Editorial – Soccer & Craft Beer Is Better Than NFL & Big Beer

Unapologetic. Brash. Loud. These are all things that I could say describe me on a Chelsea match day. I transform into a loudmouth hooligan who really doesn’t care about what anybody has to say because I know I’m in for a day of banter and yelling at both the television and supporters of the opposing club.

If you’ve followed us on social media, you’ll know my wife and I are ridiculously, emotionally invested in the one team we both agree on supporting: Chelsea Football Club. We can’t agree on supporting the same team in any other sport. She’s a Texans fan, I’m a Titans fan. She’s a Yankees fan, I’m a Red Sox fan. We are complete opposites in almost everything in life as well, but it makes our relationship work. However, this one thing is what unites us in sport.

Part of what makes it great is the morning kickoffs. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve realized that my ability to stay up until 2:00 AM at a pub has rapidly diminished and happens only a handful of times in a year. I prefer drinking in the daytime. I’m alert. I can usually get a great meal with whatever I’m drinking and the hoards of young twenty-somethings looking to party hard aren’t out yet.

I realized that the point where I transitioned from a late-night drinker to a morning/day drinker was when my love of soccer intensified. There’s nothing quite better than starting a morning with an English breakfast full of bangers and mash with a side of Heinz baked beans on toast. Combine that with a nice craft beer and you’ve got yourself the perfect start to a day.

One of the other things that coincided with the love I have for Chelsea is my love for craft beer in Texas. I have to admit that these days, there’s nothing more hipster than craft beer and English Premier League football. Even though it is by far the most hipster thing I do, this is one thing the hipsters got right. Part of the reason this combination gels is because most pubs that show the matches are ones that have a terrific selection of craft beer. For Chelsea, you can find the Houston supporters going to The Phoenix on Westheimer: a brewpub we have highlighted before on our site. In Fort Worth, you can head to Chimera Brewing Company where the owner, Adam Gonzales, is a die-hard Chelsea supporter and will cater to the supporters of his club. In Dallas, you can either head to The Londoner in Addison or British Beverage Company. Even Waco has a supporters group that meets at the best place for craft beer in town, The Dancing Bear pub.

Each of the places listed above offers a terrific Texas craft beer selection with The Phoenix and Chimera also being brewpubs that offer their in-house brews. Now, let’s compare this to the most popular sport in the States, the NFL and what it’s about.

First off, I still have a guilty pleasure for watching football on Sundays. However, my love for the game has waned significantly with all of the scandals rocking the sport. I can’t get behind a sport that seems to condone domestic violence without serious consequence. In addition, one of the largest sponsors of the NFL is Bud Light. Therefore, when you are going to a game or watching it at a bar, you know you’ll be blitzed with advertisements for this beer. Let’s not forget that stadiums like NRG in Houston and AT&T in Dallas are wastelands for craft beer. Shock Top is not craft beer. I’ll pass on that. Most of the bars where you can watch the games have bucket specials or draft specials catering to domestics. Rarely will you ever see a place doing craft beer specials during NFL games. It ends up being counterproductive to my drinking desires.

Ultimately, my love of soccer and craft beer won out and has replaced my former love of the NFL. I can’t say that I really miss the NFL that much, but maybe that’s simply because I found something better.