Despite its impeccable 9-0 record, Ohio State is not the team that topped the alcohol sales. In fact, a team ranked #95 after week 10 in Athletic’s 136 takes that spot. Wisconsin’s 2025 football season has become one of the most painful viewing experiences in program history. If there’s any silver lining to the catastrophe unfolding on the field, it’s that Camp Randall’s concession stands are cashing in big on fan misery.

According to data compiled by Matt Brown in his investigation into college football alcohol sales during the 2025 season, Wisconsin led the nation in alcohol revenue for August and September with $3,088,690 in sales. This is a staggering total that shows what’s happening when the Badgers take the field. But that massive number tells a story that’s way more complicated than just Badgers fans loving their alcohol beverages.

It’s a story about a once-proud program in complete freefall, and about fans literally drinking to cope with what Luke Fickell’s team has become. Wisconsin’s 2-6 record and winless Big Ten slate are the worst the program has looked in decades, and the alcohol sales figures? They’re almost like a financial tracker of the fan base’s collective heartbreak.​ What makes the alcohol sales story so compelling is that Wisconsin’s figure of $3,088,690 actually led all 21 schools that provided data to Matt Brown’s investigation. Nebraska came in second with $2,074,806, and Tennessee third with $1,623,728.

The numbers coming out of Camp Randall tell you everything you need to know about how bad things have gotten at Wisconsin. The Badgers are sitting at 0-5 in Big Ten play after getting absolutely demolished by Iowa, Ohio State, and Oregon, games so ugly that fans literally didn’t stick around to watch them. More telling than the on-field disasters, though, is the attendance situation.

Wisconsin’s average announced attendance is down to 70,745 through five home games, but actual ticket scanning data shows only about 51,980 fans per game are actually showing up, which is roughly 72 percent of Camp Randall’s capacity. That’s a 30-year low, the worst attendance in the first few games since 1992.  The backdrop to all this is the complete dismantling of one of college football’s most consistent programs.

Wisconsin had won 22 consecutive games with winning records before 2024 broke that streak, and they’d been bowl-eligible for 22 straight years. Barry Alvarez transformed Wisconsin from a laughingstock into a consistent power. Paul Chryst came in and maintained that standard. But Luke Fickell has managed to do what seemed impossible just a few years ago: make Wisconsin irrelevant. 

Fickell’s record stands at 15-19 with a $25 million buyout hanging over the program’s head. Wisconsin’s athletic director, Chris McIntosh, stood by Fickell after the Maryland loss, but the fanbase? They made their feelings clear. During the 27-10 home loss to Maryland, fans were booing loudly and chanting “Fire Fickell!” by halftime when Wisconsin was down 20-0. That’s resignation. That’s a fan base watching decades of consistent excellence evaporate in real time.​ The results affected their drop in numbers.  

Wisconsin tops the chart, even in a down year

Camp Randall is a massive stadium, and Wisconsin fans showed up during August and September when there was still hope. The Western Michigan game (week one) and Middle Tennessee game (week two) drew the biggest crowds before reality set in against Alabama. The thing that really puts Wisconsin’s alcohol sales numbers into perspective is that even with a catastrophic 19.2 percent drop from 2024, the Badgers still led every other college football program in the country when it came to moving booze during the first two months of the season. 

That $1.8 million through five home games is a massive decline from the $2.2 million at this point last year, but it still towers over what Nebraska, Tennessee, LSU, and Michigan were ringing up at their stadiums. The reason is pretty straightforward. Camp Randall is one of the biggest and most iconic venues in college football. Early in the season, there was still legitimate hope that this could be a good year. Fans actually showed up. They actually spent money.

That’s why, despite being down nearly a fifth in sales, Wisconsin still absolutely demolished the competition in terms of raw revenue. Looking ahead, the Badgers have four games remaining, and with a 2-6 record, they need to win out just to become bowl-eligible for the first time since that 22-year streak ended. They’ll face No. 24 Washington, No. 2 Indiana, Illinois, and Minnesota, a gauntlet that looks pretty much unwinnable given how bad the Badgers have been.