Forget making 8pm dinner reservations at Carbone or The Corner Store.
It's now just as difficult to get a table at a popular New York sports bar on Sunday to watch the big game.
If you want to get the best seats to watch soccer, book weeks or even months in advance, “know someone” and sit outside as if you're trying to get into a hot nightclub. You have to wait in line or pay thousands of dollars for a VIP table. .
“You have to make a reservation two weeks in advance to get a table,” said Mia Florence, 28, who lives in Fidi and works as a beer saleswoman.
Her favorite viewing spot is FiDi's Blue Heaven South. It's a wild ride, thanks to fun scenes of dancing and singing to Taylor Swift and other Top 40 tunes during commercials, jersey-wearing servers with megaphones, and a coed crowd that reflects their worldview. has built a huge fan base. The NFL is becoming increasingly popular among young women.
“This is the best place ever to watch soccer in this city,” Florence enthused. “The atmosphere, the energy, the staff, the bartenders, it just feels like home.”
Female support for the NFL has steadily increased since 2017, increasing by 11% at the end of last year. According to analysis firm Morning Consult.. Thanks in large part to Swift and Travis Kelce, 64% of Gen Z and Millennial women have a favorable view of the NFL, an all-time high.
And they're also helping fill the city's sports bars.
“We booked this table a month and a half in advance,” said Joe Wernig, a 30-year-old city resident, as he and 25 of his closest friends watched the Jets and Broncos play Sunday at Blue Haven South. spoke.
He started going to the bar every Sunday during the pandemic and has seen the number of customers steadily increase.
“It has a cult following,” Wernig added proudly. “I'm friends with the head manager. I personally messaged her to reserve a seat.”
He's not the only one texting.
Abby Dowd, the bar's general manager and owner, said she receives as many as 50 text messages a day from people requesting reservations, which can sometimes take months.
“I really spend 80% of my day responding to reservation requests,” Dowd says.
Another hot spot to watch the game is Rocco's Sports & Recreation, an upscale watering hole opening in spring 2023 in the West Village. It attracts both sports buddies and made-up women in crop-top jerseys.
This season, the bar implemented a $1,000 minimum payment for a table (a cushioned banquette barred by velvet rope).
“We had to do that because the demand for tables is so high and we have a limited number of tables,” General Manager Christine Correa said.
She also noted that people have started reserving tables far in advance. “Some people contacted me around November.” [when it was still September]” she said.
The bar has also introduced expensive season passes that guarantee the same table every week, plus a bottle of champagne and a round of shots.
“We've only had one person infected so far, but we get inquiries every week,” Corey said.
Roy, a 35-year-old corporate lawyer who came from San Francisco for the bachelorette party and didn't want to give his last name, said he was surprised by the minimum spending requirement and how it could jump to $3,000 if he qualified. I wanted to stay and watch the second game.
“There's no sports bar in San Francisco that has a minimum price,” he said with a laugh.
But he and his friends ordered the espresso martini, Bloody Mary, and chicken wings enhanced with three different homemade sauces – buffalo, mango habanero, and garlic parmesan – on multiple occasions, and in the end, the bare minimum was a no-brainer. filled with.
Roy said the minimal spending was a “necessary evil” to watch the game in comfort, but ultimately he was thrilled by the exclusivity of being in a locked-down VIP area.
“This is next to the club,” he said happily.
Meanwhile, other popular game-watching spots, such as the Spaniard and Whitehorse Tavern in the West Village, often see lines stretching out the door on both Saturdays and Sundays when college teams play. It became like that.
“You can't just walk into a sports bar anymore,” Florence said.
