Fox spent part of Saturday’s MLB coverage pushing a weird stunt that saw paid actors chugging and dumping milk on themselves in the stands.
They tried to sell it like some random fans just happened to bring milk to the ballpark, because, sure, that’s totally a normal beverage choice at a baseball game. In reality, it was all part of a not-so-subtle cross-promotion for Sunday’s Indy 500, where milk has become the quirky tradition for winners. And to make sure you didn’t miss it, the stunt played out more than twice.
“Red Sox fan” pours milk on his head wearing an Indy 500 shirt in a shot that only appeared on the Fox broadcast in what is absolutely a staged stunt after a Jarren Duran HR
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) May 24, 2025 at 6:12 PM
Fox did the milk stunt again after Mets – Dodgers (h/t @ericstephen.bsky.social)
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) May 24, 2025 at 10:03 PM
For the sake of being complete, the one at the end of the Tigers – Guardians game
— CJ Fogler (@cjzero.bsky.social) May 24, 2025 at 10:33 PM
It didn’t land.
Plenty of people were confused, if not outright annoyed. Katie Nolan was one of them.
“Fox had the rights to some baseball games, and they also had the rights to the Indianapolis 500,” Nolan began on her Casuals podcast. “Something that happened this week bothered me. The Sox played, and there was a ‘fan’ in the stands at Fenway, who, after Jaren Duran’s home run, chugged milk out of a jug and poured it all over his face. And the booth was like, ‘Check out that fan going crazy down there.’ Now, the fan was wearing an Indianapolis 500 shirt. He was chugging the milk out of the same jug they chug the Indianapolis 500 milk, or whatever.
“Pretty obviously a plant, right? And I don’t know, maybe I’m from the truth era. I know we’re post-truth now. Nothing matters anymore. Don’t show me a fake fan celebrating a home run because you want me to watch a different property that you have the rights to. Talk to me about the race and why it’s cool. I would love to see the numbers of how many people tuned in because they saw a guy at the Sox game chug milk.”
@casualsthepodcast show us the real fans!! #sports #comedy #podcast #podcastclips #redsox #boston #mlb #jarrenduran #fox ♬ original sound – Casuals with Katie Nolan
The Indy 500 ultimately drew record numbers this past weekend.
“Let me bite my tongue. Because, actually, milk chugging is the No. 1 way to bring new fans into a racing sport,” Nolan quipped. “I should’ve known that.”
Look, it’s not the biggest scandal in broadcasting history. But there’s a basic expectation to be upfront about what’s real and what’s paid. Fox clearly didn’t feel that applied here.
And if you’re going to plant a fake fan, maybe at least don’t make it so obvious.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.