What started out as a college drinking game is now evolving into a serious competition; some may even call it a sport. Traditional beer pong is a game that consists of tossing a ball into a formation of cups filled with beer. If you get the ball in the cup, your opponent has to drink the beer in that cup. But what has been dubbed “the next great American past time” by ESPN magazine is moving away from its party reputation and becoming an activity that people of all ages can enjoy.

At least that’s the idea that James Curtis and Drew Reyner are trying to promote with their new store, Brewing Rivalry. They call themselves a beer pong store, but there’s a catch: there’s no beer involved. Instead, the cups at Brewing Rivalry are filled with water. Located in the heart of Arizona State University’s campus, they hope the store will be the new hangout where students can practice their form and pass the time. Visitors can purchase balls to practice at the store, or buy the necessary equipment, such as a table, to set up a game elsewhere. The owners plan to sell memberships for $30 per academic year — $20 for ASU students. Balls can be purchased in packages of three for $3, or $2 for members. Customers can buy 14 cups for $3, but members pay $2 for the same number. The owners will begin hosting tournaments in November, when people will be able to buy in for cash prizes.

The one thing you can’t buy at this beer pong store is alcohol. Curtis said the purpose is to not promote drinking, but rather to encourage competition and camaraderie.

“We could’ve easily said, ‘hey let’s get a bar and do the same thing,’” he said. “But to be honest, it was a niche that wasn’t there. We really wanted to make it into a legitimate sport.”

Billy Gaines, the co-founder of BPONG.com, agrees that the game is not about getting intoxicated. BPONG.com serves as a community forum for beer pong lovers. Users can read the unofficial rules of the game, buy the appropriate supplies, and even sign up for the World Series of Beer Pong, held in Las Vegas every January. According to Gaines, the World Series event went from hosting 83 teams in its first year in 2006, to 414 in 2009. He projects 600 to 700 teams participating in 2010. The event involves a mixture of beer and water, but the amount of beer is limited to 24 ounces. While Gaines admits beer pong began as a drinking game, he said alcohol is no longer its only appeal.

“It’s an environment where people do drink, like parties or bars, but now people are playing for love of the game,” Gaines said. He and Curtis both credited beer pong’s popularity to its simplistic nature, and said that while it does involve skill, it is very easy to learn.

Josh Black, an 18-year-old art education student at ASU, has already been to the store twice since it first opened on October 1st. He said he enjoys the laid back environment and it’s better than passing the time in his dorm room.

“It’s really fun, easy-going, just [to] play for the love of the game,” he said. “You don’t need beer to play beer pong; it’s just fun to shoot.”

Justin Pourkaveh, an aerospace engineering major at ASU, said he was disappointed when he walked in to find no beer. But Pourkaveh, 21, also said that there’s definitely a need for a place like this on campus.

“Playing [beer pong] in public and in competitions, you can’t do that when you’re 21,” he said. “I know when I was under 21 there were a lot of people I knew that’d be really into this.”

Kyle Regan, 22, is in his last year at ASU. When he’s not studying business and psychology for a degree in interdisciplinary studies, he said he wants to come here to kick back and just enjoy the environment.

“It’s a good place for people to come together and just have a good time,” he said. “Competitive but friendly at the same time.”

Still, some ASU students, like 22-year-old business and tourism student Parker Young, just don’t see the point.

“I enjoy playing beer pong, but it’s really easy to get a game set up at your house,” Young said. “I don’t feel like it’s a place that I would need to go in order to have more fun than I could at my own house.”
Beth Bendokaitis, a 20-year-old nutrition and dietetics major at ASU, thinks that just because Brewing Rivalry took the beer out of beer pong, doesn’t automatically make it innocent.

“In many ways that just seems like an underlying promotion of alcohol,” she said. “Beer pong should be played with beer…period.”

Gaines said that, even though he feels the game is making strides to be taken more seriously, he understands why some people find it counter-productive to split the beer from the pong.

“I don’t know if it’ll ever be completely separated from alcohol,” he said. “I think it might always be around the game, but I do think the object of the game is shifting.”

Curtis said that he does believe the two can be separated, and that come November when their in-store tournaments begin, the place will be filled with people looking to earn cash and bragging rights.

“Beer pong isn’t about what you put in the cup,” he said. “It’s about competition.”

[Via ABCNEWS.com]