Carolina Hurricanes sell out Beer Skates in 1 game after the viral novelty cup’s debut

For hockey fans who are tired of drinking beer out of a boring old cup, the NHL is continuing to innovate. Throughout the season, multiple teams have found viral ways to shake up the time-honored stadium tradition.

The latest to hit stadium bars is the Beer Skate, which the Carolina Hurricanes debuted this weekend. At the Hurricanes’ Game 1 win over the Philadelphia Flyers on Saturday, fans had a chance to purchase a Beer Skate — a novelty plastic shoe-shaped cup for beer.

Beer Skates were sold for $19 empty, or for $12 plus the cost of the beer that you’re buying, per multiple reports. The skates come complete with a handle (for easy chugging) and a clear skate (to get a proper look at your beverage of choice).

On Sunday, Carolina announced that 4,687 Beer Skates were sold in Lenovo Arena on Saturday. That is one-quarter of the full attendance, which was announced as 18,620 fans.

Adam Hoffman, the Hurricanes’ vice president of food and beverage, told The Athletic that the team had already sold 2,000 of the skates within 45 minutes of the gates opening. Staff had brought 1,000 extra skates from the warehouse after their promotional post went viral, per WRAL; the remaining 2,000 skates were brought over in a rush during Saturday’s game after it was clear that the novelty was a hit.

As a result of the months they took to produce, Hoffman told ESPN on Monday that the skates will not be available for the rest of the postseason, but didn’t rule out bringing them back in the future.

“I don’t want to say we weren’t prepared for them to buy as many as they did, but obviously we didn’t think it was going to blow up exactly the way that it did, which is just so awesome,” Hoffman said.

The rush for Beer Skates is just the latest proof that hockey fans love to drink their beer out of novelty items. In November, the Buffalo Sabres debuted the Beer Sabre, a plastic sword filled with Labatt. The sabres, which were only available on Friday and Saturday home games, were so popular that they sold out after three games. (Buffalo then brought the sabres back for one home game in April.)

The Utah Mammoth also hopped onto the trend, releasing a $26 Tusk Mug in April that can be filled with any beverage of choice.

The Tusk Mug hasn’t quite reached the level of notoriety as the Beer Sabre and Beer Skate, which have both become unexpected collectors’ items. On ebay, Beer Skates are being sold for upwards of $200; Beer Sabres, meanwhile, are going for $250 or as high as $350. (The less-popular mugs are still available on ebay, but for the much more reasonable price of $35.)

After taking a 1-0 lead against the Flyers, Carolina hosts Philadelphia again on Monday for what is likely to be another raucous playoff matchup — with or without the skates.