Fierce competition between Ole Miss and Arkansas fans at CWS Jell-O shot challenge | Local News

The College World Series’ fiercest competition might just be the Jell-O shot challenge at Rocco’s Pizza and Cantina.

The restaurant, located at 13th and Mike Fahey Streets directly across from Charles Schwab Field, has entertained CWS fans for more than a decade. For the past six years, they’ve held a variation of the CWS Jell-O Shooting Challenge: for every shot ordered, your team gets a point.

Last year, a Mississippi State record was set: fans ordered 2,965 shots of Jell-O during the show.

Sunday night — just three days later — that record was broken by University of Arkansas fans who had already consumed 50% more than all playoffs last year.

And by Monday afternoon, CWS fans had ordered a total of 11,130 shots of Jell-O, an ice-cold mix of Jell-O and vodka colored to match each team, at $4.50 a pop.

That’s over $50,000 in revenue for Rocco and there are still at least six days left in the series. Customers say the competitive spirit is worth the premium price of a prepackaged Jell-O shot.

“It’s absolutely brilliant marketing,” said Tyler Johnson, an Ole Miss fan from Jackson, Mississippi. “They make a lot of us, but everyone likes competition.”

This year, the competition is fierce. Arkansas is barely clinging to its lead over Mississippi: At Monday’s last count, Ole Miss had 4,579 shots to Arkansas’ 4,644. No other team comes close to those numbers, with Texas A&M a distant third at 585 shots.

Big spenders who buy hundreds of snaps at once have upped the ante this year. A representative from Banded Brands, an Arkansas-based hunting gear brand, purchased 500 rounds on Monday afternoon. In response, Tyler Jordan of Realtree, another hunting and camouflage brand, put 900 shots on Mississippi’s total.

Determined not to be outdone, Banded Brands placed another order for 1,000 snaps – worth $4,500 – within the hour. This led to many customers drinking for free on Monday nights.

“It’s definitely an all-time record here,” said Kevin Culjat, owner of Rocco’s and neighboring Lefty’s Bar. ” It’s awesome. We have people trying to Venmo us, trying to call orders, but we’re just too busy.

Indeed, fans packed into Rocco’s like sardines on Monday, with a queue almost out the door to head to the bar and order shots ahead of the 6 p.m. game. The crowd was especially excited before the game between Ole Miss and Arkansas.

“We may not win everything, but we will definitely win this,” said Corey Garnette, an Arkansas fan from Fayetteville, Arkansas.

Fans can follow the latest issues on the CWS Jello Shot Challenge Twitter Accountwhich amassed nearly 12,000 subscribers in less than two weeks.