While in-stadium attendance at NFL games will vary by team this season, it’s a safe bet that football fans, like sports fans throughout 2020, will have to adjust to some changes beyond just seeing Tom Brady in a Tampa Bay Buccaneers uniform.
For those already missing the olfactory experience in particular, enter some perhaps unlikely heroes: wine-in-a-can brand Babe Wine and jewelry and accessories maker Ryan Porter, which have collaborated on a “unique set of stadium-scented candles,” which they promise will “transport you straight to the 50-yard line.”
The three scents take a cheeky approach to the in-game experience:
- $18 Nachos, which a spokesperson says smells like nacho cheese, is for fans who miss football and “[dropping] major cash on the world’s shittiest nachos.”
- Jockstrap, which is reminiscent of “musk [and] male deodorant,” helps at-home fans envision the locker room. “While we can’t physically witness hot sweaty football daddies play in-person, we can still smell them,” according to a statement from the companies. “Did you hear that sound? They’re doing the sexy towel-snapping thing.”
- And, finally, Hashtag Field Goals, which smells like fresh-cut grass, recreates some game-day energy, which Babe Wine says will “have you yelling, ‘TACKLE THAT ZADDY!’ in no time.”
The candles are available on the Babe Wine website for $29 each, or $69 for the trio.
“Babe Wine is about drinking what you want, when you want—especially in 2020,” said general manager Chelsea Phillips in a statement. “As football season kicks off without fans in the stands, we saw an opportunity to enhance the at-home game day experience through some pretty unique scents that’ll make you feel like you’re really there.”
Babe Wine partnered with sportscaster Erin Andrews to promote the launch, along with Andrew’s own clothing line, Wear by Erin Andrews. She posted a promotional video to her 1.1 million Instagram followers set to Eye of the Tiger earlier today. In it, she lights all three candles and cracks open two cans of wine while fluffing her couch cushions and prepping an array of snacks. As of press time, it had already racked up about 31,000 views.
The effort to engage female consumers comes several months after the NFL announced it has 88 million female fans, which account for 47% of its entire fan base. This coincided with multiple initiatives for Women’s History Month and the 100th anniversary of the ratification of the 19th Amendment, which granted women the right to vote.
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