Sports

What would bars be like without sports on TV? What would a football or baseball game be without beer? The three are so linked now it's difficult to imagine one without the others. There's something wonderful about a bar packed full of people with every NFL game on dozens of TV's...everyone rooting for their favorite team, eating and drinking and having a great time.

Although sports and beer have very old roots, bars and sports have a much newer connection- TV. Until television, what did people do in bars? In other words, it's almost taken for granted that sports will be on at least one TV in any bar or restaurant you visit. The first televised NFL game was in 1939 when the Brooklyn Dodgers beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 23-14, at Ebbets Field. There were only about a thousand TV sets in the New York City area at the time. Might one of them have been owned by a local bar or tavern? We might never know.

Beer in sports became important in 1882 when the American Association of baseball teams opened for business. The predecessor to the future National League vied for a classier fan base. They had recently doubled ticket prices and banned gambling, Sunday playing, and beer. Franchise owners in St. Louis, Cincinnati, Philadelphia, and other brewing centers refused to accept the new rules and left the league. Several of the owners were brewers themselves, and  had become used to the additional revenue generated by it's sale. They banded together to form the American Association. It was quickly dubbed the Beer and Whiskey League by the competition because they marketed directly to the average workingman, keeping the ticket price an affordable 25 cents, playing on Sundays and serving beer.

Regardless of the beginnings of each, the connections of all three are here to stay. Check out our links to sports sites, search for bars showing particular sports and much more!

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