An Exploratory Study of Sober Tailgate Programming at Colleges With Football Teams

Heavy drinking is a core staple in the culture of college football tailgating. In response to the drinking culture of tailgates, scholars recommend that collegiate recovery programs (CRPs) implement innovative "sober tailgate" programming; however, little is known regarding how many colleges have sober tailgate programs, and how such programs are logistically implemented. As such, the purpose of this study was to explore these issues and contribute to the knowledge base on this topic within a socio-ecological perspective. In the fall semester of 2023, the leaders of CRPs at colleges with a football program and an advertised sober tailgate program were invited to complete an online questionnaire about their tailgate. From a total of 667 colleges with a football program, there were only 14 (2%) that had a CRP that advertised sober tailgate programming. From those, 7 (response rate = 50%) CRP leaders completed the study's questionnaire. CRP leaders reported that a variety of on-campus and off-campus groups (e.g., campus administration, treatment facilities, parents of students) help to fund and support sober tailgate programming. Even with common barriers to program implementation, most CRP leaders perceived sober tailgating as successful, well-attended, and led to a few attendees participating in future campus recovery meetings. Health promotion practitioners should consider implementing sober tailgates, and may want to use this study's findings for planning purposes.