In recent weeks, we’ve seen the brazen pursuit of more revenue in college athletics be put on front street with the collapse of the Pac-12…and Iowa State launching its own vodka brand. Wait, what?
Behold, Iowa State 1858 Vodka!
Iowa State University will launch the officially licensed Iowa State 1858 Vodka just in time for tailgating season.https://t.co/9cp8wt139f
— Iowa State Athletics (@CycloneATH) August 10, 2023
That’s right. ISU is now getting into the alcohol game by launching its own vodka brand through the Iowa Distilling Company and its ‘We Will Collective.’ The new vodka will be available in time for the upcoming 2023 season, so fans at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, IA, will have something to numb themselves as the Cyclones continue to regress back to their historical mean under head coach Matt Campbell.
What should be noted is that this news comes just weeks after Iowa’s ‘SWARM Collective’ launched its own Hawkeyes branded vodka. The effort to keep up with the joneses in college football has naturally spilled over into the world of NIL and we now have a vodka war in the state of Iowa. The stakes for the annual CyHawk Game between the two schools just grew even larger.