During the football World Cup and the 6 Nations Rugby Championship, most Parisian bars broadcast the matches live and fill up with enthusiastic spectators as a result, but did you know that there are different kinds of ‘sports bars’ where they broadcast nearly all these matches throughout the year? So where can you go to watch a match in Paris?
© DR Fotolia
Watching the match with a pint of beer in hand is a tradition in Anglo-Saxon countries, if you want to do this in Paris, you could always visit Parisian pubs like Café Oz (3 Denfert-Rochereau, 8 Boulevard Montmartre, 34 Quai d’Austerlitz, 18 Rue Saint-Denis), the Irish pub chain O’Sullivans (92 boulevard de Clichy, 1 boulevard Montmartre, 63 avenue Franklin Delano Roosevelt, 10 rue des Lombards) or Corcoran’s (110 Boulevard de Clichy, 23 Boulevard Poissonnière, 9-11 Eue Foyatier, 28 Rue Saint-André des Arts, Place du Maquis du Vercors).
You can follow all the Champions League matches at the Longchamp bar (9 Rue du Faubourg Montmartre), le French Flair (75B Boulevard de Clichy), La Terrasse d’Italie (21 Avenue d’Italie), or the Café Rive Droite (2 Rue Berger). The EUFA Europa League is televised at the Bal Rock (161 rue Montmartre) and all League 1 matches are shown at the Red Pub (10B Rue Chaligny), the Hall’s Beer Tavern (68 Rue Saint-Denis) and the Pub Saint-Hilaire.
Since this is Paris, the bars are packed on Paris-SG’s match nights, especially when coach Thomas Tuchel’s team is competing in the Champion’s League. So where can you watch Paris-Saint-Germain’s games? At Le Madeleine (39 Boulevard Bonne Nouvelle), Le Losserand Café (77 Rue Raymond Losserand), Le Little Temple Bar (12 Rue Princesse) or at the Bistrot du Croissant (146 Rue Montmartre)
As for teams outside of Paris, their matches in France’s Ligue 1 can be watched at ‘supporters bars’. For example, supporters of les verts (St-Étienne’s football team) gather at La Divette de Montmartre. Marseille supporters enjoy themselves at the Café Reuilly, especially on big match nights.
© Fotolia
As for rugby matches, you should go to southwestern based restaurants and bars. The Basque atmosphere at the Petit Baïona (90 Rue de Charonne) is the perfect place to cheer on team Biarritz. Head to Le Grand Pan restaurant (20 Rue Rosenwald) where you can reserve a cosy place to watch the game with your friends. And as their names might suggest, Le Bistrot de l’Ovalie (12 Rue Antoine Bourdelle), Le Rugby (51 Avenue du Docteur Arnold Netter) and Le Comptoir Rugby Bar (354 Rue de Vaugirard) also broadcast rugby championships.
© Thinkstock
If you’re a fan of racket sports, Paris boasts many great places to watch Grand Slam tournaments. Go along to Le Long Hop (25 Rue Frédéric Sauton), Sir Winston (5 Rue de Presbourg) or The Bowler Pub (13 Rue d’Artois).
© Le Gambetta Club
You can also find sports bars that show a bit of everything: football, rugby, basketball, boxing, golf and even bowls!
At the Rush Bar (32, Rue Saint Sébastien, 11nd) you can watch French, English and German Premier League Football, all the major rugby championships, as well as Formula 1, motorcycle racing and basketball matches.
It’s the same at Belushi’s restaurant chain (5 Rue de Dunkerque and 159 Rue de Crimée) which shows all sports to a young international crowd.
The Canadian pub The Moose (16 Rue des Quatres Vents) is equipped with no less than 14 screens for watching ice hockey, as well as football, rugby, basketball, tennis, American football, baseball, etc. At the Playoff Wagram (58 Avenue de Wagram) 3 enormous screens broadcast Sport+, Foot+, Rugby+, Skysports+, etc.
With a cold beer, a tasty burger or even poutine at Le Moose, you certainly won’t miss the sports season, whatever your favourite sport may be. But these multisport bars are also a great opportunity to discover sports that you may not be used to seeing in France, such as American football or ice hockey.
For true fans of America’s most popular sport, head to the Yellow Mad Monkey (8 Rue de Lappe), the Great Canadian Pub (25 Quai des Grands Augustins) or the Highlander Scottish Pub (8 Rue de Nevers) to watch the New York Giants face the Miami Dolphins or watch the Baltimore Ravens clash with the New England Patriots. Note that the Yellow Mad Monkey also broadcasts NBA matches.
© Meltdown Paris
What’s an e-sports bar? It’s a bar which broadcasts … video game tournaments. Gamers meet up there not only to play, but also to watch matches of their favourite video games.
There are many places where you can try this out: Le Meltdown (6 Passage Thiéré), l’Otaku Social Club (160 Rue Saint-Denis), or the e-sports stadium (14 Rue de Tracy).
Spotlight on the popularity of esport with gamers across the capital
