Every September, NFL fans gather together to christen a new football season. This ritual of renewal carries a feeling of fresh promise and boundless hope, since no team has been officially eliminated from playoff contention yet. It also provides a convenient means to gather together with good friends and drink something.
What exactly gets consumed can depend on the team. While beer is the universal choice of tailgaters everywhere and likely will remain as such despite the beer industry’s well-documented struggles, certain fandoms may reach for a singular beverage when it’s time to switch things up a bit. More often than not, these are hyper-specific beverages that share a unique connection with the city or region the team represents. This makes them more than beverages. They’re more like liquid points of civic pride.
The connections forged between these drinks and a team’s fan base carries DNA that’s not unlike a dive bar. They aren’t created. They’re earned. Some franchises boast “official” team cocktails that are sold during game day, but these tend to be conjured up in conjunction with a spirit brand. They may be tasty, but they don’t have the character that can only be developed outside the stadium.
These are the drinks we’re exploring here. They aren’t necessarily beloved for their deliciousness. While flavor is king in most situations, when it comes to the NFL drinking experience, sometimes tradition usurps taste. And yes, we are well aware any article exploring what NFL fans drink on game day can be a tidy list of all 32 teams with the word “beer” next to them, but what’s the fun in that? With that in mind, here are seven NFL teams with the most devout game day drinking traditions.
Team: Baltimore Ravens
Drink: Orange Crush
This may initially confuse fans of the Denver Broncos fans, some of whom may be old enough to remember the team’s vaunted Orange Crush defense in the late ’70s. In Baltimore, however, the Orange Crush references a regional cocktail that’s easy to drink and kind of a pain in the butt to make — at least, a pain in the upper arm. The drink requires the person making it to squeeze the hell out of two oranges and collect as much juice as they possibly can, which could get a little tedious for people prepping the drink for a large Ravens watch party. But combining the juice with vodka, triple sec, and lemon-lime soda in a highball loaded with crushed ice can make the effort feel worthwhile after the first sip. The prep work that goes into the drink may be why the locals take it seriously. So seriously, in fact, the state of Maryland made it the official state cocktail in 2025.
Team: Chicago Bears
Drink: Chicago Handshake (A shot of Malört and Old Style Beer)
Of course Chicago and Malört are in the same sentence for this exercise. Chicagoans are a hardy bunch that rally around the infamously bitter liqueur almost like it’s some sort of liquid deity. Pairing a shot of the acquired taste with a can of Old Style Beer is practically a citywide sacrament even when there’s not a Bears game going on. Drinking the one-two punch on game day seems like the holiest of times to engage in this ritual. This can look strange to an outsider, given Malört’s sordid reputation for tasting like the night your first girlfriend dumped you. But that may be the point. It may be a weird practice, but it’s a Chicago practice. That’s what ultimately matters, just as long as nobody mentions that Old Style actually comes from Wisconsin.
Team: Dallas Cowboys
Drink: Frozen Margarita
The Frozen Margarita is a serious point of pride for Dallas drinkers, and rightly so. “Big D” gave birth to the frigid concoction in 1971, and the city’s tourism board celebrates this through the promotion of its Margarita Mile self-guided tour. Cowboys owner Jerry Jones and his administrative minions seem to understand the drink and its city-based lore. The team brings the party into the stadium on game day by selling fans the Cowboyrita — essentially a ginormous Frozen Marg made with Hornitos (either Plata or Reposado). This technically makes the Frozen Margarita an “official” team cocktail equipped with a silly name and a fancy brand partnership. But the refreshing cocktail is just as easy to make at home for loyal Dallas-area fans as they watch their team do Dallas Cowboy things, which these days includes failing to live up to their hype.
Team: Green Bay Packers
Drink: Wisconsin Old Fashioned
Yes, Packer-backers drink copious amounts of beer on Sundays. It’s part of the deal being in a state that’s just as famous for its alcohol consumption as it is its cheese. But when they want something a little fancier on game day, there’s no better choice than to imbibe in a drink that frankly feels like it can only come from a place like Wisconsin. This is definitely not the Old Fashioned found outside the Badger State. Rather than the classic bourbon-based build, this version traditionally stars brandy, sugar cubes, a muddled cherry and orange wedge, and either seltzer or lemon-lime soda alongside the expected Angostura bitters. It’s not a riff on a classic. It’s its own entity, and Packer fans and Wisconsinites in general are fiercely loyal to the beverage. If you’re in town for a game and request an Old Fashioned, understand there is a very high likelihood that this is the drink you’re going to get.
Team: Kansas City Chiefs
Drinks: Horsefeather and Kansas City Ice Water
Chiefs fans have been spoiled by their team’s success over the last several years, 2025’s forgettable campaign notwithstanding. That pampered vibe spills over into the world of game day cocktails, as fans tend to gravitate toward a couple regional favorites, the Horsefeather and the Kansas City Ice Water. The Horsefeather is most often historically linked to KC and is basically a Moscow Mule riff where rye whiskey replaces the vodka base and served in a highball instead of a kleptomania-inducing copper mug. The Kansas City Ice Water is also a highball, one built around a split base of gin and vodka, triple sec, and lime juice topped with lemon-lime soda. While both are easy-drinking, the Kansas City Ice Water refreshes while the Horsefeather delivers a spicy kick. As such, it theoretically may behoove indecisive Chiefs fans to indulge in the former the first half of the season before switching to the latter at around Week 9 when the temperature starts to drop.
Team: Minnesota Vikings
Drink: Grape Ape
The Vikings and the Bears have little in common outside of being in the same division. But like their NFC North rivals in Chicago, the game day drink of choice for Minnesota fans involves a regional shot that only a local can truly love. The Grape Ape was invented at The Loon Cafe in downtown Minneapolis in 1995, in the middle of a decade where flavored vodka was booming and most shots were arguably created as a dare. This may explain the shot’s original unorthodox build of Absolut Citron, sweet and sour mix, the locally-produced Buddy’s Grape Soda, and a touch of Sprite. Plenty of variations have emerged in the past three decades, from using straight vodka to dropping Chambord into the recipe to supposedly improve its taste. Even with these tweaks, the shot remains sweet, fruity, and most crucial of all, purple like the Vikings’ home jerseys.
Team: Philadelphia Eagles
Drink: Fish House Punch
Philly sports fans are a wily bunch. They once booed and threw snowballs at Santa Claus. Their old football stadium housed a jail for fans. They started ripping a baseball stadium apart during its final game. So it makes perfect sense that their game day drink of choice is the legendary Fish House Punch, a drink so potent, it allegedly made George Washington lose his mojo for three days. Granted, he allegedly knocked back 13 of them in one session. Still, the drink should arguably come with a warning for any Eagles fans seeking out a pre-game tipple. The punch delivers its wallop in two different ways. Firstly, it’s a strong drink traditionally made with Jamaican rum, Cognac, and either peach or apple brandy. Secondly, it’s a sweeter beverage that tastes deceptively light, making it easy to forget just how much alcohol is involved. Add some local history into the mix — the drink was invented at a Philadelphia-area fishing club during colonial times — and fans have the perfect way to prepare for a Sunday full of football.
