'College Gameday' plea for beer money nets 2,000 Venmo donations

BRISTOL, Tenn., Sept. 10 (UPI) -- Desperate times call for desperate measures – and for one college student out of beer money a sign captured on ESPN led to more than 2,000 donations using the person-to-person payment app Venmo.

The sign was captured in the background of ESPN College Gameday, a pregame show that broadcasts from a different college campus every Saturday during football season. Fans frequently hold up funny signs behind the anchor desk.

This week's show was at the University of Tennessee, where intrepid student Sam Crowder held a sign that said "Hi mom! Send beer money!" and included his Venmo account handle. Amused viewers began looking up Crowder and some started chipping in for a round.

Before long Venmo said on Twitter that Crowder had received 2,000 donations of unreported denominations. Venmo chipped in $50 as well -- a small price to pay for the primo free advertising.