Article by Dylan Franks

I made the splash over the pond last year, moving from my beloved New York City to London. I have always had a special place for London in my heart and when the opportunity came to work in London I could not turn it down.

There are many things that I looked forward to exploring in London, and of course all the museums and famous landmarks were high up on the list but finding a good sports bar in London was certainly the main priority. I am a huge sports fan, I love my American sports, including American Football and Baseball, and so a sport bar in London that showed American sports was essential. I was also keen to embrace the British sports on offer, I was determined to give Cricket a go, and have always followed the English premier league.

After digging around on the internet it became clear that there were plenty of options for sports bars in London. The most famous and prominent one I came across appeared to be The Sports Caf? in Haymarket. I spoke to a few Londoner?s and it definitely came recommended so I thought I would try it out first for American Football. The New England Patriots were playing the New York Jets, quite a fierce rivalry, so this was a perfect game to watch in a bar for the atmosphere. Sure enough the Sports Café was showing this on the big screen and boy was I impressed with this sports bar. There are TV screens dotted all over the bar, the décor is dedicated to sports, even with a model F1 car, so you walk in knowing that if there is a big sports event on then this London bar sure will have it showing. There were lots of American Football fans there watching the game and it was great to have table service where we could sit down, enjoy the game and order plenty of beer and a bit of food. The menu is classic American, so lots of Burgers, sandwiches and Chicken wings! After talking to the staff here I also determined that this was truly a 24/7 sports bar as they show live sports all through the night if there is a big game on. For example Cricket fans flock here for the Ashes games between England and Australia so if you are out partying on want to finish the night off in London with sports then this is the place to go.

After the sports bar I was after something a bit more local and authentic as it was definitely more of an American style sports bar. I spoke to a few work colleagues and discovered there were plenty of traditional London pubs showing sports. The best by far that I came across was The Three Kings in Kensington. This is another dedicated sports bar in London but its set in a huge pub with dedicated zones depending on what game is on, so you might have a bunch of rugby fans crammed in the front room cheering on their team, and then a load of football fans in another area watching the multiple screens. The atmosphere is electric in here with plenty of singing and has fast become one of my favourite bars in London to watch sport.

A few great sports bars in London include the Jetlag bar in central London which has comfy sofas and a nice relaxed atmosphere for watching the games. I also really like The Roxy in London Bridge which doubles up as a cinema in the evenings so this a pretty cool place to watch the Rugby in particular. If you want lively atmosphere then The Clapham Grand Clapham is a fantastic setting as it?s an old theatre so you can sit back with over 1,200 people and watch on one of the biggest sports screens I have ever seen!

As you can see there are plenty of options for London sports bars so I hope you enjoy some of these.

About the Author

Dylan franks is a born and bred Londoner, dedicated to sharing his vast knowledge of London pubs, bars and club with the world.

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