You can bet that some of your most fun memories can be traced back to a night at a sports bar with your friends, bonding over drinks and cheering for your team! Sports bars are at the root of nightlife in London and people between the ages of 22 to 45 favour them over clubs and high-end restaurants. However, it is not just the uninhibited team spirit prevalent in these bars that draws in their patrons. Sports bars are gradually becoming sought-after venues for private events, and restaurateurs and bar-owners are quickly adapting to tap into this niche market.
Intrigued? There’s more. We’ve got a list of the 3 hottest sports bars in London that you can hire for the perfect night out on the town for your own personal event or business venue for the day.
Bounce Old Street
Our first entry on this list is a mere three minutes’ walk from the second exit of Old Street Station. You can then understand why it is one of the most popular sports bars in all of London, and that is no small achievement! It’s got the three main ingredients you need for the perfect night: good liquor, great food and entertainment for everyone. Especially worthy of a mention is the fact that the restaurant has been the recipient of a number of awards. The kind of holistic enjoyment that Bounce Old Street promises, night after night, remains unparalleled. There’s a state-of-the-art Ping-Pong table for the gamer of the group. Or if you would rather just chill, the plug-and-play iPod system and DJ console might just be what you’re looking for. The Bounce Games Guru loves a good challenge and will make sure that your night is, in no way, a dull one for your guests.
Looking for something better-suited for a business conference? The bar has the requisite provisions for accommodating corporate events as well. The main hall, for starters, is quite spacious and has a stunning 10ft. widescreen for projections, along with the best presentation equipment available in the market. You can take your pick from the available private rooms, boardrooms and main spaces. Besides, who said business events have to be boring? Private Play Rooms come equipped with photo pods, cocktail bars with a bartender solely servicing you and your guests, butterfly-shaped Ping-Pong tables with UV effects and neon artwork, and a variety of other refreshing entertainment options.
Bounce Old Street has enough space to host close to 500 people at a time. More specifically, the bar premises stretch beyond 14,500 sq. feet, so the length of your guest list need not give you any sleepless nights. The rooms are well-ventilated, with optimal lighting so as to suit the mood of the event. It goes without saying that the rooms are air-conditioned and the free Wi-Fi connection functions at lightning speed. Additional services include in-room catering, champagne and bottle services, Christmas parties and corporate celebrations.
This is the venue to go for is you want your guests to have the most memorable night of their lives And if you are planning a corporate event, there is no place that will deliver on its promise of the perfect blend between work and party as well as Bounce.
Millennium & Copthorne Hotel
Situated on the grounds of the Chelsea Football Club (yes, you read that right), the Millennium & Copthorne Hotel has been the go-to venue for true lovers of the sport for ages. It is located on Stamford Bridge, an extremely popular site amongst tourists as well as London locals, and is thus very well-connected to other parts of the city. Whether or not you are a supporter of Chelsea, this is a hotel you will immediately fall in love with! After all, what’s not to love? The Copthorne is a 4-star hotel and the Millennium its luxury counterpart. Collectively, they make for the most sought-after venue in all of Fulham for hosting exclusive events. Regardless of whether you want a venue suited for a business conference, a corporate retreat, or a private leisure event, this hotel is guaranteed to win you over with its dedicated and efficient service, mouth-watering array of food and beverages, and plethora of activities and social events meant to ensure that your guests enjoy a memorable evening.
Only the most well-trained service professionals from the hospitality sector serve you from the time you set foot in the hotel till the moment of your departure. This includes an event-management team, solely designated to work on your special event, who will work as per your demands and consultations to deliver your vision of the day in the most spectacular manner. As for the food, take your pick. Have a hankering for gourmet English cuisine? 55 Restaurant is there to serve you the most delectable British meals. Frankie’s Sports Bar and Diner transports you all the way to New York with its authentic American meals and true-to-theme décor. The Delta 360° Lounge, too, will ensure that you have a splendid evening. The hotel does not fall short of leisure activities for its guests either, with services ranging from spas to Jacuzzis.
The meeting rooms, banquet halls and conference areas are all very spacious, well-lit, and properly ventilated. These spaces are all equipped with the best technological apparatus to ensure that the event proceeds without hindrance. The entire property boasts an air of elegant sophistication that is the premise of every successful London corporate event. Moreover, there are package deals for subsidised rates and special theme nights for guests. The hotel might be pricey, but its quality of services ensures that the money spent would be worth it. Moreover, it is the most conducive option for high-end corporate meetings and black-tie affairs that demand a certain degree of refinement.
Allianz Park
Last, but definitely not the least, we have Allianz Park, an affordable and homely venue, perfect for office parties and business seminars. The venue comes with distinct conference suites that can serve as separate rooms or can be connected with one another, if need be, to develop a much bigger space. These suites are The Tulip, 100 Club, and Fez, which can accommodate 370, 350 and 290 guests respectively. What’s truly interesting about the space, however, is that it is left completely blank by the staff so that it can serve as your tabula rasa for creating an event that does not deviate from your plans for it. Of course, the responsibility of redesigning it, in accordance with your vision, is borne by the venue authorities and their event-planning teams. Moreover, there is a total of 22 spaces that you can consider as a venue for your event, with a maximum capacity of accommodating beyond 2,000 guests at a time.
Since its inception in 2013, Allianz Park has grown exponentially in terms of its popularity due to its simple strategy of providing top-notch services at reasonable rates within a family-friendly environment. With large and beautifully decorated rooms that are equipped with the necessary facilities for conferences and presentations, the venue is perfect for seminars, presentations, press events, etc. Moreover, a kosher kitchen, accredited by the London Beth Din, recently opened up on its premises. Guests can enjoy a buffet banquet or a three-course meal, or special feasts available at Christmas at the restaurant. This shouldn’t really be a surprise considering Leaf Catering, the venue’s very own in-house catering service has garnered widespread acclaim for its culinary brilliance and has catered for the Brit Awards as well. If that doesn’t put this impressive sports stadium at the top, what will?
The reason why most business-owners and office HR teams opt for Allianz time after time is that no other venue in London offers such interesting leisure activities and provisions for corporate team-building exercises. For those looking for more creative pursuits, culinary classes can be organised as part of a team-building day and there is a wine bar that would pair beautifully together to ensure that you and your guests have a lovely afternoon. Where’s the sports bar, you ask? Book one of Allianz Park executive boxes or the Olympic Bar for the best game-viewing experience for your guests and delegates. The hotel specializes in hosting annual sports meetings for schools and other large-scale sporting events, which means that its athletic facilities and provisions for sports activities are perfect.
Concluding remarks on London’s Sports Bars
The beauty of sports bars is that they can adapt themselves to any occasion, no matter how fancy, and turn the event into a familiar space. Whether it’s a get together for a game night, a high-end business conference with a sense of personality, or a private celebration to cherish for the lifetime – consider one of these sports bars.