There’s not much more that sports personality Pat McAfee enjoys in life than buying drinks for people at a bar. Unfortunately for him, it does not sound like he had a good experience at one iconic establishment during the College World Series.
During the most recent episode of The Pat McAfee Show, McAfee detailed his experience at the iconic Rocco’s Pizza and Cantina, which has gone viral in recent years for its now-famous jello shot challenge. And unfortunately, it does not sound like McAfee will be going back.
Rocco’s Jello Shot Challenge
Launched in 2019, the Rocco’s jello shot challenge encourages fans to pick a tournament school when ordering a jello shot and tracks which fanbase can consume the most shots during the College World Series.
The contest has a charity element, too, though the majority of the money still goes to the bar. The shots are $5 each, with $1 going to a food pantry near the school, $0.50 to a local food pantry in Omaha, and the remaining $3.50 to Rocco’s.
While the contest has become a bit of a gimmick in recent years with the tally board now reflecting donations from boosters rather than jello shots consumed by fans on-site, it is still an iconic part of the College World Series in Omaha, and fans and alumni take pride in the competition.
LSU shattered the record in 2023, purchasing 68,888 jello shots during the College World Series. It sounds like McAfee wanted to make a run at that record this year with his alma mater, West Virginia, making the College World Series. But it doesn’t sound like that’s going to happen after McAfee’s experience at the bar.
McAfee’s Bad Experience at Rocco’s
McAfee has become notorious for buying drinks for people. He famously covered Team USA’s $150,000 bar tab at a Miami club while celebrating their Olympic gold in hockey, and he claims that when he was in college, he even took out loans to be able to purchase drinks for people.
“I love buying drinks for people,” McAfee said. “It’s one of my favorite things to do. Got loans out in college so that I could buy drinks for folks, because I want everyone to have a good time.”
Given McAfee’s notoriety and the obvious wealth that comes with it, this seemed like a fitting thing for him to take part in. In fact, Rocco’s even invited McAfee on social media. However, he did not have a good experience. McAfee claims that the general manager was not happy that he didn’t call ahead before coming in and insulted him by outright claiming that his check would probably bounce.
“I go, ‘So do I like, write a check?’ McAfee said. “He goes, ‘Yours would bounce, I think.’ He just kept walking. Wasn’t like a joking thing.”
More than that, McAfee sounded disappointed to learn that the shots were not made in-house, as he expected. Instead, they were pre-made, pre-packaged shots. While McAfee did not specify the brand of the jello shots, it seems like Rocco’s moved to a partnership with JottShots last year and is no longer making their jello shots in-house. Still, the bar charges $5, with most of the money going directly to the bar.
“Incredible gimmick to kind of publicly force people who are the boosters for other schools to come compete for this,” McAfee said, implying that the bar makes a hefty profit off of the gimmick while promoting it as a charity competition between schools.
McAfee Still Donated
Despite McAfee’s displeasure, he still took part in the challenge and treated the staff respectfully. In fact, Rocco’s said in a post on X that West Virginia had already entered the top 10 in all-time Jello shots purchased and that McAfee left “the largest tip Rocco’s has ever seen.”
That said, McAfee clearly did not enjoy his experience.
“It was nowhere near what I thought it was going to be like. I did contribute,” McAfee said. “But it was very much like a ‘you’re lucky to be giving us this money to do this’ as opposed to a celebration.”
McAfee even openly admitted that he wished he could have supported another bar instead.
“I wish there was another place we could have done that at,” McAfee said, adding that “it does feel like they think they are bigger than the World Series.”
About Dave Kelsey
Contributing author to The Comeback.