10 Best Bars to Watch the Game in Detroit

A short walk from Ford Field, Harry's is downtown's go-to Lions hall, with 50 screens and room for around 400 fans across a main bar, a second-floor room, and a heated outdoor area. The format is simple: live music when the game is off, the volume all the way up when it is on, so a Lions Sunday turns into one loud room pulling the same direction. The scale and the proximity make it the default pre-game and watch-party address downtown.

Across from Comerica Park and a short walk from Little Caesars Arena, Hockeytown Cafe is the big-room staple for Detroit sports, with about 55 screens and capacity for 450 fans. It earns its name on a Red Wings night, but it carries the full slate and fills for the Lions and Tigers too. The location makes it the obvious meeting point before a game at any of the downtown venues, and the size means a large group rarely gets turned away.

Nemo's has been a Detroit institution for decades and anchors Corktown as the classic Lions and Tigers bar, with 35 screens and room for around 280 fans. The draw is the history and the crowd as much as the setup: it runs game-day shuttles to the stadiums, so a lot of fans make it the start and finish of a matchday. It is unpretentious, loud when the home teams play, and the kind of room that has watched every Lions era from the same barstools.

The Old Shillelagh is the multi-level Irish pub in Greektown that draws big, loud crowds for the Lions, Tigers, Red Wings, and Pistons. Plenty of TVs across the floors keep every game in view, and the bar runs shuttles to the downtown venues, which makes it a reliable hub on a packed sports weekend. It leans more party than purist, so it suits the group that wants energy and a guaranteed scene as much as a clear screen.

Inside the MGM Grand, TAP is the polished option, with 40 high-definition flat-screens and a more refined room than the downtown sports halls. It covers the full slate and pairs the game with a stronger food and drink program, which makes it the pick when you want to watch the Lions without standing in a crowd. The casino setting keeps it busy and gives the night somewhere to go after the final whistle.

Parlay is the newer, more polished sports bar at the corner of Grand River and Washington, built for the fan who wants the game and a real plate of food. The kitchen runs an elevated menu, with fish and chips, lamb chops, and mac and cheese in a cast-iron skillet, and the screens cover the NFL and the rest of the downtown slate. It splits the difference between a packed Lions hall and a sit-down restaurant, which is exactly what a mixed group often needs.

Thomas Magee's in Eastern Market is the refined-but-energetic room for soccer in Detroit, streaming Liverpool and the wider Premier League alongside Michigan State football and the local pro teams. It is the rare Detroit bar that treats the early European kickoff as a real event rather than background noise, with a crowd that knows the table of contents for the weekend. The setting suits a fan who wants the match with the sound on and a proper pint in hand.

Sitting on the Detroit City FC practice field, the Clubhouse is the gathering point for Le Rouge supporters and an intimate room for US and international soccer. It carries the major matches alongside the club's own fixtures, so a matchday here comes with the city's most committed soccer crowd. It is smaller and more focused than the downtown halls, which is the point: this is where Detroit's soccer culture actually meets up.

McShane's Irish Pub and Whiskey Bar in Corktown is the destination for international sport, with numerous flat-screens carrying soccer and rugby alongside hearty pub food and a deep beer list. It is the room to name when the fixture is a Six Nations match or a Premier League weekend rather than the NFL, and the Corktown setting keeps it close to the rest of the game-day action. The whiskey selection gives a long afternoon somewhere to settle in.

One of downtown's newer sports bars, Gilly's Clubhouse on Woodward builds the room around a 120-square-foot screen, so the marquee game plays at near-theater scale. The comfortable seating and a full coffee and juice bar make it an easy all-day spot, which suits an early game that rolls into a long afternoon. It is a calmer, more comfortable alternative to the big Lions halls when you want the spectacle of one huge screen over a wall of small ones.