Where to watch the big game: how to find a sports bar showing it

The surest way to find a place showing the big game is to ask the place. The Mosey app helps with that: 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.

When is the big game?

Mosey treats the big game as the second Sunday in February. That is the rule it uses to place the season in the calendar, and the date can differ by year, so check the date for the year you are planning.

Mosey's wording never names a league, a team or a brand. It says the sport and "the big game."

If you are planning around the date, do not rely on a calendar app alone. Check it for the year, and check with the place, because kickoff times are set by the broadcaster and places set their own opening hours around them.

How does the Where to watch the game 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, a distance of 25 kilometers, over the next seven days, and shows up to ten places, nearest first.

Each card says something like Showing football 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.

What does a card show?

The place's name and its distance, a line for the sport and the day, and the note Set by the place. 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, rather than telling you an area has something it may not.

An empty row does not mean nobody near you is showing the game. It means nobody has said so on Mosey.

Is there anything to do about an empty row?

Search for sports bars and pubs near you, or ring a place you already like. A place that does not use Mosey is not in the row, however good its screens are. You can also tell a place you like that it can flag the game on Mosey, which costs it nothing but 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, so a row cannot keep showing yesterday's game. Hotels cannot flag a game.

Which sports can a place flag?

American football, soccer, hockey, basketball, baseball and rugby, plus a general option for anything else. Mosey names the sport and never a league or team.

A place chooses one sport for each flag, so a bar showing two games on one day flags both. Each flag has its own note, which is how a place can say that the early game has sound and the late game does not.

What is a Sports Bar on Mosey?

In the US and Canada, 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, separate from the game flag.

Choosing Sports Bar does not put a place in the Where to watch the game row. A place appears there only when it flags a game for a day. A place that is not a Sports Bar, such as a pub with a screen, can flag a game too.

Canada has the same type, and Ireland and the UK do not, because the type list follows each market's own vocabulary.

What should you ask a place before you go?

Ask if the game will be on the main screens or only a corner one, whether sound is on, whether the kitchen is open for the whole game, and whether they take reservations or run a waitlist. Big-game days fill early, so ask when to arrive.

Ask about the screen as well as the kitchen: whether the game is on the main screen, whether the sound is on and whether tables get a good view. A bar with ten screens can still have a bad seat.

If the game is a big one, ask whether there is a cover charge, a minimum spend or a time you need to arrive by. Every place sets its own rules, and none of this is something Mosey sets or checks.

Does the row take a booking or a payment?

No. It is a listing. Nothing in the row reserves a table or takes a payment.

A place can still take bookings or run a waitlist in its own way, outside the row. The row is only a pointer to who is showing a game, and the place's own page has whatever else it offers.

More guides to read next:

• BYOB restaurants explained
• Counter service or table service: how ordering works
• Eating out on Thanksgiving: what to expect

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