Do Americans also go to a public viewing for sports events like Germany?
May 17, 2026
Do Americans also go to a public viewing for sports events like Germany?
49 comments
If you are asking if we go to live sporting events, overwhelmingly yes
Can you say what you mean more specifically?
Do you mean at like a sports bar, or a public event set up specifically for watching the sport event?
Public viewing ?
I assume you mean watch parties, like when our team is playing a big away game?
Yes we do.
No, all of those people you see sitting in the stands at sporting events are AI generated. There are no Americans. We’re a myth.
Yeah, a lot of bars are designated for certain teams and those games will be shown. Or in the playoffs a stadium for a team on the road will show the game for fans.
Public viewing makes it sound like a funeral or public execution lol.
But yea, people go to bars to watch sports all the time.
We have sports bars. Occasionally for big college games the visiting team will set up a community viewing in their home stadium.
It’s not that common. Usually we will watch games at sports bars. What we would call “public watch parties” are fairly uncommon. A lot of times they will only come up when a big event is going on. Colleges host them a ton- often in their arenas- when they’re playing big games
People love going to bars (etc.) to watch e.g. the playoffs and it gets packed during the Superbowl. Same with watch parties too in homes.
Absolutely. Every city has some level of sports team that people can attend to watch. My city has baseball, hockey, college basketball and a men’s and women’s professional soccer (football) teams to watch, which people attend regularly for reasonable ticket prices.
Yes. We call them sports bars.
Other than that if it’s something special like a local team going to playoffs some bars/restaurants will have special viewings or parties.
Sports bars are extremely popular. The default bar in most of the country will have tons of televisions showing live sports. Chain restaurants like Applebees, Buffalo Wild Wings, Texas Roadhouse or Chilis have tons of TVs.
Some teams will have viewing parties at their stadium/arena during road games, especially during the playoffs.
Do cities put up giant screens in the town square or similar? There may be a few instances of this, but it’s not the norm.
Were you asking something more specific?
From the US lived in Germany 5 years. At least where I live in the US (Los Angeles) public viewing isn’t as common. It still exists but not to the same extent and or with the same passion as watching the euros or world cup in public spaces in Germany.
I would guess that sports bars are a much bigger thing in the U.S. than Germany.
We have many, many bars that have 10+ TVs exclusively for sports viewing. Sometimes all playing the same game of local interest, sometimes playing 10+ different games.
Yes, but we generally don’t have these events where 5k people stand in a plaza and watch on a giant screen. It’s more in bars, clubs, etc.
Many bars will be claimed by different teams. I remember walking into a bar in Little Italy NYC and I walked into an Arsenal British soccer game populated with its fans and the match on every tv except for one showing golf. My friend went to the university of Florida and a bar somewhere I. Manhattan was claimed by the “Gotham Gators”
Youll get big setups like that when like, a cities team goes to the playoffs or superbowlor when a college team is doing well, basically anytime theres a homogenous concentration of fans around. Otherwise folks will often go out to venues to watch sports though that happens more at private businesses like sports bars.
We have literal bars designated to sports. Sports bars.
And in some areas, venues will absolutely set up a big screen to watch the big game, I used to live in a state that was major for college football. One of the concert venues I went to would often do a large projector screen for a game night if there wasn’t a show scheduled.
But mostly I think what the European mind forgets is how every house in America has a tv or at least multiple tv’s. People enjoy viewing from home and hosting smaller gatherings.
When I was in Berlin, they had the eurocup on massive projectors every couple of blocks on the main road. It was awesome.
Yes, and there are often official watch parties for boosters of a local team when they are on the road (it being impractical for most people to attend away games regularly in a country this large).
Yes – they are very popular in my area (Colorado)
Yes, but, obviously, usually late in a playoff run.
i think the world does this, it seems to be a human thing lol. In the Philippines they’d set up public viewing whenever Pacquiao fights. Same in Mexico whenever their fighter is getting knocked out by Pacquiao lmao
In Europe, it’s common to set up a giant screen the size of a sports stadium screen in a public area in a city. I was in Amsterdam during the 2014 World Cup. The whole city shut down when the Netherlands was playing. I watched them beat Spain in group play near the central station on a huge screen with thousands of people.
I’ve never seen anything like that in the US. Some professional teams will show away playoff games in their stadium or arena on their big digital scoreboard. A sports bar with a large screen is the typical thing.
I once watched the annual Michigan-Ohio State football game in an old-school movie theater with several other people. Does that count?
I think there are tons of sports fans in every state and many will go to public games. Depending on the state, that and church may be the main entertainment.
I just had a bar put the PWHL cup game on the TV for me the other night instead of golf. Sports bars are more common, and for local games people gather – some bars show a particular sport – or particular teams. I live in a high transplant area so some are known for showing certain college’s games and certain country’s gamesm and a regular crowd will gather for that. Non sports bars will change the channel to whatever people there seem interested in, mostly, if they have a television on. As long as you’re not a jerk and the request seems reasonable. Some bars will do watch parties for special television shows a lot of people are watching (rupaul’s drag race, for instance. Or back when game of thrones was popular. etc)
SPORTS BARS: Yes, nearly every town in America has a sports bar or restaurant where they will put the game on the television. Some bars just have regular little TVs and you can barely hear the sound because they want regular diners to be able to eat in peace but some people will still cheer when the home team scores. A few have giant screens and very loud, clear sound and everyone is fully involved the whole time. Many big cities also have bars devoted to various away teams. So if you are a New Yorker living in Los Angeles you can find a bar to watch the New York games in with other New Yorkers.
STADIUMS: On occasion – for really important away games – teams will open up their home stadiums for local fans to watch the game together on giant screens. The interest is usually only strong enough for this to happen around the Super Bowl, World Series, etc. But if you’re from San Francisco and the 49ers are playing the Super Bowl in Miami, you can probably watch the game with other fans at San Francisco’s stadium.
HOUSE PARTIES: Yes, many people will hold a party at their house or apartment and invite all of their friends over to watch the games on TV. They will often prepare foods like buffalo wings, hamburgers, hot dogs, and ribs, serve beer, etc.
I live in a different state than where I went to college, so our alumni association organizes watch parties. It’s usually for the bigger games. We rent a large private room at a restaurant and show the game on a projector.
Sometimes in a city, when your team is away playing an important game in another city, there will be events like this — sometimes stadiums will open up for everyone to come watch the game on a big screen together. Or there will be a big screen in a public park or something. Mostly in cities that have a national level team and a large fan base!
My now deceased buddy and I used to go watch boxing matches at a bar in a rough part of town. He somehow found out that they showed boxing – it’s not a popular sport any more so they were the only ones in town who did. This bar was known for having had a murder recently, and the first couple times we went you had to go through a police metal detector to get in. I think the only reason we weren’t murdered ourselves was that everyone there thought we were cops.
All the time, from the local level up to the national level. We love our sports.
If it’s a big away game teams will open up their home stadiums for watch parties. We have a couple of newer “town center” type shopping malls that have big screens that will show games outdoors.
Yes of course we do this. Sports culture is huge here.
Ohhh yes we have a whole group of bars dedicated to watching sports on TV. Sports bars. They tend to serve food and be a bit more family friendly then just drinking bars. I think so Dads and Moms cam bring their kids along while they watch the game. I suspect husband is at one right now actually…he mentioned earlier about there being a softball game (probably college) he wanted to watch.
We have “Sports Bars” with many TVs where people do similar things.
We don’t watch any rebroadcast, retransmission, or account of the game without the express written consent of the National Football League, that’s for damn sure.
Yes, attending sports is a big deal. We have college football teams who draw 100k fans to their games,
NYC is setting up a “fan zone” in each borough for the World Cup. And they just recently showed the Yankees/Mets game on the screens in Times Square. But usually it’s something reserved for championships or the playoffs.
Like a watch party? Yeah definitely especially when it is a championship game.
Like on TV at a bar, or at the stadium itself?
‘Cause both are pretty normal. We have entire categories of bar dedicated just to watching sports and drinking at.
Yes. During the playoffs, it’s common for fans to view away games at the home stadium on the jumbotron. It’s becoming more common for new stadiums to be built with communal viewing areas outside the stadium too. In areas without those, there will often be an impromptu viewing area set up by the team and/or city.
I spend my Sunday’s at the bar watching sports. Watching 8 games at the same time is a sin. Also we have the sports equinox where the sports are playing at the same time. And the rare sports super-equinox, the holy grail, where all 4 sports are playing on the same day
Yes, common for F1, Rugby and Soccer here in the States. The time change and absences of other opportunities are the same reasons I would imagine public viewing occurs for you.
Go to sporting events? Yes
Go to bars that play sporting events on multiple large tvs? Also very much yes. We have bars specifically like that.
Sure.
We even had FIFA watch parties at my library during the last World Cup.
Like a sports bar? Yeah people do – so often that people who don’t like sports will check game schedules to see if they should avoid trying to dine at certain places on whatever day because of the crowd and noise.
49 comments
If you are asking if we go to live sporting events, overwhelmingly yes
Can you say what you mean more specifically?
Do you mean at like a sports bar, or a public event set up specifically for watching the sport event?
Public viewing ?
I assume you mean watch parties, like when our team is playing a big away game?
Yes we do.
No, all of those people you see sitting in the stands at sporting events are AI generated. There are no Americans. We’re a myth.
Yeah, a lot of bars are designated for certain teams and those games will be shown. Or in the playoffs a stadium for a team on the road will show the game for fans.
Public viewing makes it sound like a funeral or public execution lol.
But yea, people go to bars to watch sports all the time.
We have sports bars. Occasionally for big college games the visiting team will set up a community viewing in their home stadium.
It’s not that common. Usually we will watch games at sports bars. What we would call “public watch parties” are fairly uncommon. A lot of times they will only come up when a big event is going on. Colleges host them a ton- often in their arenas- when they’re playing big games
People love going to bars (etc.) to watch e.g. the playoffs and it gets packed during the Superbowl. Same with watch parties too in homes.
Absolutely. Every city has some level of sports team that people can attend to watch. My city has baseball, hockey, college basketball and a men’s and women’s professional soccer (football) teams to watch, which people attend regularly for reasonable ticket prices.
Yes. We call them sports bars.
Other than that if it’s something special like a local team going to playoffs some bars/restaurants will have special viewings or parties.
Sports bars are extremely popular. The default bar in most of the country will have tons of televisions showing live sports. Chain restaurants like Applebees, Buffalo Wild Wings, Texas Roadhouse or Chilis have tons of TVs.
Some teams will have viewing parties at their stadium/arena during road games, especially during the playoffs.
Do cities put up giant screens in the town square or similar? There may be a few instances of this, but it’s not the norm.
Were you asking something more specific?
From the US lived in Germany 5 years. At least where I live in the US (Los Angeles) public viewing isn’t as common. It still exists but not to the same extent and or with the same passion as watching the euros or world cup in public spaces in Germany.
I would guess that sports bars are a much bigger thing in the U.S. than Germany.
We have many, many bars that have 10+ TVs exclusively for sports viewing. Sometimes all playing the same game of local interest, sometimes playing 10+ different games.
Yes, but we generally don’t have these events where 5k people stand in a plaza and watch on a giant screen. It’s more in bars, clubs, etc.
Many bars will be claimed by different teams. I remember walking into a bar in Little Italy NYC and I walked into an Arsenal British soccer game populated with its fans and the match on every tv except for one showing golf. My friend went to the university of Florida and a bar somewhere I. Manhattan was claimed by the “Gotham Gators”
Youll get big setups like that when like, a cities team goes to the playoffs or superbowlor when a college team is doing well, basically anytime theres a homogenous concentration of fans around. Otherwise folks will often go out to venues to watch sports though that happens more at private businesses like sports bars.
We have literal bars designated to sports. Sports bars.
And in some areas, venues will absolutely set up a big screen to watch the big game, I used to live in a state that was major for college football. One of the concert venues I went to would often do a large projector screen for a game night if there wasn’t a show scheduled.
But mostly I think what the European mind forgets is how every house in America has a tv or at least multiple tv’s. People enjoy viewing from home and hosting smaller gatherings.
When I was in Berlin, they had the eurocup on massive projectors every couple of blocks on the main road. It was awesome.
Yes, and there are often official watch parties for boosters of a local team when they are on the road (it being impractical for most people to attend away games regularly in a country this large).
Yes – they are very popular in my area (Colorado)
Yes, but, obviously, usually late in a playoff run.
i think the world does this, it seems to be a human thing lol. In the Philippines they’d set up public viewing whenever Pacquiao fights. Same in Mexico whenever their fighter is getting knocked out by Pacquiao lmao
In Europe, it’s common to set up a giant screen the size of a sports stadium screen in a public area in a city. I was in Amsterdam during the 2014 World Cup. The whole city shut down when the Netherlands was playing. I watched them beat Spain in group play near the central station on a huge screen with thousands of people.
I’ve never seen anything like that in the US. Some professional teams will show away playoff games in their stadium or arena on their big digital scoreboard. A sports bar with a large screen is the typical thing.
I once watched the annual Michigan-Ohio State football game in an old-school movie theater with several other people. Does that count?
I think there are tons of sports fans in every state and many will go to public games. Depending on the state, that and church may be the main entertainment.
I just had a bar put the PWHL cup game on the TV for me the other night instead of golf. Sports bars are more common, and for local games people gather – some bars show a particular sport – or particular teams. I live in a high transplant area so some are known for showing certain college’s games and certain country’s gamesm and a regular crowd will gather for that. Non sports bars will change the channel to whatever people there seem interested in, mostly, if they have a television on. As long as you’re not a jerk and the request seems reasonable. Some bars will do watch parties for special television shows a lot of people are watching (rupaul’s drag race, for instance. Or back when game of thrones was popular. etc)
SPORTS BARS: Yes, nearly every town in America has a sports bar or restaurant where they will put the game on the television. Some bars just have regular little TVs and you can barely hear the sound because they want regular diners to be able to eat in peace but some people will still cheer when the home team scores. A few have giant screens and very loud, clear sound and everyone is fully involved the whole time. Many big cities also have bars devoted to various away teams. So if you are a New Yorker living in Los Angeles you can find a bar to watch the New York games in with other New Yorkers.
STADIUMS: On occasion – for really important away games – teams will open up their home stadiums for local fans to watch the game together on giant screens. The interest is usually only strong enough for this to happen around the Super Bowl, World Series, etc. But if you’re from San Francisco and the 49ers are playing the Super Bowl in Miami, you can probably watch the game with other fans at San Francisco’s stadium.
HOUSE PARTIES: Yes, many people will hold a party at their house or apartment and invite all of their friends over to watch the games on TV. They will often prepare foods like buffalo wings, hamburgers, hot dogs, and ribs, serve beer, etc.
I live in a different state than where I went to college, so our alumni association organizes watch parties. It’s usually for the bigger games. We rent a large private room at a restaurant and show the game on a projector.
Sometimes in a city, when your team is away playing an important game in another city, there will be events like this — sometimes stadiums will open up for everyone to come watch the game on a big screen together. Or there will be a big screen in a public park or something. Mostly in cities that have a national level team and a large fan base!
My now deceased buddy and I used to go watch boxing matches at a bar in a rough part of town. He somehow found out that they showed boxing – it’s not a popular sport any more so they were the only ones in town who did. This bar was known for having had a murder recently, and the first couple times we went you had to go through a police metal detector to get in. I think the only reason we weren’t murdered ourselves was that everyone there thought we were cops.
All the time, from the local level up to the national level. We love our sports.
If it’s a big away game teams will open up their home stadiums for watch parties. We have a couple of newer “town center” type shopping malls that have big screens that will show games outdoors.
Yes of course we do this. Sports culture is huge here.
Ohhh yes we have a whole group of bars dedicated to watching sports on TV. Sports bars. They tend to serve food and be a bit more family friendly then just drinking bars. I think so Dads and Moms cam bring their kids along while they watch the game. I suspect husband is at one right now actually…he mentioned earlier about there being a softball game (probably college) he wanted to watch.
We have “Sports Bars” with many TVs where people do similar things.
We don’t watch any rebroadcast, retransmission, or account of the game without the express written consent of the National Football League, that’s for damn sure.
Yes, attending sports is a big deal. We have college football teams who draw 100k fans to their games,
NYC is setting up a “fan zone” in each borough for the World Cup. And they just recently showed the Yankees/Mets game on the screens in Times Square. But usually it’s something reserved for championships or the playoffs.
Like a watch party? Yeah definitely especially when it is a championship game.
Like on TV at a bar, or at the stadium itself?
‘Cause both are pretty normal. We have entire categories of bar dedicated just to watching sports and drinking at.
Yes. During the playoffs, it’s common for fans to view away games at the home stadium on the jumbotron. It’s becoming more common for new stadiums to be built with communal viewing areas outside the stadium too. In areas without those, there will often be an impromptu viewing area set up by the team and/or city.
I spend my Sunday’s at the bar watching sports. Watching 8 games at the same time is a sin. Also we have the sports equinox where the sports are playing at the same time. And the rare sports super-equinox, the holy grail, where all 4 sports are playing on the same day
Yes, common for F1, Rugby and Soccer here in the States. The time change and absences of other opportunities are the same reasons I would imagine public viewing occurs for you.
Go to sporting events? Yes
Go to bars that play sporting events on multiple large tvs? Also very much yes. We have bars specifically like that.
Sure.
We even had FIFA watch parties at my library during the last World Cup.
Like a sports bar? Yeah people do – so often that people who don’t like sports will check game schedules to see if they should avoid trying to dine at certain places on whatever day because of the crowd and noise.