In 2005, brewing giant Anheuser-Busch sponsored tournaments across the country in a promotion called Bud Pong. But the company abandoned the game after media reports suggested it promoted binge drinking.
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Stepping into the breach were Billy Gaines, a 26-year-old Chicago lawyer, and Duncan Carroll, a 26-year-old graphic designer. The Carnegie Mellon University grads in 2004 developed Web site bpong.com and a multiplayer online beer-pong game. Last year they played host to the first World Series of Beer Pong. “Those who dislike parties, pong, music, girls, trash-talking, and gambling need not apply,” the tournament’s official Web site says. The tournament this year attracted nearly 500 pongers to Mesquite, Nev., for a four-day tournament and $20,000 in prize money raised by charging $550 entry fees. The World Series and local leagues and tournaments have helped increase the market.
Since Penn State University grads Tom Schmidt, 29, and Matt Brady, 30, started Bing Bong three years ago, they estimate they have sold more than 10,000 beer-pong tables. The 7- or 8-foot aluminum tables are collapsible, folding up into a briefcase. They say they expect $1 million in revenue this year. They sell to college students, recent grads and bars, which “are now accepting the game,” Schmidt says, as something that increases sales.
Jon “J.T.” Terracciano, a 21-year-old Syracuse University law student, is a top-ranked ponger in a traveling tournament in New York state. “In this sport,” he says, “you don’t have to be tall or athletic. If you can shoot a ball into a cup you will get respect.”
He and a buddy, Brandon Best, also 21, recently spent $3,000 of their college graduation money to launch Upong Outfitters, a line of what they call “classy” beer-pong polo shirts to sell online and at tournaments.