TABC: WhiteWings, Coyotes could lose liquor licenses

EDINBURG — Baseball fans may have to trade beer suds for soda pop this summer after the state says it found questionable practices involving alcoholic beverage licensing.

All of the United League Baseball teams in Texas, including the Harlingen WhiteWings and Edinburg Coyotes, will likely lose their alcoholic beverage licenses in the next several days in connection with the findings.

Texas Alcoholic Beverage Commission Lt. Arthur Munsell, of the McAllen office, said Wednesday that the commission will likely finalize paperwork to rescind the mixed-beverage licenses — which allow the sale of beer, wine and liquor — of the ULB’s Texas franchises.

The league also fields teams in Amarillo, Laredo and San Angelo. It wasn’t immediately clear if its team in Louisiana would be affected.

The license applications contained misinformation that concealed who was actually profiting from alcohol sales at the games, Munsell said.

Jerry Deal, a ULB consultant and former director of media relations for the league, said he resigned his position on Monday.

An entity called Bluebonnet Concessions LLC held the mixed-beverage licenses that permitted it to sell alcohol at the league’s games, Munsell said. Deal had been listed on Bluebonnet’s license applications as the company manager.

Deal voluntarily withdrew his licenses, which Munsell said had been in effect since May of last year, at TABC’s McAllen office Wednesday.

Once TABC formally recognizes the withdrawal — a near certainty, Munsell said — alcohol sales will no longer be permitted at games. At that point new applications will have to be filed if the teams hope to resume selling alcohol at games. The process could take a month or longer.

Brad Wendt, the league’s chief executive officer, declined to comment Wednesday regarding the league’s licensing issues or its relationship with Deal.

TABC codes say the manager listed on an alcoholic beverage license must be someone who actually profits from the alcohol sales — which was not the case for Deal, who only held that position on paper, Munsell said.

Deal had been the league’s media relations director until earlier this year, when he said there was a leadership shakeup that reduced him to the consultant position and cut his salary by two-thirds.

Before his demotion, he was listed as Bluebonnet manager and was told he would be paid for that position, he said.

After the shakeup, he said, he became concerned about having his name on the license because the league ultimately did not pay him a separate salary for his Bluebonnet managerial duties and would not fund visits to teams to verify they were following TABC protocol.

He approached TABC about his concerns last week, he said, and TABC informed him that since he was not actively involved with Bluebonnet and alcohol sales — as the license indicated — he was committing a felony.

Deal was forthcoming and voluntarily withdrew the licenses, Munsell said. As a result, he will not face criminal charges, he said.

Deal “didn’t know what he got into,” Munsell said.

The ULB has made a point of promoting alcohol sales with “Thirsty Thursdays,” when plastic cups of beer can be purchased for a dollar each.

The Edinburg Coyotes’ home stadium also opened a full-service bar this season.

“I’m sorry about this, but if I didn’t do it (withdraw the licenses voluntarily,) I could have had charges against me,” Deal said. “For me, it was a no-brainer.”

Deal, a former editor of the Valley Morning Star, said he originally approached league higher-ups in January to discuss his concerns about his position as Bluebonnet manager, and said he once again raised the issue in late May.

But he said once it became apparent he would not be paid extra for his role as Bluebonnet manager — and the league would not pay for him to visit teams throughout the state to verify alcoholic beverage vendors had received TABC training and were following protocol, he said — he said he decided to approach TABC himself. He said he feared any alcohol-related violations would impact him because he was listed as manager.

Texas has a three-tiered system in which the alcoholic beverage manufacturer, distributor and retailer can’t have anything to do with one another, Munsell explained.

According to the code, the entity handling alcoholic beverage promotions must be separate from the one selling alcohol. This was not the case for ULB teams, Munsell said. According to Deal, Bluebonnet was a one-man operation solely made up of him, a league employee. He said he was not getting additional compensation for his position as “member/manager” of Bluebonnet.

A team that hopes to sell alcohol at its games is supposed to have a separate business relationship with a third party that handles alcohol sales and licensing, Munsell said, which would then free a team to participate in promotions and sponsorships with the alcoholic beverage companies.

Munsell said he was unaware of anyone re-applying for alcoholic beverage licenses for sales at ULB games. Wendt would not say if there were any new applications.