A few weekends ago, NBC Sports, the sole provider of Premier League matches in the United States, continued its trend of hosting watch parties throughout the States. The late October Fan Fest was held in Austin, a city with a growing soccer culture and its own MLS team on the way. The event was a buzz, full of fans from all 20 League teams, copious amounts of televisions and projectors to watch all the action and plenty of personalities in the sport. NBC truly could not have picked a better city for its first first Fan Fest not in the Northeast, but its only flaw was that the location in this city was not ideal.
Held at the Scholz Beer Garden, a football-friendly pub in the heart of the city, and the surrounding courtyard, parking lot and alley, the fourth edition of the Fan Fest was jam packed, with its two day attendance total capping 8,000 people. There is no denying that this atmosphere was an amazing one as it was layered with passionate fans, copious viewing opportunities and a beautiful morning. However, this was also the one setback, as the area became at capacity very quickly, prompting a one-in one-out attendance requirement.
My brother, friend and I ultimately got in before the end of the early game, so we were not all that affected, but others certainly reaped the effects of a less-than-massive area. Just a few miles away sits one of Austin's most attractive sites, Zilker Park, a 350-acre park, which would have been a great location to accommodate the massive attendance. Considering the area is used to host the massive musical Festival Austin City Limits, which draws in about 75,000 people per day over its two weekend event, the space to allocate for this even would likely be a breeze.
Aside from this minor setback, which was no real setback for us, the event was all a football fan in America could hope for. Once inside, we snagged our free pretzel ticket and grabbed a not-breaking-the-bank beer of quality and enjoyed the final minutes of the New Castle-Wolverhampton match. Afterwards, the three of us simply enjoyed the scenes of devout fans in their groups celebrating, sulking or just enjoying the area. We then indulged on the free merchandise for our favorite clubs, which saw me walk away with a rather neat Liverpool flag. Before finding our area of viewing for the day's big match, Liverpool, my team, against Tottenham, my brother's team, we snapped a picture with the official Premier League Trophy, an unexpected but awesome touch by the NBC team.
After waiting a few more minutes to enter the official watch zone, which was littered with televisions and places to purchase beer and authentic Texas breakfast tacos, we settled into the Beer Garden and watched an exciting 2-1 victory for the Reds, capped by a late penalty.
In all, the NBC Soccer Fan Fest was an excellently done event with a phenomenal atmosphere, exciting giveaways and very reasonable prices on food and drink. This NBC team really nailed it with this event, and while the lack of space is likely due to only a few weeks notice, it is something to build on as this event takes charge in many other locations.