Inside the NFL rival bars thriving in 49ers territory
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Danny Coyle's, the Seattle Seahawks hub. Photo: Nadia Lopez/Axios
San Francisco may be 49ers territory, but on Super Bowl Sunday, pockets of the city will sound like Seattle and New England.
Why it matters: In a city packed with transplants, neighborhood sports bars have become cultural outposts — places where fans keep hometown loyalties alive thousands of miles from home.
The big picture: As the Super Bowl draws near, these bars aren't just screening a game. They're hosting reunions for people who never stopped rooting for the teams they grew up with.
Here's where to go to cheer for a Super Bowl team — or, if you're a diehard 49ers fan, to root for a Seahawks loss.
Danny Coyle's, an Irish bar in the Lower Haight, didn't set out to become San Francisco's unofficial Seahawks headquarters.
- The shift began 20 years ago, when a fan asked co-owner Brian Coyle if he could watch a Seahawks game on one of the TVs. The word spread and the crowds followed — and never left.
- Coyle — an Irishman with a penchant for soccer — is now proud to call his watering hole a Seahawks bar (even though he's a 49ers fan).
- "The crowd are great, very friendly people," he said. "We've had a lot of regulars now with them for the past 15 years."
At Connecticut Yankee in Potrero Hill, the New England identity is baked into the bar's name.
- The historic bar from 1907 has long been a haven for Northeastern transplants.
- "There is no bigger Patriots bar on the West Coast than Connecticut Yankee. No joke. It gets bonkers for games," co-owner Tony Cooney told Axios.
- We're going be in the lion's den this weekend and we're going to come out in droves," bar manager Jon Broyer said, predicting a packed house of fans chanting and leaning hard into the camaraderie that comes with rooting for a team 3,000 miles from home.
So you're a diehard 49ers fan? Then Kezar Pub is where you ought to go.
- Steps from Golden Gate Park, this bar remains one of the city's most reliable homes for San Francisco's home team. The bar takes its name from nearby Kezar Stadium, where the 49ers played from 1946 to 1970 before moving to Candlestick Park.
- The walls are strewn with decades of San Francisco sports history — framed photos, faded posters and 49ers memorabilia that nod to the team's roots.
The bottom line: In San Francisco, Super Bowl Sunday isn't only about who wins — it's also about where you're from and the bar that still feels like home.
