OMAHA, Neb. − The $60 Million Man had a 60-cent experience.
Pat McAfee, reportedly embarking upon a new $60 million deal as one of ESPN’s most outspoken personalities, spoke out against Rocco’s Pizza and Cantina Friday, putting the fast-famous bar on nationwide blast. Its wildly popular Jello Shot Challenge, in which the College World Series’ eight fan bases compete to see which school can buy the most Jello shots, has made quick work of becoming an institution of the CWS fan experience.
And no amount of influence or audience reach McAfee has is going to change that.
Your recap: McAfee said Rocco’s invited him to the bar and asked that he call ahead of his arrival. He admitted he didn’t give the heads-up, but didn’t care for the reaction he got.
“I go, ‘So do I like, write a check?’ He goes, ‘Yours would bounce, I think.’ He just kept walking. Wasn’t like a joking thing,” McAfee said on his show. He added: “”It was very much like a, ‘You’re lucky to be giving us this money to do this entire thing as opposed to like, a (celebration). And I think they were treating everybody like that.”
For some businesses, that bad a review from that big a name would be a crushing blow. But don’t be fooled into thinking that could be the case for Rocco’s. As Troy and West Virginia, where McAfee played, opened CWS play, you’d have thought it was already Saturday at Rocco’s.
It’s a massive space, occupying a corner block right across the street from Charles Schwab Field. With garage doors flung open to thousands of college baseball fans, they come more thirsty than hungry. And they come hard. The floor is sticky, not surprising given the sugar that must occasionally hit the floor when you dole out $5 Jello shots by the tens of thousands. Rocco’s donates $1.50 per shot to food charities, which drives the fervor for more.
On this day, it doesn’t appear anyone is sober enough to remember their receipt could validate a tax write-off.
Ole Miss gear was by far the dominant merch on the Rocco’s floor, as they watched WVU dispatch Troy 7-5 on flatscreen TVs that stretched from one end of the three-bar facility to the other. Fans from all eight schools competing here cornered pockets of the building — even Nebraska, which didn’t qualify, had fans reminding the rest that they’re just guests here — but the Ole Miss contingent was downing shots like they’d just beaten a Lane Kiffin team.
Then the varsity drinkers showed up. The Mountaineers finished off Troy around 4 p.m., at which point the Rocco’s door guy was just checking ID’s and waving people in. By 4:30, capacity rules kicked in, and hundreds of West Virginia fans snaked up the block all the way to North 14th St., waiting to enter and add to the Jello shot madness.
For this week, at least, Rocco’s has a gold mine.
The foot traffic, relatively speaking, is Times Squarish. Major traffic arteries are shut down to allow four- and five-lane intersections to serve as sidewalks. Nothing on wheels but cops. Rocco’s certainly isn’t the only place to eat or get a stiff drink, but when the CWS is in town, barstools are premium real estate for blocks around, and nobody seems to have more of them than Rocco’s.
When the CWS packs up and leaves town, McAfee’s bad review will go with it.
And until then, the shots will flow, err, jiggle, non-stop.
Tuscaloosa News columnist Chase Goodbread is also the weekly co-host of Crimson Cover TV on WVUA-23. Reach him at cgoodbread@gannett.com. Follow on X.com @chasegoodbread.
This article originally appeared on The Tuscaloosa News: Pat McAfee put Rocco’s Pizza on blast, but business will boom on
