Referees, players, and other fans aren't the only ones who took a hit when plastic beer bottles and other objects began pouring out of the stands at Cleveland Browns Stadium last week. Toledo's Owens-Illinois, Inc., which makes plastic bottles for Miller and other major brewers, also may feel the sting of the fan protest.

Some stadiums have banned the containers and others are considering doing so. Fearful that the backlash will hurt a profitable new way of dispensing beer, O-I and its customers have gone into damage control mode.

“These are isolated incidents,” said Sara Theis, spokesman for the Fortune 500 Toledo firm which also supplies bottles to the food, pharmaceutical, and cleaning-products industries. “Our customers are discussing action plans with appropriate stadium officials for resolution of these problems.

Besides Philip Morris's Miller Brewing Co., the Toledo manufacturer sells plastic bottles to Anheuser-Busch Cos., and Coors Brewing Co., Ms. Theis said.

The Toledo firm won't say where the bottles are produced or how much money it makes on them. But they are part of O-I's growing plastic-container unit, which chalked up sales of $460 million in the third quarter. The firm also makes glass bottles.

One indication of the popularity of plastic bottles - primarily at stadiums, arenas, beaches, and golf courses where glass is impractical and cans sometimes are viewed as down-market - comes from Miller. The bottles account for 1 percent, or about $44 million, of the firm's $4.4 billion in annual sales, said spokesman Scott Bussen. That represent a growth opportunity in an industry that has saturated the market.

Miller began test-marketing the O-I bottles in late 1998 and started nationwide sales last year.

They are profitable for stadiums because concessionaires can dispense them more quickly than beer poured from a keg or can. Also, at $5 to $6 and more, the 16-ounce and 20-ounce bottles include a nice mark up, experts state. Fans like them because they are easier to carry than plastic cups and lack the suds of draught beer.

But if critics have their way, the party could be over - at least in sports stadiums.

The York Daily Record, near Philadelphia, called for a ban on plastic containers in those places. “... It makes absolutely no sense to arm alcohol-fueled fans with potential projectiles,” the newspaper wrote in an editorial.

Several stadiums have already done so, including Giants Stadium, home of the New York Giants and Jets; Dome at America's Center, home of the St. Louis Rams; and the RCA Dome, home of the Philadelphia Colts.

Sources said that the Browns' stadium in Cleveland is considering a such a ban when play resumes there next season.

The throwing incident happened Dec. 16 when fans angry over a referee's call threw objects, including partially filled plastic beer bottles, onto the field. Several people reported minor injuries, and the game against the Jacksonville Jaguars was delayed. A similar incident occurred the next day in New Orleans.

A leading plastics industry trade group has asked the National Football League to “carefully consider all variables” in the protests before banning plastic beverage bottles from stadiums. Water and beer have been sold in plastic bottles since 1995 without problems, the National Association for PET Container Resources noted in a statement.

Safety was touted when plastic beer bottles were introduced. Backers said thebottles would appeal to people who prefer bottles to cans, without the breakage problem or the potential to be wielded as a weapon.

The Miller spokesman said the brewer will work with stadiums and concessionaires “to make sure fans are enjoying the game in a safe environment.”

One step, said Mr. Bussen, is for concessionaires to make sure the beer is served with the lid removed.

“If someone throws a bottle with the closure removed, most of the beer comes out before it gets somewhere where it can do some real damage,” he said.

Primary responsibility for the problem rests with the perpetrators, he said. “We're seeing a small minority of people giving a very large group a black eye. This isn't about the beer or the bottle but about a lack of respect for others, a lack of personal responsibility.”

First Published December 25, 2001, 11:56 a.m.