‘This town is not dry’, Jon Rothstein fulfills promise to cover drinks after Nebraska makes it to NCAA tournament

LINCOLN, Neb. (KLKN) – Husker Nation filled GATE 25 Restaurant and Grill from the inside out on Wednesday, bringing cheer and excitement as they waited to see a promise fulfilled.

In 2025, CBS Sports analyst Jon Rothstein declared that drinks would be on his tab if the Nebraska men’s basketball team won an NCAA tournament game.

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After the Huskers achieved their first NCAA Tournament win in school history, Rothstein stood by his word and traveled to Lincoln to make good on his promise.

Hundreds of fans lined up as early as 3:00pm to collect their two free drinks for the special Husker happy hour between 5:00pm and 6:00pm central on Wednesday.

The basketball team showed up, along with former national coach of the year, Fred Hoiberg, who later introduced the man footing the bill.

“I’m a man of my word, so I think it’s important to own up to that. I said it, obviously, just in the middle of a podcast. I didn’t expect what happened to happen, but it was probably as good of a story as we had last year and I’m going to pay the debt,” said Rothstein.

That debt consisted of tallboys, mixed drinks and cans of all types with the bill ultimately amounting to just under $15,000 dollars.

“Win or lose, you know Nebraska fans are going to love their basketball. You know they’re going to have a great time. You know they’re down at the tailgate, and you know one thing, this town is not dry,” said Rothstein.

Not dry is right, so much so, that Rothstein closed his tab 15 minutes early.

The Gate25 bartenders told Channel 8 that they had fun either way.

“We were rotating throughout, we were driving people, we were coming over our lines, trying to get as many people as we could through and get everybody a good beer,” said bartender Addison Gibbens.

“Honestly, the most I served was probably either Busch Light or Ultra, that was definitely a big one,” she said.

“Hundreds, like hundreds [were served],” said Kailee Wiota, another bartender at the event.

“My voice is gone,” she added.

As for the multitude of fans in the sea of red, several said they were a bit skeptical that the free drinks would actually happen.

“I thought he was lying. I figured it was just kind of a thing to give a little hope to the Nebraska fans,” said Zach Perez.

“I thought somebody else had to be bankrolling it, but I mean, it’s happening,” said Drake Adkins.

Others in attendance marked their calendars the minute Rothstein announced a time and place.

“I follow him on Twitter. He said, if they win it, I will be in the rail yard. Credit card on the table. And as soon as they beat Troy, I’m like, all right, we’re going to be downtown” said Tyson Block.

“I told him we’re going to be downtown. We’re celebrating this,” he said, turning to his friend.

Many others at the event were just happy to remember their headspace during the historic game.

“Everybody was excited, it was a hell of a game,” said Adeline Adkins.

“We were all watching it together,” said Perez, while standing next to two of his friends.

“Getting both of those victories was just historic to the program,” said Josh Grosbenor.

“That last second shot and everything, it was just, it’s perfect,” said Brian Kovacs.

“Shout out to Braden Frager,” said Block.

Final thoughts of the evening?

“Thank you, Jon Rothstein. Thank you for following through and being a man of your word. Go Big Red!” said Adkins.