Fan fight leads to Rocco's, home of CWS Jello Shot Challenge, early closing on Friday

Rocco’s, the restaurant and bar that hosts the annual CWS Jello Shot Challenge in Omaha, released a statement on Saturday in response to an incident that occurred at its location on Friday night. It forced the business to close early.

“At Rocco’s and Lefty’s we love sports, we love fans, we love competition, and we love that we’ve built something that harnesses that energy for a good cause,” the statement reads. “That being said, we closed early last night because several people took their passion too far. We will never tolerate fighting or aggressive chirping or obscene behavior.

“We want to stay open as late as the law will allow but will absolutely always do what’s best to keep our employees and business safe. Come out, have fun, and help your team’s food bank.”

It’s unclear what sparked the disruptive incident or how it ended as of this report. However, the so-called fight occurred following the end of the first day of action in Omaha. Those matchups saw No. 13 seed Coastal Carolina defeat Arizona 7-4, and No. 8 seed Oregon State defeat Louisville 4-3.

The restaurant gained popularity on a national scale in 2019 when it began hosting its Jello Shot Challenge. Fans can purchase the Jello shots for $5 apiece in the color of their respective team, and the proceeds from every shot sold go to the food banks for all eight teams participating in the College World Series, as well as Omaha Metro food banks.

Last year, Rocco’s raised $145,477 from the challenge and donated the funds to local food pantries. No team has repeated as champion since the challenge started in 2019, and that will be the case this year. None of the programs left in the bracket made the College World Series a season ago.

As for Saturday, the second half of the field will get their first games of the CWS underway. Day two will feature two more first-round matchups beginning with No. 15 seed UCLA vs. Murray State at 2 p.m. ET, followed by a game between two SEC foes, LSU and No. 3 seed Arkansas at 7 p.m. ET. Both games are set to be aired live on ESPN.

Sunday’s action will feature Arizona vs. Louisville, the losers of the first two games, in an elimination matchup as action continues from Omaha. Games will continue throughout the week until a national champion is crowned next weekend.