Inside the D.C. Defenders Beer Snake: Is the UFL's Beloved Tradition an Endangered Species?
WASHINGTON - Evan Diaz is the designated head of the beer snake. And he takes this assignment seriously. Dressed in all red, save for his gray team-branded sleeveless hoodie, Diaz mans his post in the shadow of the uprights in the first row of Section 137 behind the north end zone at D.C. Defenders home games.
That's where the beer snake - a winding and sticky collection of empty, stacked plastic cups - begins each week for the dedicated fans of this alternative spring football league. Where it ends is anyone's guess.
There's 30 minutes left before the Defenders, the defending champions of the United Football League, kick off against the Dallas Renegades, and the stands still look sparse. Diaz begins to fret about attendance. The regulars are filing in, sporting their bright-red game day gear, but they're outnumbered by the empty gray seats at Audi Field.
The beer snake is typically growing by now, says Diaz. But not today.
If imbibing beer is synonymous with sports, then the D.C. Defenders are inextricably linked to the beer snake, a recent but storied ritual that ties the team to its most devout fans. The tradition is not unique to the Defenders. The beer snake has popped up at sporting events across the country since its first recorded sighting in 1969 at a Chicago Cubs game, as documented in the Chicago Sun-Times.
Before the first cups of the day are stacked, a gift arrives for Diaz: Red wide receiver gloves, courtesy of the Defenders, to help him hold the snake. Finally, 15 minutes before kickoff, the beer snake begins. Calls for "C-U-P-S, cups, cups, cups," ring out. In response, an assembly line of empties are passed down to Diaz.
"This is the part where I slow down and focus," Diaz says. "I become a stone."
He drops into an athletic stance, the head of the beer snake supported by the rail in front of him and resting on his shoulder. The beer snake is 19 cups long by the time the game begins.
Not too shabby, but still a long way from its peak.
The beer drinking begins early on Defenders game days. Walters Sports Bar in the Navy Yard neighborhood of the nation's capital opens its doors and taps its kegs at 9 a.m., two hours earlier than usual, to accommodate supporters.
On this Saturday, there's a noon kickoff, and red-clad Defenders fans are slowly trickling in and bellying up to the bar for their first beverages of the day - Coronas, draft beers and mimosas. Consider this their pregame warmup before the beer snake is born again.
The Defenders date back to 2020 when the team was a founding member of the rebooted XFL, one of many alternative leagues that has tried to tap into the passion and audience the NFL enjoys. The XFL revival, 19 years after its inception, was short lived before the pandemic forced the season's cancellation, but not before the beer snake caught on at Audi Field.
When the XFL and the Defenders returned in 2023, so did the beer snake. But stadium security intervened, confiscated the cups and ended the beer snake. Fans revolted. They hurled lemons onto the field in protest.
The small but mighty fan base made its voice heard, and the tradition was allowed to continue, albeit with new rules. The regulations are laid out in the beer snake code of conduct, which forbids the throwing of projectiles, such as cups (or lemons), and requires that the cups are properly disposed of. The beer snake is confined to Sections 136 and 137, both of which are standing-room only and first come, first served.
When the Defenders continued on in the UFL, a merger between the one-time rival XFL and USFL, the beer snake went with them.
"There's been no incident since lemon-gate," says Sean Kennedy - a.k.a. "Lemon Guy" - a longtime supporter whose gameday garb is a nod to that infamous citrusy conflict.
Nowadays, the Defenders are quite good. Quarterback Jordan Ta'amu is an MVP frontrunner. D.C. won the championship last spring and could be on its way to a repeat. If the Defenders make it back to the United Bowl, it will be in front of a friendly crowd at Audi Field. That means a championship-caliber beer snake.
The road ends in DC
— United Football League (@TheUFL) April 24, 2026
The United Bowl is set for June 13 at Audi Field, home of the defending champs.
: Tickets go on sale to the public on May 1st! pic.twitter.com/UU3W0RQkWU
When the Defenders won the 2025 title in St. Louis, their fans brought the beer snake tradition with them on the road. And after a dominant victory, a supporter drove the celebratory cups all the way back to D.C. They now live on display in the home of backup beer snake holder Juan Carlos Arias.
But these devoted fans of the champs - the ones who show up hours early decked out in full football pads with 3D-printed shields and face paint - still have some gripes. They lament the early kickoff times their team has been assigned this season. And they want to see more advertising for the Defenders throughout the capital area to encourage more fans to show up.
On the Metro ride to the Navy Yard-Ballpark station, one would have no idea that the Defenders exist, even on a game day. That persists on the walk from Walters to Audi Field, which the Defenders share with soccer clubs D.C. United (MLS), Washington Spirit (NWSL) and D.C Power FC (USL). Already, a line is forming outside of nearby Nationals Park for an afternoon MLB game later that day.
Defenders games used to fill out. Last season, D.C. fetched more than 13,000 fans on average. This year, that number is down to about 9,000, below the league average of 10,655, according to UFL News Hub. Though that figure is within league co-owner Mike Repole's stated goal of 10,000-15,000 fans, it's on the lower end. And league-wide attendance is on the decline.
@TheUFL is on track to be an INCREDIBLE 10-team league by 2028.
— Repole Stable (@RepoleStable) April 25, 2026
12 teams by 2030!!!!!
We're not just adding teams we're building this the right way.
As we grow, it's clear what wins:
1. Growing cities
2. Right-size venues
3. Passionate, diehard fans
Real…
Still, the UFL is growing with recently announced plans to expand from eight to 10 teams by 2028. Oklahoma City is confirmed as one of the new markets. And there are plans in place to add more teams down the line.
The first sign of the lapse in attendance on this Saturday is the fact that there will be no beer vendors hawking suds in the stands. The rumor going around the beer snake sections is that, due to poor turnout at the last game, there will be no mobile beer salesmen that day. Instead, those wanting to feed the snake must venture out to the concession stands in the concourse to buy their beer.
It's not cheap to feed the snake. The 24-ounce "tallboy" imports and craft beers will run you $15.99, pre-tax. Canned cocktails and domestics go for $15.49. And all of these beverages must be poured into plastic cups before fans take them into their section.
Tickets, however, are affordable. Some supporters shared that they spent less than the cost of a beer to get into the game that day. And several have multiple tickets: One to sit for the first half and another to join the fun in the beer snake sections for the second half.
As the snake begins to climb, the Defenders jump out to an early lead. During breaks, referees stop over to converse with fans in Sections 136 and 137 about the tradition.
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The Defenders are running away with the game by halftime. At this point, the snake stretches five rows. Diaz says it's usually the same group of fans behind him who fall in line to help support the snake. He maintains a good grip.
It might not be what it once was, but the environment is still infectious. There are all the usual trappings of a football-crazed crowd in the beer snake sections - third-down cheers on defense, shushes when the offense is at work - just with a few more beer-centered chants thrown in.
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"I went to one game, and I was hooked," said Doug Johnson, who travels more than three hours by car and train from Pennsylvania to attend Defenders games. That was enough for him to buy season tickets in a seated section. Still, he's curious about the ritual of feeding the snake.
There's a lot of attention on the beer snake today. Local influencer Tony P in D.C. interviews Diaz and Arias. A Defenders employee shoots a video featuring the professed superfans.
Brett Whelan, who goes by "Doug Defender" at games, explains the practice in the simplest possible terms: "We drink beers; we give him the empty cups," he says, pointing to Diaz. "I come drink beer. That's what I do."
.@RoyPhilpott and @RoddyJones20 really moved the broadcast booth to the beer snake pic.twitter.com/zM2elDjbiC
— United Football League (@TheUFL) May 2, 2026
ESPN has also taken a particular interest in the beer snake. In addition to carrying the game, announcers Roy Philpott and Roddy Jones broadcast the third quarter from the beer snake section to put a spotlight on these rowdy fans and their proud practice.
Further proof of just how much the team leans into its fans' favorite tradition, the Defenders introduced a snake mascot named Monty this season. Though Monty doesn't don any beer-adjacent attire, it's not a leap to assume where the team got the inspiration.
The costumed mascot proves its place among an army of superfans by taking hold of the beer snake from Diaz and lifting it overhead. Predictably, the crowd goes wild.
We got Doug Williams to feed the snake #ShieldsUp#HTTR#RaiseHailpic.twitter.com/EhauRhPrtE
— Juan carlos Arias (@DC_Sports_Guy91) May 2, 2026
Defenders fans even convince Washington NFL legend Doug Williams to come over and stack a cup into the snake, which elicits more cheers. Given the overlap between supporters of the NFL's Commanders and the D.C. Defenders, fans hardly need any extra convincing to show up that day and root against Dallas, home of the rival Cowboys.
With the game winding down, the sun out and the Defenders comfortably leading by multiple scores, the beer snake now stretches 10 rows - roughly halfway up the stands.
A few minutes before the final whistle, the beer snake gets broken down and stacked into two large recycling bins. "We recycle!" fans chant as they pass down the cups one final time.
A few beers are set aside for a budding postgame tradition with players and coaches who make their way over to the superfan sections for a celebratory chug. It's yet another touchpoint between the team and its supporters, all centered around the beer snake tradition.
Just as much as their shared love for the Defenders, the beer snake brings these people together. It's a mascot, quite literally, for the team. And these supporters hang their hat on its assembly, whether it's two cups or 1,200, rain or shine.
The Defenders-Renegades game also clocked in as the most-watched game of the UFL season, per ESPN, with a peak of 1.16 million viewers. So even if the in-person audience is down to four figures, overall viewership was in the seven figures.
As the supporters who made the trip to Audi Field shuffle out of the stadium, they affirm their intention to return the following weekend to feed the snake and cheer on their UFL-best Defenders. But will more fans join them?
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This story was originally published May 8, 2026 at 5:05 AM.