Foxes Bow Irish Whiskey declares itself “The unofficial sponsor of not getting ripped off”
Foxes Bow campaign to highlight how fans are being ripped off. Twenty drinks versus four. Same money. The visual says everything.
Foxes Bow Irish Whiskey has launched what may be the most honest campaign in sports sponsorship history – by refusing to sponsor anything at all.
Instead, the independent Irish whiskey brand has positioned itself as “The Unofficial Sponsor of Not Getting Ripped Off”, calling out the stadium drink pricing system that, according to new research, is leaving real fans feeling exploited every time they walk through the turnstiles.
The declaration comes backed by hard data. A new study conducted by Foxes Bow in partnership with The Whiskey Boys surveying 400 whiskey drinkers found that three in four fans(75%) say they would avoid buying drinks inside stadiums because the prices are simply too
high.
More than half have paid over €18 for a single drink at a venue. Nearly one in five has paid over €26. For one drink. More often than not, served in a plastic cup. Those prices represent, on average, four to six times what a fan would pay for the same pour at a bar down the street.
“You feel like you’re just getting ripped off,” Knicks fans Anthony Jones of The Whiskey Boys said when describing paying $50 for a double whiskey at Madison Square Garden.
Foxes Bow co-founder Alice Carroll is unambiguous about what’s happening: “Real fans are being taken advantage of. They’ve already spent a fortune getting there on tickets, travel, hotels. And then the moment they’re inside, they’re a captive audience with no real choice and
no real competition keeping prices honest. That has to change.”
The stunt that showed the receipts
With the World Cup taking place across North America this summer – and fans already spending thousands just to get through the gates – Foxes Bow took its message directly to the people it affects most. Outside one of the most-watched matches of the summer, the brand set up two giant receipts side by side, impossible to ignore. The left-hand receipt: four stadium well whiskeys at $20 each – the average price fans reported paying. Total: $80. The right-hand receipt: twenty Foxes Bow whiskey pouches at $3.99 each. Total: also $80. Twenty drinks versus four. Same money. The visual said everything.
A roving vendor handed pouches directly to fans on their way into the stadium, while a tearaway poster nearby carrying the brand’s rallying cry “The Unofficial Sponsor of Not Getting Ripped Off” let fans literally take a pouch of award-winning Irish whiskey with them.
“We can’t buy our way into a stadium,” says Carroll. “The contracts that control pouring rights in major venues run into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. That’s a barrier designed for multinationals, not independent brands. So we did the next best thing: we showed up outside and confronted the issue head on in our signature way.”
Built for this moment: The Foxes Bow Pouch
Foxes Bow co-founder Alice Carroll is unambiguous about what’s happening: “Real fans are being taken advantage of. They’ve already spent a fortune getting there on tickets, travel, hotels. And then the moment they’re inside, they’re a captive audience with no real choice and no real competition keeping prices honest. That has to change.”
The campaign is anchored by Foxes Bow’s signature innovation – the whiskey pouch. A first-of-its-kind format in the whiskey world, the pouch was designed precisely for the way people actually live: pocket-sized, resealable, and delivering two full serves of award-winning
Irish whiskey per pouch. Stadium-ready. Travel-ready. Concert-ready. Built without compromise on quality.
The whiskey inside is aged in bourbon barrels and finished in Oloroso and rye casks — opening with fruity sherry notes, moving into bold spice, and resolving with a lingering vanilla sweetness. It has earned recognition among whiskey drinkers who want genuine character and craft, without the stuffiness – or the $20 plastic cup.
“The pouch exists because whiskey drinkers shouldn’t have to choose between drinking something great and drinking something affordable,” says Carroll. “We built it so that wherever you are, like a stadium concourse, a tailgate, a friend’s back garden. You’re not compromising on quality just because you’re not at a great bar.” At €5.99 (Irish pricing) per pouch, the contrast with stadium pricing is, as the receipts make
clear, stark.
A system built against the fan
The campaign is anchored by Foxes Bow’s signature innovation – the whiskey pouch
The research lays bare a pattern of behaviour that stadium operators and multinational drinks brands have long relied upon – and never been publicly called out for. 84% of fans are now actively working around in-stadium drink pricing. 47% describe pre-gaming before events as “mandatory.” Another 37% call it a “smart move.” These are not fans who don’t want a drink. These are fans who have done the math and decided they’d rather drink well before they go in than get fleeced once they’re through the gates. And the reason those gates are so expensive once you’re inside? Competition or the lack of it.
Pouring rights at major stadiums and arenas are controlled by exclusive contracts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. Contracts that independent brands like Foxes Bow simply cannot access. The result is a closed market, dominated by the same multinational conglomerates at every venue, with no competitive pressure to keep prices fair or offer fans genuine choice.
“When there’s no competition, there’s no incentive to do better,” says Carroll. “The same brands are in every stadium because they can afford to be, not because they’re what fans would choose.”
That dynamic is precisely what Foxes Bow is challenging – not just with a stunt, but with a product built to offer a genuine alternative.
The bigger picture
The World Cup has thrown stadium economics into sharp relief. With ticket prices ranging from hundreds to thousands of dollars, hotel rates surging over 300% in host cities, and mandatory tip surcharges being added to restaurant bills across tournament locations, the total cost of
attending a match has become a significant financial undertaking for the average fan. Amid that backdrop, in-stadium drink pricing has emerged as a particular flashpoint – the final, avoidable insult after the flights, the hotels, and the tickets.
“Match day should be about the fan’s experience,” says Carroll. “Not about feeling like you’re being taken advantage of at every single turn.”
Football Supporters Europe has called FIFA’s broader pricing structure a “monumental betrayal” and filed a lawsuit with the European Commission. Legislation has been introduced in the US Congress – the so-called HOTDOG Act – directing the FTC to investigate stadium concession price gouging. The conversation is no longer confined to fan forums. It has reached the halls of power. Foxes Bow is simply the first drinks brand to say what fans have been saying for years – and to do something about it.
*Research conducted by Foxes Bow Irish Whiskey in partnership with The Whiskey Boys. Survey of 400 US-based whiskey drinkers on stadium drinking habits and attitudes toward in-venue pricing. Full methodology and findings available on request.
