Soccer bars are a thing, even in football-crazed Green Bay. They're ready to shine for Man City-Bayern at Lambeau Field
ASHWAUBENON - If you want to find the local folks most eager for soccer's takeover of Lambeau Field this weekend, start with Green Bay's soccer bars.
Saturday's exhibition match between German Bundesliga titleholders Bayern Munich and English Premier League titleholders Manchester City is expected to draw more than 75,000 soccer fans to the iconic home of the Green Bay Packers.
Locals and visitors coming to town to bask in soccer's moment in football-mad Green Bay will find several opportunities Friday and Saturday to learn about soccer, meet former players, and connect with other local soccer fans before the teams kick off at 6 p.m.
The Green Bay Distillery, The Bar on Holmgren Way, Hagemeister Park and Badger State Brewing are among the restaurants and bars ready to mark the occasion.
"We’re so excited about it. It’s such a huge opportunity," said Jen Radloff, Badger State's event and entertainment director. "We have some huge soccer fans on staff and we're in the shadow of Lambeau so might as well throw a tailgate party like we would for any other football game, except it’s not an American football game."
RELATED: How to watch the Bayern Munich-Manchester City soccer match at Lambeau Field in Green Bay
The region's soccer fans and soccer bars didn't wait for the official program to plan their own parties, though. The Packers on Wednesday said the game will draw fans from all 50 states, Puerto Rico, Guam, 19 countries and Washington, D.C.
Joe Phillips, president of the Green Bay chapter of U.S. soccer supporters group The American Outlaws, said excitement for the match has been building since details began to trickle out in March.
"Obviously, Lambeau is not going to be an international (competitive) soccer destination, but for an exhibition, it’s perfect," Phillips said. "It’s huge for Green Bay and huge for soccer in the region."
The Green Bay area's soccer bars are go-to places for fans of "the beautiful game" to gather at odd hours of the day (European games kick off at 6 a.m Saturdays) and night (World Cup qualifier matches can end after 10 p.m. weeknights).
They often will reserve space for bigger matches during World Cups and give preference to supporters by turning on the sound. That might not sound like much, but try asking a bartender to turn on soccer on a fall or winter Sunday in Green Bay and see what sort of reaction you get.
"(The reaction is) either 'Get this craStories p off' or they’re genuinely interested, but know little about the actual sport," Phillips said.
Green Bay Distillery probably has some of the longest soccer bar lineage in the region, dating back to 2011.
"It just sort of naturally happened," said general manager Mike McNerney, who has long been a fan of playing and watching soccer.
It started just after the 2010 World Cup, where the U.S. men's team had a strong showing with a squad that featured Bay Port High School soccer star Jay DeMerit, whose family McNerney knows. Around that same time, the local American Outlaws chapter was established and picked Green Bay Distillery as a place to gaher.
Eleven years later, McNerney opens the Distillery up early on weekends for the Green Bay Armoury, a local group of supporters of the English club Arsenal, who watched all 38 of the club's league matches there last season. The events have started to draw other soccer fans, too.
With Bayern and Man City in town, McNerney did not wait to deck the walls, or the menu, in ways inspired by the exhibition match. The Bayern Munich flags have flown over its bar since early July.
McNerney sees other signs of the sport's surging popularity. Distillery staff get a few more patron requests to turn soccer on while younger kids can recite clubs' rosters from memory, McNerney said.
"Soccer has become a little bit more mainstream than in generations past," McNerney said. "It's a generational thing that has taken awhile to catch on in the United States."
Green Bay, like the rest of northeast Wisconsin, has embraced soccer in fits and starts. Phillips moved here in 2017 from South Carolina just in time to watch local interest wane when the U.S. men's team failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup. The Outlaws contacted him in 2019 about reviving the chapter, which he took on in 2020.
In Green Bay, he said, it's been hard to establish a soccer-first spot. There are "not a lot of places dedicated to putting anything on but the Brewers, Bucks or the Packers," he said.
Phillips has scheduled watch parties at The Bar on Lime Kiln where a bartender who is a soccer fan reserves space for the Outlaws and turns on game audio. Phillips also started a Facebook page and website, Titletown Casuals, as a catch-all site for soccer events and information in the area.
"If there’s a place that wants to put soccer on to draw more clientele, I'll advertise it" on social media and calendars, hesaid.
Phillips hopes Saturday's match will highlight the opportunities for businesses to cater to soccer fans with the the 2022 World Cup in November and 2023 Women's World Cup, for which the U.S. women's team just qualified, both coming in the next 13 months.
"That’s huge from my perspective. It just helps to find out how many soccer fans there are around here," Phillips said.
Here's what Green Bay's soccer bars have planned for this weekend.
Badger State Brewing Co. tailgate party
Badger State Brewing Co., 990 Tony Canadeo Run, decided throw a tailgate party for Bayern-City match, as it would for any other football game at Lambeau Field, said Jen Radloff, the craft brewery's event and entertainment director.
"Except it's in July," Radloff said.
Badger State's plans begin with live music and food trucks at its taproom Friday evening.
On Saturday, the taproom will open at noon Saturday and Badger State will host a pre-game tailgate party featuring food trucks, an eight-tap draught truck, game day music, giveaways and more. Parking will be available for a fee. Radloff said additional details will be posted to Badger State's Facebook event page.
"I think whether they're soccer fans or not, it will be a fun opportunity for people to get out of the house and experience something different," Radloff said. "We're all about football and this is such a unique opportunity."
Kickin' it two times with the American Outlaws Green Bay
The American Outlaws Green Bay chapter now calls the The Bar on Lime Kiln, on Green Bay's east side, its home base. For the weekend, it will sponsor events at The Bar's sister venues, Hagemeister Park, in downtown Green Bay, and The Bar on Holmgren Way, near Lambeau Field.
Kickin' It on the Fox! begins at at 5 p.m. Friday at Hagemeister Park, 325 N. Washington St.. The event, co-sponsored by the Outlaws and Titletown Casuals, will include live music, ticket giveaways, team prizes and an appearance by Bayern legend Giovane Elber, a Brazilian who scored 92 goals in six seasons with Bayern from 1997 to 2003.
The party resumes Saturday with a tailgate party at The Bar on Holmgren Way, 2001 Holmgren Way, from 2-6 p.m. Saturday. A $40 ticket includes drinks, food, parking and live music before the match.
Phillips said updates will be posted to both events' Facebook pages.
Green Bay Distillery: Oktoberfest in July
McNerney embraced the opportunity, and the region's German heritage, and decked the Green Bay Distillery, 835 Mike McCarthy Way, with Bayern Munich flags to match its Oktoberfest-like food and drink menu items.
Hacker-Pschorr and Paulaner beers have been tapped and he hopes Leinenkugel's Oktoberfest will be available in time for the game. The Distillery has been serving up a Reuben hoagie, a sausage plate and German-style pork ribs with sauerkraut since July 9.
McNerney said the Bayern-City match is a unique event and good preparation for the 2022 World Cup, which begins in late November. He's already blocked off the party and event rooms for each of the United States' three first-round games and, should they advance, all possible dates for the U.S.' knockout stage matches.
"We're guaranteed to have U.S. soccer," he said.
Titletown District: Matchday Live
The Green Bay Packers' Titletown District will kick it's own plans into gear on Saturday afternoon, with live music in the area west of Lambeau Field.
Matchday Live will include a Manchester City champions area, a header challenge to show off your soccer skills, food trucks, live music, a mural painting and a soccer pitch for children.
The activities are free and run from 2 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. Saturday, shortly before the exhibition match kicks off. Check out Titletown's Matchday Live Facebook event page for more details.
Contact Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter at @JeffBollier.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: Green Bay soccer bars ready to celebrate Man City, Bayern at Lambeau
