Best Sports Bars
in Cape Town 2025

By a named editor

Fredrik Filipsson — Co-founder & Editor in Chief · LinkedIn ↗
Last reviewed 2026-04-17 · How we pick bars

Cape Town takes sport seriously — perhaps more seriously than any other city in Africa, and with more variety too. On any given weekend, the screens in the Mother City's bars are cycling through Springbok test matches, Premier League fixtures, Super Rugby, PSL football, and the ICC cricket calendar without missing a beat. The challenge is finding a venue that does all of this without compromising on the quality of the beer, the comfort of the seating, or the calibre of the crowd. These eight bars manage it — some in the CBD, some in the Atlantic Seaboard suburbs, and one in a location that combines sport with one of the country's best sunset views.

01. The Dubliner

Long Street, City Bowl · $$

Sports Bar No. 01

The Dubliner

Irish Pub 12 Screens Live Coverage Daily 11:00–02:00

Long Street's anchor Irish pub has been showing every major sporting event since before streaming made it easy, and the institutional knowledge built up over that time shows in the logistics: twelve screens at various angles, a sound system that can carry crowd noise without drowning conversation at the bar, and staff who know to open doors an hour before any Six Nations kickoff. The Guinness is poured correctly, which sounds basic but remains genuinely rare in Cape Town. The Springbok test match atmosphere here is exceptional — the bar fills with a mixed crowd of rugby obsessives, expats missing their home leagues, and locals who've claimed a regular stool and intend to keep it through several seasons of sport. See our full guide to Cape Town's bar scene for more neighbourhood context.

02. The Grand Café & Beach

Haul Road, Granger Bay · $$$

Sports Bar No. 02

The Grand Café & Beach

Beach Setting Large Screens Granger Bay Daily 11:00–late

Watching a Springbok match with sand between your toes and Table Mountain as a backdrop is an experience that is specific to Cape Town and available at very few venues. The Grand Café & Beach manages to combine a genuine beach bar atmosphere with serious sporting broadcast infrastructure — large screens positioned for outdoor viewing, sound systems that carry across the terrace, and a bar programme that goes considerably beyond cold lager (though the cold lager is also excellent). The food is substantial enough to sustain several hours of rugby or cricket, and the kitchen keeps pace with the bar during big events. Book a table for major fixtures — walk-ins exist but the front terrace fills fast for anything involving the Springboks.

03. Ferryman's Tavern

V&A Waterfront · $$

Sports Bar No. 03

Ferryman's Tavern

Waterfront Craft Beer Multiple Screens Daily 10:00–02:00

The oldest bar at the V&A Waterfront has had decades to get the sports bar formula right, and it shows. Ferryman's operates with the unhurried efficiency of a venue that has watched ten thousand sporting events without breaking a sweat — screens are placed well, staff are experienced at managing a big crowd, and the selection of craft beer from local Western Cape breweries is among the better sports bar offerings in the city. The Waterfront location means a constant flow of visitors alongside a loyal local base, which gives the atmosphere on big match days a pleasant randomness. Excellent for the ICC cricket calendar when South Africa hosts, and reliable for Premier League early Saturday morning fixtures. Browse our Cape Town sports bars category for comparable options across the Atlantic Seaboard.

04. Bascule Bar

Cape Grace Hotel, V&A Waterfront · $$$

Sports Bar No. 04

Bascule Bar

Premium Viewing Whisky Selection Cape Grace Hotel Daily 11:00–01:00

Bascule is primarily known as one of Cape Town's great whisky bars — the selection runs past 400 expressions — but during major sporting events it transforms into the city's most comfortable premium viewing environment. The screens are tastefully integrated rather than dominant, which means the atmosphere on non-match days remains that of a sophisticated hotel bar. On big Springbok test match days or Ashes series weekends, the crowd upgrades accordingly: corporate hospitality tables, serious whisky collectors combining a dram with the cricket, and hotel guests who discover that their waterfront bar is unexpectedly one of the better places to watch sport in Cape Town. Dress code is smart casual; this is a step up from the typical sports bar experience, which is precisely the point.

05. The Sports Pub & Grill

Adderley Street, City Bowl · $

Sports Bar No. 05

The Sports Pub & Grill

Maximum Screens City Bowl Affordable Daily 10:00–02:00

If the criterion is pure screen count and affordability, The Sports Pub wins the Cape Town argument without much contest. Twenty-two screens across two floors, DStv Compact Plus and SuperSport full package, and a beer menu priced for people who intend to stay through an entire Super Rugby round. The food is honest sports bar cooking — wings, burgers, nachos, toasted sandwiches — and arrives quickly enough that you won't miss a conversion. It's not the most refined environment, but on the morning a Springbok test kicks off with the Wallabies and the entire city wants to watch together, this is where the serious fans are. The atmosphere on those days is worth experiencing at least once regardless of your usual preference for venue.

06. Tobago's Bar & Terrace

Radisson Blu Hotel, Waterfront · $$$

Sports Bar No. 06

Tobago's Bar & Terrace

Pool Terrace Radisson Blu Premium Daily 11:00–23:00

The Radisson Blu's poolside bar on the waterfront is one of Cape Town's more unusual sports viewing propositions: watching rugby on a large screen with a pool in the foreground, the marina behind you, and Table Mountain in the middle distance. The setup is less sports bar and more sports event — matches here are social occasions rather than intense tribal affairs, which makes Tobago's ideal for visitors who want the sporting atmosphere without the intensity of a venue like The Dubliner on a Springbok test day. The cocktail programme is solid, the food is hotel quality, and the staff are experienced at managing a crowd that can shift quickly from tourist relaxation to serious sporting interest. Complements a broader evening that might continue at one of the best cocktail bars in Cape Town.

07. Slug & Lettuce

Somerset Road, Green Point · $$

Sports Bar No. 07

Slug & Lettuce

Premier League Focus Green Point British Pub Daily 09:00–02:00

Green Point's go-to for Premier League football and Six Nations rugby, Slug & Lettuce fills the niche of a proper British pub transplanted to Cape Town's most football-friendly suburb — the Stadium precinct is a five-minute walk, which means match-day crowds from the DHL Newlands direction. The kitchen opens early enough to serve breakfast ahead of Saturday 13:30 Premier League kickoffs, which is a logistical detail that Premier League expatriates will understand immediately. Bacon rolls, eggs, filter coffee — followed by four hours of football on multiple screens. The crowd is predominantly expat British, Irish, and Australian, with a growing Cape Town local base who've discovered that the atmosphere here for big European football matches is unlike anywhere else in the city. A strong option to pair with the nearby broader Cape Town sports bar offerings in the Green Point area.

08. The Local Grill & Sports Bar

Kloof Street, Gardens · $$

Sports Bar No. 08

The Local Grill & Sports Bar

Neighbourhood Favourite Kloof Street Braai Menu Daily 12:00–01:00

Kloof Street's relaxed neighbourhood sports bar manages the difficult balance of being genuinely good at showing sport while also being a pleasant place to eat. The braai menu is far above average for a bar kitchen — properly charred meat, decent sides, and portions that suggest the kitchen takes its role as seriously as the sports broadcast team does theirs. The screen layout covers the main floor comprehensively without the screens dominating the room, so on quieter midweek evenings it functions as a neighbourhood restaurant with sport in the background rather than a sports bar that also serves food. The PSL football coverage is excellent here — Cape Town City FC has a strong local following and Kloof Street is where much of the Gardens neighbourhood watches them. For a complete Cape Town sports and nightlife itinerary, explore our sports bars category guide.

Planning Your Cape Town Match Day

Cape Town's geography makes match-day planning genuinely pleasant: the City Bowl, Green Point, and the Waterfront form a compact sporting district where you can walk between venues in under twenty minutes. The Atlantic Seaboard suburbs — Sea Point, Camps Bay — skew younger and more cocktail-bar oriented, but several venues there carry full SuperSport packages and perform well on big rugby weekends.

For visitors, the key consideration is the DStv package on offer: not every bar carries SuperSport, and some with the right subscription lose sound rights for specific competitions. Call ahead for international fixtures and confirm they'll have audio. For Cape Town's nightlife beyond the big game, our guide to Cape Town bars covers the city's cocktail, craft beer, and after-work scenes in full. If you know a Cape Town sports bar that belongs on this list, submit it here and we'll add it to our next review cycle.