Where to watch the game in Canada: hockey, the big game and sports bars

The surest way to find a place showing the game is to ask the place. The Mosey app helps: when a place near you has said it is showing a game in the next week, a row called Where to watch the game appears on Home, nearest first, with the day and the sport. The row is set by the places and Mosey does not check it, so use it to build a shortlist and confirm before you go.

Which sports can a place flag?

Hockey, soccer, basketball, baseball, American football and rugby, plus a general option for anything else. Mosey names the sport and never a league, a team or a logo. For a hockey night, a place flags hockey and the day, and can add a short note.

How does the row work?

It lists places near you that have flagged a game for a day. In the app it looks within about 15 miles of you, which is 25 kilometres, over the next seven days, and shows up to ten places, nearest first.

Each card says something like Showing hockey today, or Showing it on a named day, says if more days are to come, and carries the note Set by the place. Tap a card to open the place.

A card shows the place's name and distance, a line for the sport and the day, and the Set by the place note. If a place has flagged more than one day, the card shows the next one and says More days to come.

Why is the row not on my Home screen?

It only appears when a place near you has flagged a game. If none has, or if the row cannot load, it shows nothing at all. An empty row does not mean nobody near you is showing the game. It means nobody has said so on Mosey.

Search for pubs and sports bars near you, or ring a place you already like. You can also tell a place you like that it can flag the game on Mosey, which takes it a minute.

How does a place say it is showing the game?

In the business dashboard, a place picks a day, a sport and, if it wants, a short note of up to 120 characters, such as sound on or kitchen open late. It can flag days up to 60 days ahead, with at most 14 upcoming at once.

A flag expires by itself, counted against the place's own date and time zone, so a row cannot keep showing yesterday's game. A bar in Vancouver and a bar in Halifax each use their own day. Hotels cannot flag a game.

When is the big game?

Mosey treats the big game as the second Sunday in February, in Canada as in the US. It is the rule used to place the season in the calendar, and the date can differ by year, so check it for the year you are planning. Mosey's wording says the big game and never names a league, a team or a brand.

What is a Sports Bar on Mosey?

In Canada and the US, a business can describe itself as a Sports Bar, one of the types a business can choose. It is a label the business sets about itself and is separate from the game flag. A pub with a screen can flag a game without being a Sports Bar.

What should you ask a place before you go?

Ask whether the game is on the main screens, whether the sound is on, whether the kitchen is open for the whole game and whether they take reservations or run a waitlist. Playoff nights and the big game fill early, so ask when to arrive.

Ask about the cover charge or minimum spend too. Each place sets its own rules, and Mosey neither sets nor checks them.

If you are going with a group, ask whether tables can be held and for how long, and whether the game will be on a screen you can see from where you sit. A bar can have many screens and still have a poor view from the corner.

Does the row take a booking or a payment?

No. It is a listing only. Nothing in the row reserves a table or takes a payment, and a place that takes bookings or runs a waitlist does that in its own way.

More guides to read next:

• Canada Day: eating out and how to plan
• Canadian Thanksgiving: eating out and how to plan
• How the bill works in Canada: tax and tip

More in the Canadian food guides and the ranked lists of places.