We all have a favorite spot to watch our favorite sports team. Whether it is that special spot on the couch, a season ticket seat in the stadium, or Tightwad Hill above Memorial Stadium. The places we watch our sports are almost as important as the games themselves.
Is the Outdoor Bar in San Jose the Best Place to Watch Soccer in the US?
As MLS grows and each team builds its own soccer specific stadium a new generation of fans has a chance to find their own favorite spot. Every MLS fanbase has dealt with substandard facilities. When Major League Soccer played its first game in 1996 most of the teams played in huge football stadiums that sat mostly empty. In 1999 Columbus Crew built their own soccer specific stadium beginning an era of other teams following along and building their own stadiums.
By 2010, nine teams had built their own stadiums. The San Jose Earthquakes, however, were still playing at a university’s stadium. Buck Shaw Stadium was known as a fortress, but at a capacity of 10,500 it was much too small for a professional soccer team. After a season long delay due to WWII bunkers being found at the construction site, the San Jose Earthquakes opened up Avaya Stadium this year. After 18 years the Earthquakes finally have a home of their own and this new stadium might have the best place to watch soccer in the United States; an outdoor bar deemed the “longest outdoor bar in North America”.
Dave Kaval may have created an iconic venue in Silicon Valley with a salvaged redwood bar
The “longest outdoor bar in North America” dominated the social media accounts of team president Dave Kaval last offseason. While fans clamored for updates from the front office about how the team was going to rebuild from a disastrous 2014 campaign, all they got in response was more updates about the bar. During a tour of the stadium while it was under construction the guides spent most of the time talking about the bar. The granite counter-top with stone hand-selected at the quarry by Mr. Kaval himself. The redwood salvaged from nearby Hangar 1 at Moffet Field. Wood that was centuries of years old.
It was enough talk to drive one to ,well, a bar. The truth was that Kaval and Co kept celebrating the bar because they knew what a special place they were creating. After drifting around San Jose for nearly two decades the Earthquakes new home was going to have the greatest meeting area in the whole valley. This was not apparent until February 28 when the Earthquakes held their first ever event at the new stadium, a friendly against heated rival LA Galaxy. As soon as you made your way into the stadium from the main entrance, the bar and pitch dominate the view. The activity around the bar all game proved that Kaval was not just deflecting attention away from the team on the pitch with his frequent updates during the offseason.
The bar is directly in front of you as you come in the main entrance to the stadium. Stretching from sideline to sideline it really is an impressive sight, especially during game time when it is a beehive of activity with busboys, bartenders and customers all working together to keep from bumping into each other. That, and trying to pay attention to the action on the pitch mere yards away.
“Party deck” areas are common around stadiums nowadays, but this is not a party deck. You don’t need a special ticket to enter, the bar is open to anyone provided you are of age to buy alcohol of course. Even if you are still too young for adult beverages the standing area directly behind the goal is available. It is a very inviting place that is already being embraced by Earthquakes fans. One home game I witnessed a couple of San Jose police officers taking “selfies” in the standing area, while a couple ordered drinks at the bar wearing matching #99 jerseys. The name across the shoulders? LOBINA, as in Longest Outdoor Bar In North America.
Yeah this place is that special. The energy around it works to draw people in. If you are crossing that part of the stadium, you are not going around the bar you are going through the bar. That is what happened to me against the Galaxy and what has happened to thousands of other people in the home games since.
The magic of the bar does not end in its energy and proximity to the action. When you are ordering from the bar and facing away from the action you get a heavy dose of San Jose culture. The background is dominated by Mineta International Airport and the mountains of the Diablo Range. The wood and granite gives you the feel of being in a hip downtown San Jose bar like Paper Plane or Original Gravity but with the added advantage of being outdoors watching Chris Wondolowski put balls in the back of the net. I must admit there is a bit of a home field advantage to my opinion but I believe this was a well planned and executed place in the stadium. A place that just might be the best place to watch soccer in North America.
