Since 2017, Phoenix Rising FC, the Valley’s professional soccer team, has periodically slung the cheapest boozy suds among sports venues in town. And when the club relocated three times from Scottsdale to Chandler to Phoenix, it maintained its good luck charm: $1 beer nights.
From 2017 to 2019, the Rising were 15-0 on $1 beer nights before discontinuing the promotion after the pandemic hit. When the team was forced to move its home games to Wild Horse Pass, a stricter lease without access to public transportation kept the Rising from reinstating the winning tradition.
But now, the club has settled into its new forever home: Phoenix Rising Soccer Stadium. The new venue opened in April and is located at Washington and 38th streets in central Phoenix.
Luckily for partakers of $1 beer night, the stadium comes replete with its own red-and-gold spangled stop on the Valley Metro train and a better tailgating space — which are the biggest reasons why the team brought back its most iconic promotion, according to Phoenix Rising President Bobby Dulle.
“Dollar beer night was always something we wanted to bring back because it elevated the fan experience," Dulle told Phoenix New Times. "It creates a buzz around the city, and our team seems to raise their level of play those nights, as well."
Even Arizona Secretary of State Adrian Fontes showed up to support the team’s $1 beer night resurrection last weekend.
The end of an era
The Rising intended to extend its years-long $1 beer night win streak to 16 on May 26. However, for the first time in six years, the malty monsoon wasn’t spewed in celebration. It was a bittersweet moment for more than 7,600 fans of the Rising, who watched in disbelief as their win streak ended at the hands of the club's southwestern rival, Las Vegas Lights FC.Las Vegas, at the bottom of the Western Conference of the USL Championship, pulled off a 1-0 upset despite being outshot by the Rising. Uncountable middle fingers from fans had little effect on the Las Vegas keeper, Leo Diaz, who turned aside all 16 Rising shots.
Sure, fans know how it feels to lose — the match dropped the team to 4-3-4 and seventh place in the Western Conference. Just not on $1 beer night.
"It's just kind of like folklore, almost," then-coach Rick Schantz told ESPN in 2019.
That was after the Rising took down Austin Bold FC in emphatic fashion, 6-0, on $1 beer night in July 2019. Even Bud Light’s mascot, the Bud Knight, made an appearance. It’s a game that Tempe fan Matt Vondras will never forget.
“The Bud Knight, tons of goals, the smell of smoke, people screaming at the top of their lungs … I woke up the next morning thinking it was a dream,” Vondras told New Times. “[I] didn't want to leave the stadium because I knew it wasn't ever going to be better than that.”
Phoenix native Thomas Rosales has supported the team since it started as Arizona United SC in Peoria in 2014. Rosales didn’t sit down for the entire game on May 26, instead standing on the front-row ledge leading nonstop chants. He was a conductor before an orchestra of drum-beating, flag-waving, beer-spewing fans.
“Dollar beer night hasn’t let us down in the past and I don’t see it letting us down in the future,” Rosales told New Times. “Dollar beer night is the key to success.”
The next $1 beer night is slated for Aug. 30 when the Rising take on Sacramento Republic FC. There’s another $1 beer night scheduled for the Rising’s Sept. 20 bout against Indy Eleven.
“Growing up watching these guys from day one, man, it has been a journey,” Rosales said. “I’m excited to see these guys thriving, just doing what they do best. And the fact that we get to have $1 beer is just perfect.”