Probably one of the most controversial topics in sports history is who invented beer pong. The most popular theory of the invention of beer pong gives credit to different fraternities from the USA in the 80’s.
Which is simply not true. Bpong’s article on the history of beer pong confirms this, but unfortunately does not address how it was actually created.
The creation of beer pong was in fact an evolution, not an invention. This evolution needed a few critical pieces for beer pong to be invented
Who Invented Beer Pong?
First to dispel all the myths. Beer Pong was not invented by any frat or college. The invention of beer pong was actually an evolution from the ping pong related drinking game beirut.
The Boston area is credited with changing beirut by removing the paddle, and throw the ball into a cup of beer. Which created modern day beer pong.
From the 1930’s to the 1970’s ping pong evolved from 0 to an internationally popular sport. Drinking games have always been popular. But as ping pong grew in popularity the balls and tables were widely spread across the United Kingdom and North America.
It was very popular for ping pong tables to be in sport / social clubs and yes fraternities. From there it was logical transition for drinking games to utilize the ping pong tables, balls and paddles that were where available.
It is not known who the first person was that invented using a ping pong paddle to hit a beer pong ball into a cup of beer. But it was adopted quickly and widespread throughout the United Kingdom and USA.
College fraternities from the North East states of the USA were the first to eliminate the act of using a ping pong paddle. And adopted just throwing the ball in instead, this was as a result of the heavy basketball influence of the 60’s and 70’s.
Specifically from the era of the Boston Celtics dominating the newly merged NBA along with superstars like Wilt Chamberlain.
Ping Pong -> Beirut + NBA = Beer Pong
Mark – Beer Pong Canada
Where Was Beer Pong Invented?
Modern day beer pong was created in the north eastern states of the USA. The greater Boston area specifically is where beer pong was invented. Boston had a few key elements that made the invention possible. Those were:
- Beirut a popular drinking game using ping pong balls, beer, and paddles
- Ping pong popularity, meaning tables, balls, and paddles were widely available at social clubs
- Rise of the Boston Celtics NBA domination which grew basketball’s popularity in the US
These 3 key elements is how modern day beer pong was invented from the Boston area.
Why Is Beer Pong Called Beirut?
Beer pong is not called Beirut. Beer pong and Beirut are actually different games. Beirut is an older version of beer pong that was played by using a ping pong paddle and hitting a ball into a cup of beer.
Beer pong evolved out of beirut, people started throwing the ball into the cup of beer instead of hitting it. Which resembles the popularized sport basketball.
When Was Beer Pong Invented?
Modern day beer pong was created in the late 80’s. Throwing the ball into the cups was not done up until this point. In the 60’s and 70’s the NBA had been growing rapidly in popularity. It was the influence of the NBA of the 70’s and 80’s that inspired people to start throwing ping pong balls into cups, creating beer pong.
Is Beer Pong A Sport?
Are you kidding me? Darts, fishing and poker is shown on ESPN and TSN. So yeah beer pong is a sport.
History of Beer Pong Research
We spent time researching and interviewing old ass beer pong players. Our research was from online forums and new archives. To our knowledge this is the most in depth research into the history of beer pong that’s been conducted.