These days folks tend to stay home to watch the excitement of NFL Football due to a number of reasons. One being the fact that as a nation, we are working longer hours than ever before, Pandemic not withstanding. Folks just aren’t hitting up a bar on a Thursday night for just a football game, unless their team is playing a big game, and forget about Monday Night Football. The ratings for that have been going down steadily over the last three decades, especially in the second half with folks going to bed earlier on Mondays these days. So obviously bar attendance is not what it once was for Monday Night Football.
Another big reason for staying home to watch football, is obvious. Why go out to a bar when I have my own big screen right in my living room or den ? The overwhelming popularity and affordability of giant HD tvs has revolutionized home television viewing and streaming, and football is no exception. Add in an NFL Red Zone subscription and some folks are on the couch sun up to sundown on a Sun-day!
As for myself I still like to head out to a local watering hole a few times a year on a Sunday afternoon and soak up the atmosphere of a good NFL crowd of locals. The sounds of cheers and boos at the bar, the vinegary smell of the plate of wings that just went past me on the arm of a waitress, and of course the taste of my favorite ice cold draft beer. Those are things I can pretty much replicate at home, but it’s still nice to spend an afternoon with the wife cheering on the Jets at a local Toms River watering hole. Here are, in no random order, five of our favorites, and one extra chain place for a specific time of year!
