Longhorns football fans of legal drinking age are cheering early this season after a the University of Texas announced that it will begin selling beer and wine at all home football games beginning Sept. 12 with the home opener against Rice.

UT President Greg Fenves, who took office earlier this month, made the decision to begin allowing the sales after discussion with UT System Chancellor Bill McRaven, a statement said.

Beer and wine sales are already allowed at home baseball and basketball games, along with other athletic events. Sales there served as a pilot, according to the statement, which says that "service should be expanded to include all football public areas since the outcome was positive from a safety, community impact and fan experience standpoint."

"Fan safety and enjoyment remains our number one priority as we work through the process of expanding beer and wine sales into all seating areas of the stadium," said Texas Men's Athletics Director Steve Patterson in the statement. "During our extensive pilot, we found fans and staff handled the situation responsibly and we had no negative issues or situations. We will continue to monitor the service closely."

All sales will be conducted through the licensed vendor Sodexo, the statement says.

UT Austin became the fourth UT System school to serve adult beverages at sporting events, after UT El Paso, UT San Antonio and UT Arlington, according to the statement. Other in-state institutions with similar services are The University of North Texas, Southern Methodist University and the University of Houston, the statement says.