The 15 best sports bars in NYC

Boasting 55 TVs and almost as many beers, this LIC bar is an ideal place to get your sports fix east of the river. If the game brings out your competitive streak, satiate your bloodthirst with a “spirited” game of bocce on their indoor courts.

This three-level sports mecca adds multiple projectors to its impressive international selection of bottled and draft beers. And with a central Midtown location, it's the perfect place to take an extended (say, 90 minute?) lunch away from the office.

Bk Backyard Bar, an outdoor bar that opened in the height of the pandemic, gives you the warm-and-fuzzy feeling of hanging out with friends in your backyard. With picnic tables, Astroturf and buckets of beer, you can kick up your feet and pretend that you’re grilling out with your buddies. And if watching sports just isn’t competitive—or dangerous—enough for you, try your hand at some axe throwing. 

Part sports bar, part Zen garden, this Brooklyn brew pub is great for those "one is a die-hard Rangers fan and the other thinks rangers work in parks" couples. The sports fanatics can cheer on the game while everyone else sips wine in a canopied backyard—relationship problems solved.

In addition to showing football (both pro and college), basketball and other sports on its 21 flatscreens every night, this three-level “America’s Gay Sports Bar” is a meeting place for many of NYC’s LGBTQ+ sports leagues, including Out Cycling and Pink Pong Foundation. The vibe is more clubby than fratty: DJs spin regularly, shirtless bartenders pour drinks and crowds of amiable young guys pile in on weekends. There’s plenty of space to settle in with a beer and watch a game, and their daily two-for-one happy hour goes all the way until 9pm.

Giants fans and beer geeks alike will find plenty to love at this inviting Boogie Down pub. About a dozen flatscreens and one projector screen show NFL, NBA and soccer events, and the patrons are less interested in screaming matches than low-key ribbing. The brew selection, meanwhile, is massive; 16 taps change often, and more than 15 bottles and cans are available. 

Harlem Tavern’s food is legitimately good, making it the perfect compromise for the half of a couple who can’t stand sports. Park yourself underneath one of the many screens for the game, then chug a few brews in the beer garden to celebrate your team’s win (or, alternatively, to drown your sorrows after their loss). An order of chicken and waffles or crispy fish tacos will help ease your hangover the morning after the game. 

This pretension-free sports bar is open to putting on any game you request—though you may have to get there early to reserve your channel. Offering long tables for easy TV viewing as well as a menu chock full of game grub (including wings, burgers and hot dogs), this Brooklyn spot is a mellow setting for your weekly watch-the-game routine.

Soccer fans show up early on weekends for European matches at this low-key British pub. Order a $12 bangers and mash, which acts as a perfect stomach-liner for the 16 international beers on tap (rotating English specials include Boddingtons). When footy's not on, the eight TVs play whatever games the neighborhood crowd wants to watch.

This busy sports bar is, as the name implies, high-key Canadian. Expect poutine, buckets of Moosehead, actual moose heads and – of course – lots and lots of hockey. It’s tough to find a true hockey bar in NYC, and The Canuck is stepping up to the rink with an ode to all things played on ice. (Including, when there are no NHL games, World Juniors Ice Hockey.) If the Great White North isn’t your thing, don’t fret – they also show college football and other sports on the big screens. 

If you think cozy sports bar is an oxymoron, this single-room East Village go-to will change your perspective. Not only is the crowd an anomaly—more affable regulars, less rowdy superfans—but the TVs are all kept at a low volume, letting you mingle with other fans in relative quiet (unless, of course, someone’s team is doing well). The draft list offers a frequently changing selection of microbrews alongside standard fare like Bud Light. Regalia from various teams covers the walls, making it a blessedly neutral home for fans of all persuasions.

If you're the type to get fidgety well before the seventh-inning stretch, this Astoria games emporium will keep you entertained. In addition to 16 HD big screens and one 105’ HD projector, the sprawling lounge houses 16 pool tables, arcade games (Big Buck Hunter), two Ping-Pong tables and air hockey, as well as some diversions, like a Pop-a-Shot basketball machine, that actually approximate the experience of playing a real sport (while drunk, of course).

Yes, Jack Demsey’s draws plenty of tourists, but you’ll also find local crowds loyal to teams like University of Kentucky basketball and, above all else, Celtic Football Club. A 96-inch screen and a dozen other TVs cover almost anything you'd want to watch, including oft-ignored broadcasts like Irish rugby matches and UFC fights.

Friendly groups of expats and soccer fans head to this spacious, European-style public house to cheer on their footy teams: In season, Premier League, La Liga, Champions League and MLS matches dominate the bar’s flat- and projector screens. The rotating selection includes American brews as well as Euro drafts like German black lager Köstritzer. Stave off a midday hangover—a hazard of early-morning games—by filling your belly with one of the panini, sausages and savory pies on offer.

Be prepared to engage in a bit of competitive shit-talking with rival fans at this watering hole. It’s all in good fun, of course, and if you’re on your best behavior, you might find yourself getting a buyback on the third round. Settle in with a pint and watch your game, whether it’s Sunday afternoon football, an NHL game or a soccer match, on one of the several flatscreens or one central projector screen.