The University of Arkansas announced Wednesday that those who buy tickets for indoor club seating at the Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium will be able to purchase beer and wine when the 2014 season begins.

Alcohol will be sold by Sodexo Inc., the concessionaire for Razorback Athletics,a news release states.

The news release’s title - “Indoor Club Areas to Offer Beer and Wine at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium” - suggests this is a done deal.

So do comments from Vice Chancellor and Director of Athletics Jeff Long, who, in the same news release, stated: “We are pleased that beginning in 2014, our club seat holders at Donald W. Reynolds Razorback Stadium will be offered a new service that they have been requesting.

“Working with Sodexo, Razorback fans who are of legal age will be able to have the opportunity to purchase beer and wine in designated indoor club seating areas. We are pleased that Sodexo will be able to utilize its expertise developed through implementing and coordinating similar programs around the country.”

The news release also reminds fans that season tickets are currently in the renewal period for the 2014.

But not so fast.

Alcoholic beverages for indoor club-seat holders aren’t yet a reality, according to the Alcoholic Beverage Control Division - which hasn’t even received an application for a permit from Sodexo.

And should Sodexo apply, there is still a process that may - or may not - result in a permit.

Applications for the week ended Feb. 7 don’t include one from Sodexo, according to the Alcoholic Beverage Control website.

And as of late Wednesday afternoon, the state Alcohol Beverage Control Board hadn’t received a license application for Reynolds Razorback Stadium, staff attorney Milton Lueken said.

“We have not received an application from anybody for anything like that,” Lueken said, after checking with Mary Robin Casteel, Alcoholic Beverage Control’s attorney who oversees private-club applications. “Obviously if they’re going to sell beer up there, they would have to get a permit from us.”

The process for receiving a beer and wine permit at the stadium, Lueken said, would be the same as that required for any applicant.

An application from the agency would need to be requested before paperwork from Alcoholic Beverage Control would be sent to the applicant to complete. The applicant would then print notice of the application in the newspaper and make a “poster notice” at the site in question to notify the public about the application.

“In turn, our agency has to notify the mayor of Fayetteville, the chief of police in Fayetteville, the sheriff, the prosecuting attorney, to see if any of the public officials up there have any objection,” he explained. “They are allowed to put in their 2 cents’ worth. Those are state laws that we have to follow.

“I don’t know if anybody would object to that or not,” Lueken said of a potential permit for the football stadium. “I kind of doubt it.”

If there are no objections within a 30-day period, Alcoholic Beverage Control Director Michael Langley would make the initial decision on whether to grant the permit, Lueken said. The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board then reviews all of the director’s decisions and gives final approval or denial, which take effect the next day.

“The law says the board has to approve what [the director] does, and they usually do,” Lueken said.

The whole process could take about 45 days, if there are no objections, Lueken added.

The Alcoholic Beverage Control Board meets on the third Wednesday of every month.

There’s been much talk on sports forums - including those on Hogville.net - about what the Southeastern Conference allows regarding alcohol sales at games.

The University of Arkansas, along with several other schools, contends that the SEC doesn’t permit the sale or consumption of alcohol in public or outdoor seating sections.

But there is no mention of alcohol - at all - in the Southeastern Conference 2013-14 Constitution and Bylaws. Nor is there any mention of alcohol in the SEC 2013-14 Commissioner’s Regulations.

This, of course, raises the question as to whether alcohol may be sold to fans who have tickets for nonpremium seats at Reynolds Razorback Stadium.

The Arkansas Democrat-Gazette asked Kevin Trainor, associate athletic director for public relations, whether any SEC policy on alcohol exists and, if so, where it can be found.

He sent the following via email: “ALCOHOL POLICY. No alcoholic beverages shall be sold or dispensed for public consumption anywhere in the facility and the possession and/or consumption of alcoholic beverages in the public areas of the facility shall be prohibited. These prohibitions shall not apply to private, leased areas in the facility or other areas designated by the SEC.”

The newspaper asked Trainor to cite the source of that policy. “The policy below is from the SEC,” he replied.

The Democrat-Gazette conducted further online searches using the paragraph sent by Trainor but turned up nothing from the SEC.

Trainor did not reply to another request from the newspaper to provide more information about the source of the paragraph he emailed.

The newspaper called the SEC, but its Alabama offices were closed because of an ice storm in the region. There was no reply to two emails sent to the SEC.

Information for this article was contributed by Chad Day of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette.

Front Section, Pages 1 on 02/13/2014