Sold out, but F1 has no address | MJBurrows Sport - Issue No 10

Two Thursday stories where the demand was never the question — the permission was. Formula 1 has sold out a season finale it still can't promise to hold, and English football's supporters would happily buy a pint in their seats if a law from 1985 let them.

Formula 1 has sold every seat for its season finale and still cannot say where it will be held. The plan is to close the 24-race year back-to-back in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, but the war in Iran has put both rounds under review, with a decision due before the middle of September. Demand was never the weak point — both races are sold out. The map is. Saudi Arabia and Bahrain were already postponed indefinitely this year, the Bahrain round shifted to Malaysia, so two Middle East dates have gone. A second Las Vegas race was floated for the autumn and dropped over a clash with the NFL, which leaves Europe as the fallback — chosen because nothing else can be arranged in time, not because anyone bid for it.

English football's other constraint is older, and it is written down. A law from 1985, drafted in the hooliganism years, still stops fans drinking within sight of the pitch — and this week the British Beer and Pub Association backed scrapping it. Andy Burnham, an Everton season ticket holder, is already on side, noting that cricket, darts and rugby crowds are trusted with a pint and football's are not. Supporters can buy one before kick-off, at half-time and after the whistle — just nowhere they can see the game. The ask is narrow: clubs apply case by case through the licensing regime that already exists, with safety authorities keeping their veto. And the women's game has run the trial, allowing drinking in the stands this year after tests last season.

In both, the customers already turned up — it's the rulebook and the map deciding whether they get served.

Both of Formula 1’s season-closing races are sold out. Neither is guaranteed to happen. The sport planned to end its 24-race year back-to-back in Qatar and Abu Dhabi, but the war in Iran has put both rounds under review, with a decision due before the middle of September. The fallback is not a second Las Vegas Grand Prix. It is Europe — picked by elimination. The F1 season finale has no confirmed address.

You can take a pint to your seat at the cricket. Same at the darts, same at the rugby. Yet walk into a football ground with one and you are breaking a 41-year-old law. Andy Burnham thinks that is wrong, and the beer trade has just backed him. Alcohol on football terraces is suddenly a live policy question rather than a fan grievance.

Formula 1 sold out a race it can't promise to hold, while football keeps its fans a metre from a pint they are already allowed to buy. Two sports, two full houses, and a rulebook standing between the crowd and the till. — MJB