I was thinking the same. I would make a rubber "flap", and mount it so it is hinged on top of that panel. This way it would deflect the obligatory spilled Jagermeister, and hopefully keep the drunken patrons away from the control panel.
That's the least of your worries. You'll need to protect the knob(s) from getting broken off when moving them on the in and the out. Some nice, padded covers with a velcro pocket to hold a quarter inch plywood insert would be just the ticket if you don't want to build/buy hard cases.
