Pat McAfee had beef with Rocco’s CWS jello shot contest: ‘They think they are bigger than the World Series’

Pat McAfee dropped big money on jello shots at Rocco’s ahead of the College World Series, but the experience didn’t live up to the hype when the bar failed to honor the sale with any VIP treatment.

The Omaha-based bar and pizza cantina has gone viral in recent years for its now-famous jello shot challenge. Launched in 2019, the bar encourages fans to pick a tournament school when ordering a Jell-O-based cocktail to see which fanbase can consume the most shots. LSU shattered the record in 2023, purchasing 68,888 jello shots during the College World Series.

Enter Pat McAfee, whose alma mater, West Virginia, is making its College World Series debut this week. McAfee notably loves buying drinks, having covered Team USA’s $150,000 bar tab at a Miami club while celebrating their Olympic gold in hockey. And with West Virginia coming to Omaha for the College World Series, Rocco’s even tagged McAfee in a video informing him about the jello shot challenge.

McAfee sought to get West Virginia on a trajectory to break LSU’s record.  But instead of the bar erupting with excitement over the sale, they allegedly questioned whether the check would bounce, which McAfee did not appreciate. 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. But the challenge has lost some of its authenticity in recent years, with the tally board reflecting donations from boosters rather than jello shots consumed by fans on-site.

“Incredible gimmick to kind of publicly force people who are the boosters for other schools to come compete for this,” McAfee griped Friday about Rocco’s after his not-so-great experience.

According to McAfee, Rocco’s wasn’t happy that he didn’t call ahead, that he asked how to pay, that he used a checkbook, or that the amount was too high. Basically, McAfee didn’t get the sense that Rocco’s was happy to have him there, even though they kind of asked him to come.

“It was nowhere near what I thought it was going to be like. I did contribute,” McAfee noted without saying how many shots he ended up buying. “But it was very much like a ‘you’re lucky to be giving us this money to do this’ as opposed to a celebration.”

There was no pomp and circumstance, no balloons falling from the sky, not even a pat on the back for McAfee despite his intentions. To make matters worse, McAfee doesn’t even really like jello shots; he just really likes buying people drinks. And unfortunately for him, Rocco’s allegedly took the fun out of it.

McAfee would later add, “I wish there was another place we could have done that at,” to which Boston Connor would suggest was an option if McAfee opened a bar in Omaha with cheaper, better shots. McAfee also suggested the shots tasted like Monster Unleaded and “it does feel like they think they are bigger than the World Series.”

After McAfee’s rant about Rocco’s, the official CWS Jello Shot Challenge account on X updated their board and publicly thanked McAfee for leaving the largest tip the bar has ever seen.

“Helluva guy,” they wrote of McAfee. But the belated shoutout might not be enough to get Rocco’s back on McAfee’s good side. Maybe all will eventually be forgiven, but his propensity to seek vengeance might have McAfee look to start his own jello shot sale before going back to Rocco’s.