Carolina Hurricanes sell more than 4,500 Beer Skates 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, the skates will reportedly not be available for the rest of the postseason, but may return next season.

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 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 the sabres back for one home game in April.)