Baseball is “America’s Pastime,” and (American) football is the only thing people in the U.S. watch on television these days, but soccer is the world’s most popular sport and a truly global game, so it’s a huge deal that the FIFA World Cup is being played in North America this year. The last time the men’s tournament was played in the U.S. was 1994, and a lot has changed since then.
The 1994 iteration of the games saw the American squad lose to eventual-winner Brazil in the round of 16. 3.6 million tickets were sold for the tournament, 32 billion cumulative viewers watched, and the economy received a $4 billion impact. That World Cup set a record for the largest television audience for a finals game, and this one is set to be the most expensive ever, with nearly 7 million tickets available at an average price in the high three digits and an economic impact forecast of $13.9 billion.
Since most of us can’t afford multiple tickets — if even one — bars across the country are expecting huge turnouts of global fans. So what do you need to know before attending a watch party and where should you go for the best viewing experience? We caught up with some of the top soccer bars in the country to find out.
Preparations
The World Cup host is announced years in advance: The U.S., Mexico, and Canada won the bid for this year’s tournament in 2018, so they’ve been preparing for nearly a decade. There are 13 official FIFA Fan Festivals across the continent (with multiple locations in Los Angeles and the New York/New Jersey area) that will be screening matches for free and offering interactive experiences plus local food and drinks for purchase.
If those seem a little daunting — or you aren’t in one of the host cities — your neighborhood spots have also been getting ready for weeks, months, or even years. “Oh my God, we’ve been planning for months,” gushes Mark Prinzinger, partner at Lion Sports Bar in Philadelphia. His is the first result when you search for the best sports or soccer bar in the city, so it will likely see the biggest crowds it has ever experienced in its year-plus of existence.
Brewhouse Cafe, which has two locations in the Atlanta area, has been upgrading the AV so that “every match feels immersive,” says owner Humberto Bermudez. “When you walk in, it shouldn’t feel like you’re just watching a game, it should feel like you’re part of something,” he explains.
Last year’s FIFA Club World Cup, which was also played across the U.S., gave New York City’s Legends, which calls itself the Football Factory NYC, a taste of what this summer’s tournament will be like. “We’ve already put together dozens of fan activations all tournament long, from watch parties to match ticket giveaways to select games at MetLife Stadium,” says bar manager Emmett Keenan.
And in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, the team behind the brand-new spot Socceria is opening just in time for the festivities. “We’re clearly on turbo right now to get the space World Cup ready,” says partner Tania Apolinar. That means installing a 12-by-7-foot LED TV, menu testing, bringing in high-quality sound equipment, and readying 12 tap lines with beers from participating countries.
A few places even altered local laws for the tournament. In Philadelphia, New Jersey, and New York, bars can stay open later to show matches with a special permit. In New York, that permit also lets holders allow alcohol in unlicensed, contiguous outdoor areas (think on the sidewalk or a vacant yard space). And NYC’s new mayor, Zohran Mamdani, recently unveiled a six-week program called the Five Boroughs Winners Special with a prix-fixe menu, food and drink combo, or drink deal all priced at $26 at venues across the city to entice visitors and locals alike to visit some of the 300-plus restaurants and bars enrolled.
What to Expect at a Soccer Bar
Sure, it’s a sports bar, but there are certain things fans can expect at a stereotypical soccer bar — plus lots of spots breaking the mold and creating new traditions. According to Roger Bennett, founder and CEO of the Men in Blazers Media Network, “the best soccer bars are sacred sanctuaries for the growing community of U.S. soccer devotees. They have the unique ability to capture the emotional language of football in a tangible space — transforming the experience of watching a game into a collective, passionate experience.” The media group polled thousands of fans and received over 25,000 recommendations for World Cup visitors and locals looking to get in on the action.
“We’ve already put together dozens of fan activations all tournament long, from watch parties to match ticket giveaways to select games at MetLife Stadium.”
Soccer bars are known for opening at odd hours to show matches hosted around the world. As Trevor Schlam, head brewer at Strange Days Brewing in Kansas City, Mo., puts it, “It’s a pretty regular occurrence for us to host a packed watch party for a 6 a.m. game.” Ray Butler, owner of The Banshee in the suburbs of Boston, expects this year’s tournament to be extra busy for a few reasons. “Typically, we’re used to hosting or dealing with World Cups between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., which is great for business because it’s probably the slower time,” but this year games will be on in American prime time when other sports fans are used to hitting the bar. Also, Scotland is one of the teams playing in the Boston area, and he’s heard from huge groups of Scottish fans using the city as a home base.
In terms of behavior, Butler says “I don’t think people need to be sports snobs and act in a certain way” if they’re going to a soccer bar for the first time during this year’s World Cup. “Just be yourself and be friendly, be kind, watch the games, that’s all,” he recommends.
Prinzinger, who built Lion to be an inclusive space, describes your typical soccer bar as full of fans that “kind of look like the English national team.” And many are known for their rabid support of one club or another, so if you come in sporting merch for the wrong crew, you might get a few stares, or even worse. And Josh Borock, another partner in NYC’s Socceria, says before he decided to open his own, he was generally not impressed by local soccer bars, especially those with Irish or English food. “Maybe the bars are too dark or too traditional. I always thought that soccer felt more global and even tropical,” he explains.
So there’s a bar for every kind of soccer fan — from the die-hards to those just jumping on the bandwagon. As Bennett says: “At first, the early American soccer bars were oases for English expats. But over time as the game grew, American early adopters started to flock to these community hubs to watch games. Now, we are witnessing a full-fledged American soccer movement, and soccer bars are really at the epicenter of it all.”
The Plan: Keep It Normal…
While the World Cup is only held every four years, some soccer bars are treating it as business as usual, just with more guests. “We’re expecting things to get a little wild this summer and we’re doing our best to prepare,” says Schlam. But Kansas City is already the “Soccer Capital of America,” so that means doing the same things Strange Days is already known for. “Since most people don’t want to drink a Double IPA with breakfast [when matches often air], we’ve been perfecting our low-alcohol and sessionable beers, emphasizing English malty styles,” he adds, so guests who plan to stay for the long haul are welcome.
Pitch 25 in Houston is also already designed for this. “What makes us different is we actually built Pitch 25 for soccer — it’s not something we’re layering in,” says owner Brian Ching. “The way the space flows, indoor to outdoor, it’s meant for people to show up, hang out, and get into it together.” While it is opening early and closing late, the bar doesn’t need to make any major changes to turn into a spot for an all-day watch party. That’s also the deal at Wild Leap in Atlanta where there are TVs and projectors throughout the building so, as events director Alana McLean puts it, “there’s never a moment you’re disconnected from the game or pre-game footage.”
Because he’s been inundated with calls and emails for months now, Butler decided not to take reservations at The Banshee during the tournament. “We’ll have every game on and we’ve got great food and cold beer and we’re not increasing prices or anything like that,” he says, referring to markets where restaurants plan to add automatic tips or have significantly raised transit prices to get to venues. “We’re going to take care of our local clientele that, after the two- or three-week period when this thing is over, we need to deal with again,” he adds. And it’s worked for the bar in the past. One year, when the Euros were sponsored by Carlsberg, The Banshee went through 100 kegs of the beer and became an example of effective branding at a national sales meeting for the brand.
At Socceria, the plan is also to keep things to business as usual because the restaurant’s opening (and its strategic timing) is an event in and of itself. “The fact that Taqueria Ramirez is opening something with soccer in time for the World Cup is such a big deal that it feels very special,” says Borock. That said, there will be those special global beers and incredible, Mexican cantina-inspired food from the team that makes some of the best tacos in NYC. But it’s really all about the community coming together over soccer for the partners, a group that also includes Scott Anderson, Giovanni Cervantes, and John Hilmes. “We want everybody to feel welcome here,” explains Borock. “Sides will be taken, but we want everybody to watch in peace” and keep it fun despite the potentially heated environment.
…Or Go All Out
While even the traditional soccer bars that are sticking to what has made them beloved are prepared for bigger-than-normal crowds and plan to screen every match, some spots are taking the World Cup to Super Bowl-esque heights.
At Lion Sports Bar, the team is batching cocktails and even putting some on draft so that guests can still get a well-crafted drink even if the bar is, as Prinzinger anticipates, 10-people deep. The team is also temporarily taking over the nightclub space above the main bar for extra room. In addition to the regularly hung soccer decor, there will be a huge world map, and the first time a guest arrives in a jersey from a different country, he or she will get to take an instant photo and pin themself to the map — plus receive a free beer. That’s up to 195 free beers to people from all over the world.
There will also be brand activations — popular at all of the bars mentioned — and signature menu items from the bar’s executive chef, who has been cooking for nearly half a century and helps Lion stand out from other sports bars. But what Prinzinger might be most excited about is the (expensive) system he’s installed that lets him push a button to set off blaring sirens, flashing lights, and the classic Spanish broadcaster “GOL” call whenever a team scores.
“It’s a pretty regular occurrence for us to host a packed watch party for a 6 a.m. game. Typically, we’re used to hosting or dealing with World Cups between 9 a.m. and 5 p.m., which is great for business because it’s probably the slower time,”
And then there are the normally buttoned-up spots getting in on the action. At Alain Ducasse’s contemporary French bistro Benoit in NYC, the team has created a fan zone in partnership with Taittinger, the official Champagne of the World Cup, with a French atmosphere that will air every match and offer pours from the limited-edition commemorative bottle. At Ai Fiori, a highly awarded hotel restaurant, the team is running a “Fifth Ave Pitch” before select matches with an outdoor aperitivo cart and a foosball competition with prizes — including tickets to a game. The bar room is also taking part in the Five Borough Winner’s Special and offering its signature burger and a collectible cup for $26.
Plus, at KABIN, a Nordic cocktail bar also in NYC, fans of Sweden and Norway, which hasn’t qualified for the men’s World Cup since 1998, can celebrate Scandi-style.There will be food and beverage specials and an elevated viewing experience along with free shots for all every time either of those two teams score. Owner Alexandra Tangen also mentions the tradition of “rowing” where groups of fans link arms and sing together. “It’s one of those wonderfully Norwegian things that captures the spirit of supporting a team: everyone moving together, everyone participating. If Norway scores a few goals this summer, I wouldn’t be surprised if there was some rowing happening at KABIN, too!” she says.
The Connector: Community
In speaking with all of these bar and restaurant owners about the soccer-watching community, everyone had endlessly positive things to say about the fans and the cities, countries, and teams they represent. Ching might put it best: “It’s not just watching a game — it’s the energy, the crowd, everyone reacting at the same time.”
But that’s only possible during the tournament because of the base these places put the work into building during the rest of the year. “The fans and families who’ve been showing up here for years are the reason the atmosphere is what it is,” Bermudez says. “You can build out screens and sound systems, but you can’t manufacture that kind of energy.” Even before opening, Borock knows that to become a soccer bar of choice in NYC, his team needs to keep the energy going after the World Cup because “it’s all about the communal aspect of watching soccer together.”
