- A group of British friends travels to every Super Bowl city annually.
- They enjoy the celebratory atmosphere without attending the actual game.
- Their tradition began in Miami in 2019 during a bachelor party.
SAN FRANCISCO — They call it "American football" because, well, "football is football," says Ian Potter.
And by "football" he means "soccer," a fact that is underscored by the raucous cheering that periodically punctuates the Mad Dog in the Fog, a Nottingham Forest bar located in San Francisco's Haight-Ashbury neighborhood.
Potter and seven of his, well, best mates are here at the Mad Dog to watch their hometown team lose to Leeds. But they're here in San Francisco – more than 5,000 miles and about 14 hours of travel from home – because the Super Bowl is in town. And wherever the Super Bowl goes, so goes a group of Brits who don't even have tickets to the big game.
It started in Miami in 2019. The group — that year totaling 23 friends — was in town for a "stag do" (British for bachelor party). They didn't intend to overlap with the Super Bowl, but soon realized that the NFL brought a city-wide sense of celebration. And, come Super Bowl Sunday, a great excuse to drink. Not that they seem to need much of one.
"Just here for the booze and partying," said Alex Bowles. And because it's a chance to get the friend group together once a year.
For most of the group, Miami was their introduction to American football. They were shocked at how long an hour of gameplay can take and by the magnitude of cheers for that year's halftime performer, Jennifer Lopez. And they had so much fun, they decided to make it an annual tradition. Covid-19 nixed the trip a couple of times, but this year marks their fifth trip to the Super Bowl city, where they just soak up the American atmosphere.
Some quick reviews of past locations: LA was great. Las Vegas was the worst because, instead of dive bars, it was all casinos and you could hardly feel the Super Bowl-ness over the intensity of Sin City. "No locals," says Andy Albone. "Vegas is about Vegas," Potter says.
And last year in New Orleans was the best – even though two of the guys got robbed that week.
Their experiences have made most of them into Kansas City Chiefs fans – all except Adam Martin, who was already a San Francisco 49ers fan when this tradition started. His phone background is a picture of Brock Purdy and he's been trying to teach the others the rules of American football. Or at least whether a particular play was good or bad for the team they're rooting for.
"I'm still trying to understand it," says Ian Taylor.
"There's about 19,000 players," says Josef Gaylor.
And it's not just football; these trips have become a foray into the wider world of American sports. In Vegas, they went to an NHL game and on Monday, they're going to a Golden State Warriors NBA game.
But they haven't quite mastered the finer points of the American sports cultural landscape. Martin bought a Los Angeles Dodgers jersey to wear here in California, and quickly learned the locals in San Francisco are not Dodgers fans.
He just has to save it for next year, when the Super Bowl is in Los Angeles. They're already planning to be there.
"Minute we get back, I'll book it," Potter says.
