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The University RTD Platform — Built in Florida

SwampWater
Structures
University
Partnerships.

The university RTD category is open. The NCAA cleared hard seltzer in 2023. All 16 SEC schools now sell alcohol publicly. SwampWater is the campus-native brand built to fill that gap.

"Beer has the campus. Everything else is unclaimed."

SwampWater Black Cherry Vodka Seltzer can on a wooden dock in the Florida swamp at golden hour — crafted in Florida
2023
NCAA clears hard seltzer at stadiums
16
SEC schools now sell alcohol publicly
55%
Gen Z adults 21–24 have tried hard seltzer
$2.4M
Texas A&M alcohol revenue, year one
4
Flavors · First batch produced in Florida
The Opportunity

The RTD Category at Campus Venues Is Wide Open.

The SEC lifted its stadium alcohol ban in 2019. By 2024, all 16 SEC schools sell alcohol to the general public. The NCAA cleared hard seltzer specifically for stadium sales in March 2023. Texas A&M generated $2.4 million in gross alcohol revenue in their first year of general sales.

Beer gets the shelf space. RTDs get nothing. Students drink seltzers — 55% of Gen Z adults 21–24 have already tried hard seltzer. Campus venues haven't caught up. That's the gap SwampWater is built to fill.

We're in pre-launch, building the model at UF first — structured from day one to scale to every SEC campus that's already said yes to hard seltzer and hasn't had a purpose-built brand to put there.

01

Campus & Venue Assessment

We map each campus's venue landscape, existing beverage agreements, regulatory environment, and compliance requirements to identify where SwampWater fits — before a single conversation with a distributor begins.

02

Three-Party Agreement

SwampWater structures the commercial agreement between the campus, the beverage producer, and the distribution partner. One conversation. All three parties aligned. No party has to manage the other two.

03

Campus Activation

We design the on-campus presence — placement, sampling, student-facing marketing, and game-day activation. Built for the university channel specifically, not adapted from a retail or bar playbook.

04

Repeatable Playbook

Everything built at UF — the compliance templates, the distributor relationships, the activation framework — transfers to the next campus. The model gets faster and cheaper with every launch.

Who We Serve

Three Parties. One Deal. One Campus Market.

The university beverage channel has three parties that have never had a purpose-built platform connecting them. SwampWater is that layer — handling the relationship infrastructure so none of the three have to manage the other two.

🎓

Universities & Athletics Departments

Alcohol sales are approved and generating real revenue across the SEC. The category gap isn't beer — it's everything else. SwampWater brings a compliant, pre-vetted RTD brand into your venue without touching existing beer relationships.

  • NCAA-compliant hard seltzer (approved March 2023)
  • Incremental revenue in a new category
  • No displacement of existing vendor agreements
  • Student-forward product built for your demographic
🥤

Beverage Producers & Brands

55% of Gen Z adults 21–24 have tried hard seltzer. They're in your venues every week. The university channel is effectively closed to brands without institutional relationships — SwampWater provides that access.

  • Direct campus venue placement
  • Structured three-party commercial agreements
  • Brand-loyal consumers at peak acquisition age
  • A channel your competitors haven't entered yet
🚚

Regional Distributors

University accounts are high-volume, high-frequency, and repeatable — but the relationship overhead to establish them is significant. SwampWater handles the campus side. You handle the delivery.

  • Turnkey campus accounts with brand and venue pre-aligned
  • A product category your current accounts don't stock
  • Structured agreements — not cold introductions
  • Starting in Florida, expanding across the SEC
Product

SwampWater Vodka Seltzer

SwampWater Vodka Seltzer all four flavors on ice in a cooler — Watermelon, Black Cherry, Pineapple, Grapefruit, crafted in Florida

SwampWater Vodka Seltzer is the platform's flagship product — a premium RTD crafted in Florida and purpose-built for the university market. Most RTD brands were designed for grocery shelves and adapted for on-premise. SwampWater was designed for game day, tailgates, and campus venues from the start.

First batch produced. Four flavors. 5% ABV. 12 fl oz. Built for the 21+ student consumer who has grown up drinking better than beer — and hasn't had a campus-native brand to reach for until now.

5%
ABV
12oz
Volume
Watermelon
Black Cherry
Pineapple
Grapefruit
Inquire About Distribution
Where This Goes

Starting at UF. The SEC Is 16 Schools.

We're pre-launch. The model is built. The product is produced. Here's exactly where we're taking it.

Phase 1 — Now

University of Florida

SwampWater was conceived at UF, produced in Florida, and is being launched here first. We're building relationships with UF licensing, athletics, and campus venue operators to establish the first compliant RTD placement in the Gainesville market.

Gainesville
Home market. First mover. Building the playbook here.
Phase 2 — Near Term

SEC Campus Expansion

All 16 SEC schools now sell alcohol publicly. The NCAA cleared hard seltzer in 2023. Once the UF model is proven — compliance templates, distributor agreements, activation framework — each subsequent campus launches faster than the last.

16 Schools
All sell alcohol publicly. None have a dedicated RTD brand.
Phase 3 — Scale

The National University RTD Platform

The NCAA's clearing of hard seltzer in 2023 opened a channel that every Division I athletic department now has to fill. We're building the brand, the relationships, and the infrastructure to be the default answer.

350+
Division I schools. One category. No dominant platform yet.
FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Yes. The NCAA officially cleared hard seltzer and cider at stadium events in March 2023. SwampWater is designed to fit within these guidelines at venues that have approved alcohol sales.
SwampWater is pre-launch. The product has been formulated and the first batch produced. We are actively building relationships at the University of Florida and structuring the model for SEC expansion. We are not yet commercially active at any venue.
All 16 SEC schools sell alcohol publicly as of 2024. Texas A&M generated $2.4M in gross alcohol revenue in their first year of general sales. 55% of Gen Z adults 21–24 have tried hard seltzer. The demand is there. The policy is there. The dedicated campus RTD brand is not — yet.
If you're at a university venue — stadium, student union, arena, or campus dining — reach out directly. We're building our first partnerships now. We handle brand selection, distributor alignment, and activation. You gain a new revenue category without managing any of it.
We're open to conversations with producers who have Florida distribution capacity and a product that fits the campus venue environment. SwampWater handles the university relationship layer — you provide the product and production capability. Email us directly.
A distributor delivers product. SwampWater builds the university channel from scratch — licensing navigation, campus relationship development, compliance structuring, and student-facing activation. We're not a distributor. We're the infrastructure the distributor plugs into.
Florida first. We're based in Gainesville and actively building at UF. The near-term roadmap is the SEC — 16 schools across the Southeast, all with alcohol sales approved, none with a dedicated RTD campus brand. That's the gap we're filling.
Gatorade was invented at UF. The campus that built the sports drink category is the right place to build the campus RTD category. The brand is rooted here. The relationships are here. Florida is the market that proves the model before it scales to the rest of the SEC.
Founder

Gatorade Was Invented Here. SwampWater Is Next.

Miguel A. Rivera III, Founder of SwampWater — Economics student at University of Florida, incoming PepsiCo Summer Analyst
Miguel A. Rivera III
Founder & CEO
📚Economics Student, University of Florida
💼Incoming Sales Management Intern, PepsiCo
📊USDA-AFRI Research Fellow, Applied Econometrics

Gatorade was born at the University of Florida. It solved a real problem for a specific audience in a specific environment, and became one of the most recognizable beverage brands in the world. The campus market has always created brands.

On a spring break trip to South Florida, a friend pointed out Paradise Lager — FAU's official craft beer. The category was right. But beer wasn't what people in our generation were buying. Seltzers were. RTDs were. Nobody had built a Florida-native RTD brand for this market.

SwampWater is that brand.

Mission

Starting at UF.🐊 The SEC is next.

Get in Touch with Miguel

The Category Is Open. We're Building Now.

SwampWater is in pre-launch and actively building its first university partnerships at UF. If you're at a campus venue, a beverage brand with Florida distribution, or a regional distributor — reach out now. The window to be first in this channel won't stay open.