Bars & Nightlife
Myrtle Beach football bars: Steelers hangouts aplenty
Are you ready for some football? If not, then you'd better get ready fast because a large part of the Myrtle Beach area's social scene in the fall revolves around the gridiron.
Labor Day weekend saw the kickoff of college football and the big boys of the NFL got started Thursday night when the New Orleans Saints beat the Minnesota Vikings.
Walk into any watering hole – from sports bars to honky-tonks – and there will be football on every TV set, eyes on every screen and fans rooting for their favorite teams.
That's one of the things that makes the Myrtle Beach area a great place to watch the games. With transplants hailing from all over the country, there's a wide mix of allegiances.
But no team garners more local support than the Pittsburgh Steelers, even more than the supposed “home team” Carolina Panthers. The Grand Strand bleeds black and gold.
From one end – Oscar's, Foster's and Murphy's Law North – to the other – Spencer'z, Beef O'Brady's and Murphy's Law South – the Strand has Steelers fans covered.
Of course, there are other teams that draw big crowds. Drifter's is home of the Cleveland Browns Backers, and fans of the Philadelphia Eagles flock to the Clubhouse.
Because of the NFL's TV rules, Panthers fans don't have to leave home to catch the home team because all of their games are shown live throughout the Carolinas.
But if your favorite team is one of the other 31 squads, it's important to pick a sports bar that has the Sunday Ticket, a package that includes every game on the slate.
Most bars advertise that they have the Ticket on their signs, or a giant satellite dish on the roof is another good indication. So is a full parking lot on a Sunday afternoon.
Most sports bars also go the extra yard with specials to bring in the pigskin crowds. Pig pickins, oyster roasts, chili cookoffs and extended happy hours are everywhere.
Slightly less popular are college football Saturday's, where Clemson Tigers and South Carolina Gamecocks and Coastal Carolina Chanticleers fans rule the roost. But all schools are represented at big sports bars up and down the Strand – Overtime in North Myrtle Beach, Broadway Louie's in Myrtle Beach and Spencer'z in Surfside Beach.
No matter what league you support or what team you root for, there's a place for you to huddle up with like-minded fans on the Strand, and it's time to kick things off.
