It’s football season! Which means it’s time to gather around on the couch, prop your feet up, and root for your favorite team.
Football season can be far more fun with friends to celebrate with. What better way to celebrate than with a football party?
Almost every football party turns out the same way. Don’t let your party become just another run of the mill beer and wings event. This article will teach you how to through a party that everyone will remember, whether they’re a die-hard fan or not.
1. Start a Betting Pool
Add an extra element to the game by taking bets.
Have everyone in attendance put money in a bowl for the team they think will win. At the end of the party, the winners will split the pool amongst themselves.
This can be a great way to get people who aren’t interested in football to get involved in the game. Everyone pays a little more attention when there’s money at stake.
You can open bets for different elements of the game as well. It doesn’t have to be just wins vs loses. You could bet on which quarterback will perform better, which coach will get the maddest, or which defense will perform the best.
There are all sorts of little things and players you and your friends can bet on to make the game more interesting.
2. Have Games Prepared
When you throw a football party, you have to prepare to constantly entertain your guests. This includes during commercial breaks and halftime.
These frequent breaks in the football game are a perfect time for you to play games with your guests.
Have board games ready for your guests to play when the football game lags. Good options are party games like Apples to Apples or Cards Against Humanity.
These are games that go quickly and that you can pick up and put down easily.
If your group of friends all love board games, you can also set up a more intense game to be played during halftime. This could be a good distraction from the football and it will ensure no one gets bored.
Good ideas for this game could be Settlers of Catan or Risk. You can continue this game after the footballs is over. This way, whether your team wins or loses, you’ll have something else to focus on right away.
3. Drink it Up
You can’t throw a party without booze.
Instead of having the traditional beer and wine, why not serve themed drinks that match your team’s colors?
You can make mixed drinks that show team spirit. For instance, if your team is the Green Bay Packers, you can make one batch of yellow margaritas and one batch of green.
Jell-O shots are another fun way to incorporate alcohol into your party. They’re very easy to make and they’re easy to consume. People eat them out of the small paper cups, so there are fewer dishes for you to clean up.
Be sure you provide non-alcoholic drinks for those designated drivers and friends who don’t drink alcohol. Good ideas for this are lemonade, iced tea, and sodas. You can also dye these drinks with food coloring to make them match your team colors.
Coffee can be a good drink to give people a mid-game caffeine boost.
Don’t forget to buy lots of ice and put it in a cooler so you don’t run out on the day of the party.
4. Grill Out
The food is just as important as the alcohol at your football party.
Nothing says sports like grilling out food. Finger foods are the best options for sports parties because people will be constantly moving around.
Instead of full-sized burgers, try sliders. These bite-sized burgers are easy to grab and eat in an instant.
Be sure to ask your guest about their dietary preferences. If there are any vegans or vegetarians in the group you’ll want to offer options for them as well.
In addition to your main course, you’ll want to lay out snacks throughout the game. Chips and dip, cut up fruit, and a veggie tray are all easy ideas. Be sure to keep these replenished through ou the game so no one gets hungry.
Make foods into the shapes of footballs in order to appeal to the theme. You can make a football shaped cake or football-shaped cupcakes.
5. Decorate Your Home
Before your guests come over, you’ll want to make sure your home is properly cleaned and decorated. Be sure to set aside a few hours before the party for cleaning.
You want to really set the mood for your party by decorating your home in your team’s colors. Make your home feel like the perfect man cave sanctuary.
Use banners, tablecloths, and centerpieces to remind your guests who you’re cheering for.
You can have a lot of fun with these decorations by getting cutouts of your favorite player’s faces. You can also hand out any extra jerseys you have so that people can feel more into the team spirit.
6. Play a Drinking Game
Drinking games are a fantastic way to get people to loosen up and enjoy themselves.
Organize a drinking game that matches the team you’re playing. For instance, every time someone from the team fumbles, the group takes a drink.
Every time there’s an interception, the group takes a drink. Every time the team punts the ball, everyone takes a drink. Be sure to pick things that don’t happen TOO often so that the entire party isn’t instantly wasted.
Let your guests know they can have fun while they view here.
Flip cup, Kings, and Jenga are other drinking games that you can play while the football game is on in the background.
7. Bring the Band to You
Since you’re watching the game from home, you probably don’t have a full marching band in your living room.
Make your own music by curating a playlist on Spotify. You can plug your phone into a speaker and have the playlist fill up the whole house.
On the playlist include your teams signature fight song, and winning music like Eye of the Tiger.
You can either keep this music blasting throughout the entire party or you can blast it at halftime when everyone needs a pick me up.
Organize a sing along to songs you think everyone will know. Karaoke makes any party instantly more fun. Just imagine how fun it will be when you and your group of friends sings We are the Champions together after your team wins the big game.
8. Protect Your Belongings
All of the excitement of the game combined with alcohol can cause problems if you’re not careful.
Before the party starts, be sure to put away any breakables. Move out your fancy couch and move in furniture you don’t care as much about.
You want your tv room to be party proof. Put anything you care a lot about in a bedroom and be sure to put a sign on the bedroom that says “keep out.” It’s important you set boundaries when you throw a party so that your guests know where they’re allowed to go.
Don’t let your guests take over your whole house. You’ll want the party to stay in a specific area so that the clean up afterward goes more smoothly. Tell your guests at the beginning where you’d like them to stay. Be sure to show them where the bathroom is so they’re not blindly opening doors trying to find it.
It can be a good idea to put your porcelain dishes away for your party and instead serve people with paper plates and cups. This will also minimize clean up for you and will save your guests from feeling guilty about dirtying all your dishes.
Follow These Tips to Throw an Awesome Football Party
Remember the most important element to any football party is that you and your guests have fun.
Be sure to provide a safe space with food and drinks and let time do the rest. Don’t stress too much about your party. Just focus on cheering on your team and being an enthusiastic fan and everything else will take care of itself.
Football is an exciting sport on its own, but adding extra elements can really make your party stand out. Before you know it, your house will be your friends’ favorite place to watch the game.
Have questions for us? Want to contact us about a football party you’ve thrown? Please do so here.
