Free Beer Fails to Fill Empty Seats at Rice Stadium
In an attempt to combat sparse crowds, Rice University tried a classic lure: free beer. For its American football showdown against the heavily favoured North Texas Mean Green, the university offered students of legal drinking age up to three cups of Busch Light. However, the promotion proved less intoxicating than hoped, with the 47,000-seat Rice Stadium in Houston seeing only 24,598 tickets sold for the Saturday game.
A Calculated Promotion to Boost Attendance
The free beer was a central part of a broader strategy to attract fans for what was the university's biggest game of the season. Facing challenges such as the Thanksgiving travel period and a struggling team, officials rolled out multiple incentives. Alongside the alcohol, the university offered 6-shirts, $15 food vouchers, and free ice cream in a bid to fill the stands.
'We're playing on national TV, we're playing for bowl eligibility, we're playing a top-25 team in North Texas, and it's the weekend before Thanksgiving, so a lot of our students are off campus already and heading home,' explained Rice deputy athletic director Kevin Dwan before the match. The promotion was carefully managed, with students receiving wristbands and limited to one beer per visit to the stand to prevent rapid consumption.
The Game and the Aftermath
On the field, the anticipated battle failed to materialise. After a promising start where Rice held a 14-7 lead, the game unravelled for the home team. North Texas quarterback Drew Mestemaker delivered a phenomenal performance, throwing for 469 yards and three touchdowns. His teammate, Wyatt Young, set an American Conference record with 295 receiving yards. The final score was a decisive 56-24 victory for North Texas.
Meanwhile, the beer promotion concluded with organisers closing the stand after the third quarter. According to reports from Underdog Dynasty's Steve Helwick, the university had prepared 1,800 beers but ended up distributing just 1,246 free beers to students. The scene was a far cry from infamous sporting promotions gone wrong, such as Cleveland's 10-cent beer night in 1974, with no major incidents reported.
The outcome highlights the difficulty of attracting student support for a mid-major football programme at a university like Rice, which is nationally renowned for its academic strengths in bioengineering, medicine, and computer science rather than its sporting prowess.
