Bribing with free beer is the new trend in college football. The Rice Owls attempted it on Saturday to boost attendance for the North Texas game. The Owls believed that the attention-grabbing promotion tactics could help sell 23000+ unsold tickets, but the results reveal a completely different story.

On Saturday’s blowout 56-24 loss to Mean Green, the Owls sold free beer, as many as three plastic cups of Busch, with one cup per visit. For a stadium capacity of over 47,000, the program was seeing only 20,000-22,000 attendance at its home games. Throughout the season, the attendance has been dismal.

The tactic did help Rice on that front. The official attendance for the game was 24,598. However, it failed to deliver on the promise. Steve Helwick of Underdog Dynasty reported on X that the Rice Owls came prepared with 1,800 beers and closed up shop after the third quarter. Ultimately, only 1,246 free beers were distributed.

It was also reported that the Rice students of drinking age were given wristbands to measure the three servings. They’ve also increased the Rice University Police Department just to ensure safety. This isn’t the only thing they’ve offered to visitors. According to The Athletic report, the free beer promotion was only a part of several efforts. Apart from this, the fans were also offered t-shirts, $15 food vouchers, and free ice cream.

When asked about the promotional attempts, Kevin Dwan, deputy athletic director for external affairs and revenue at Rice, told The Athletic that they did what was best to be featured on national television when a top-25 team visits.

“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,” Kevin Dwan said. “And we just want to do what we can to encourage them to stick around and come out to the game.”

However, the limited beer serving only helped the Owls fans forget the 32-point blowout loss to the Mean Green.

Free Beer didn’t help the Rice Owls

On the field, the Rice Owls briefly delivered hope in the first quarter, scoring back-to-back touchdowns to take a 14-0 lead. However, when the North Texas settled in, they posted five unanswered touchdowns, taking the game far away from Rice’s reach to 42-14. In the second half, the Owls were only able to score a touchdown and a field goal, settling for 24 points, while North Texas took the game to 56-24 to secure the win.

The Owls’ worst nightmare that evening was the Mean Green’s QB Drew Mestemaker, who torched the Owls for 469 passing yards and 3 touchdowns, completing 19 of 23 passes, repeatedly finding the star receiver Wyatt Young. On the other hand, Caleb Hawkins carried the ball 97 yards in 20 attempts to score 3 touchdowns. 

Young’s 295 receiving yards and 2 touchdowns put his name on an AAC-record performance, shredding Rice’s secondary and silencing the already-muted home crowd. Overall, the Owls allowed 640 yards to North Texas and lost the game, despite employing promotional tactics, and fell to 5–6, forcing them into a do-or-die situation for their bowl eligibility in the upcoming game against South Florida this Saturday. On the other hand, North Texas is on top of the AAC with a 10-1 record.