Forget making a 8pm dinner reservation at Carbone or the Corner Store.
Getting a table at NYC’s popular sports bars to watch the big game on Sunday is now as difficult as playing.
If you want a prime position to watch football, you have to book weeks and even months in advance, “know someone,” line up outside like you’re trying to get into a hot nightclub, or pay thousands of dollars for a VIP table.
“You have to book two weeks in advance or you won’t get a table,” said Mia Firenze, a 28-year-old who lives in FiDi and works as a beer sales representative.
Her favorite viewing spot is Blue Haven South on FiDi, which has developed a fervent fan base thanks to its fun scene—dancing and rocking out to Taylor Swift and other Top 40rs during commercials, servers wearing shirts and wielding megaphones — and a raucous crowd that reflects the NFL’s growing popularity with young women.
“It’s the best place to watch football in the city ever,” enthused Firenze. “The cocktails, the energy, the staff, the bartenders, it feels like home.”
Female support for the NFL has grown steadily since 2017, and it was up 11% at the end of last year, according to analytics company Morning Consult. Thanks in large part to Swift and Travis Kelce, 64% of Gen Z and millennial women now have a favorable view of the NFL, the most ever.
And, they’re helping to fill the city’s sports bars to the brim.
“I reserved this table a month and a half ago,” said Joe Wernig, a 30-year-old who lives in the city, as he watched the Jets play the Broncos Sunday at Blue Haven South with 25 of his closest friends.
He started coming to the bar every Sunday during the pandemic and has seen the crowds grow and grow.
“It’s built a cult following,” Wernig said, adding proudly, “I’m friends with the head manager. I text her personally to get a table.”
He’s not the only one texting.
The bar’s general manager/owner Abby Dowd said she gets up to 50 messages a day from people asking for reservations, sometimes for months.
“I really spend 80% of my day responding to booking requests,” Dowd said.
Another hot spot for watching the game is Rocco’s Sports & Recreation, an upscale watering hole that opened in the spring of 2023 in the West Village attracting both sports bros and women in makeup and fancy jerseys.
This season, the bar has implemented a minimum spend of $1,000 to get a table – plush banquettes that are cordoned off by velvet ropes.
“We had to because the demand for tables is so high and we only have so many,” said general manager Christine Correa.
She also noted that people are starting to book tables much earlier. “I have people who have contacted me about November [when it was still September]she said.
The bar has also introduced a pricey season ticket which guarantees the same table every week, plus a bottle of champagne and a round of shots.
“So far we’ve had one person take it, but we get questions every week,” Coree said.
Roy, a 35-year-old corporate lawyer who was in town from San Francisco for his bachelor party and didn’t want to give his last name, said he was surprised by the minimum spending requirement — and how he jumped on the bandwagon. $3,000 if you wanted to stay and watch a second game.
“We don’t have sports bars in San Francisco that have minimal expenses,” he said with a laugh.
But he and his friends eventually hit the minimum with ease, after ordering multiple rounds of espresso martinis and bloody marinara and chicken wings topped with a trio of house-made sauces — buffalo, mango-habanero and garlic-parmesan.
While Roy called the minimal spending a “necessary evil” to watch the game in comfort, he was ultimately thrilled by the exclusivity of being in a cordoned-off VIP area.
“This is the club next door,” he said happily.
Meanwhile, at other popular spots to watch the game — like the Spanish Tavern and the White Horse in the West Village — it’s now a common sight to see lines stretching out the door on both Saturdays when college teams play and on Sundays. .
“You can’t go into a sports bar anymore,” Firenze said.
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Image Source : nypost.com