The Pirate Bus

Welcome to the Pirate Bus online.  Your source for the best tailgating at East Carolina.  Stop by and enjoy a cup of grog with the Pirate Bus crew.

Click here for the Pirate Bus Photo Page.  Nearly three decades of tailgating photos stored here.  If you have photos from a  Pirate Bus event, we want to see them and add them to the history books.  Please email photos@piratebus.com with your pictures.  You can always hit us up on twitter, Facebook and Instagram as well.

The Pirate Bus started as a pipe dream among Pirate fans who already wanted more than the normal tailgate. Running car batteries, home amplifiers, house speakers and a big inflatable Miller Lite can out of a Suburban wasn’t cutting it. Sitting around the kitchen table after one of Terry’s late-night Taco Bell half-price taco runs, they came up with the S.C.U.T.A. concept: roll in, set up, and have everything in one place.

The trailer got built, and it had just about everything a true male Pirate fan could want on gameday. Then the talk turned to the next step. After another Saturday—win or loss—around Jane’s table, someone asked why the party had to end when the game did. That was the start of the Bus saga: three RV and bus conversions over the decade that followed. The pictures are on the photo page.

Thirty-plus years later, generations of Pirate fans have found their way to “The Bus.” 2026 looks like another good one, thanks to friends and family across eastern North Carolina who keep showing up and helping us keep it rolling.

See you at the next tailgate.

Go Pirates!

Come out and join us at the Elmhurst lot for each home game this 2026 Pirate football season!  If you are interested in donating to the Pirate Bus please email donations@piratebus.com.

For more information on Pirate Bus tailgate email tailgate@piratebus.com.