Albuquerque Journal

There will be many hangouts across the city for fans looking for a fun place to watch the big game

- — Kevin Hendricks

Looking for a fun place to watch the big game? Here are a few spots:

Joe O’Neill, president of ESPN Radio 101.7 FM The TEAM, has run one of the biggest events in New Mexico for the last six years. The TEAM Bowl Bash at San Felipe Casino is a free event with drink and food specials and over 500 prizes. The grand prize this year is a trip to the profession­al football game of the winner’s choosing next season.

O’Neill said he expects a crowd of anywhere from 300 to 450 on Sunday.

“The crowd has grown every year,” O”Neill said. “We expect significan­t growth this season because of the Broncos.”

A.J. Galindo, a manager at Gioco, said his bar will be packed Super Sunday.

“We expect a full house,” Galindo said. “Last year was our first year with the Super Bowl, and we expect to grow on that.”

Gioco, which opened in the fall of 2014, has an occupancy of a little over 100 and Galindo is planning on a standing-room only crowd.

“Anything local tends to bring in bigger crowds,” Galindo said. “With Denver playing, we’re expecting a huge crowd.”

Lisa Sidenblad, general manager at Fox & Hound, says the bar has groups who follow both the Panthers and the Broncos during the regular season. Add the neutral fans who just want to watch the game somewhere, and she thinks it’ll be a big turnout Sunday.

“It should be a nice mix of fans.”

Adam Krafft, owner of Uptown Sports Bar, said he has different “Broncos watch” groups come in throughout the regular season, and their presence should make for a larger turnout.

“They’re pretty much the home team, right? It’s Dallas and Denver.”

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from United States