While no one is saying that World Cup soccer will bump the National Football League from its perch as the most popular US spectator sport, bars from New York to Houston to San Francisco enjoyed the early morning crowds that boosted business this week.
'We wouldn't have a single person here because we wouldn't even be open yet,' said King, general manager of the Claddagh Irish Pub outside Detroit, where about 100 fans clad in red, white and blue drank beer at 10am and cheered for the US team playing against Slovenia on Friday.
King, wearing a red shirt touting his bar's status as an official sponsor of US Soccer, said business was up as much as 15 percent in the first week.
At a Claddagh in Columbus, Ohio, the first US game against England drew thousands of fans.
Soccer is a growing sport in the US and the World Cup in South Africa will help, if TV audiences are any indication.
Double
The US team's game against England drew almost 17 million viewers between Walt Disney Co's ABC network and Spanish-language Univision, making it the country's most-viewed first-round World Cup match.
The first five matches of the tournament drew about double the audience that tuned in four years ago. Many fans are heading to their neighbourhood bars to catch the action and knock back $5 mimosas or a Guinness beer or two.
'It is definitely helping business,' said Ariel Williams, manager of Dave's Tavern in Manhattan.
In Houston, David Perez, general manager of Kelly's Wet Spot, said: 'We've seen about a 20 percent increase in our weekday business.'
At Steff's Sports Bar near San Francisco's financial district, lunchtime viewers of the France-Mexico match on Thursday spilled out on to 2nd Street. The bartender said business had been good all week.
But sitting at the bar, Peter Younger, a shipping executive and soccer fan, said he didn't think the Steff's crowd compared to those that turned out to watch Champions League matches from Europe.
Some complained that Americans preferred the comforts of home to hitting the bars. And apathy appeared when the US team was not playing. - Reuters
