” policy isn’t exclusively an alcohol policy. It’s a big help for crowd control at a stadium that seats 81,500 and regularly sells out its home games. Thousands of fans utilize the rule for Clemson games for purposes other than tailgating.
The passout policy allows flexibility for fans who might want to drop something off at their cars, escape the heat and sit in the AC or use a porta potty, as opposed to stadium restrooms (which often have long lines and are one of the things Clemson is aiming to improve in future football stadium renovations).
Fellow ACC member N.C. State has a similar “passout” policy for football games.
More safety policies coming for Clemson football games
Clemson on Monday also debuted a number of other new gameday updates designed to improve safety, including handrails in the lower deck and a designated driver program in conjunction with the South Carolina Department of Public Safety.
Under the policy, fans can register as a designated driver at kiosks and, as a perk, receive one free non-alcoholic beverage (such as a water or a soda) at one of the stadium’s concessions kiosks.
Chris Harrington, interim chief of police for the Clemson University Police Department, said his department has had a “robust staffing management plan” for football games for years and is making some changes to account for alcohol sales.
Fans will be able to buy alcohol (beer and seltzer options) at concession stands and kiosks. Aramark, Clemson’s contracted concessions provider, will run alcohol sales and require a customer to provide a valid driver’s license for every transaction.
Aramark will scan and validate a customer’s driver’s license/ID for every transaction. There’s a limit of two alcoholic beverages per customer per purchase, and only horizontal IDs will be accepted (no vertical IDs). The cut-off sales time for football games is the end of the third quarter, Harrington said.
“We’re shifting a little bit of responsibilities on how we assign and task officers throughout the duration of the event,” Harrington said. “Athletics soft-launched sales back in the spring. ... Those were very successful events. We saw that staffing model work very well in being able to monitor and ensure we have proper compliance.”
Kallin, the Clemson athletics spokesman, declined to say whether or not the “passout” policy could change in the future. But the university plans to keep its current policy in place through the 2025 season — which features seven home games at Memorial Stadium and could feature an eighth, depending on if Clemson makes the College Football Playoff and where it’s seeded.
No. 4 Clemson opens the season at home on Saturday, Aug. 30 against No. 9 LSU in an AP Top 10 matchup. The game has received a primetime broadcast designation — 7:30 p.m. on ABC — and is Clemson’s first home opener since 2019.
This story was originally published August 11, 2025 at 3:47 PM.
