I went to San Diego’sWorld Cup watch party in Little Italy and here’s what happened.
By Kevin Wilkerson, PubClub.com San Diego Blogger
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Now that’s more like it.
After being disappointed that the hype did not meet the reality at San Diego’s Mission Beach World Cup viewing party, I went to Little Itlay for USA-Paraguay.
The Little Italy watch party was better for many reasons. For one thing, you did not have to pre-register in advance with no hope of even getting into it unless you were willing to pay $18 for a fast entry or more for a VIP ticket. You just showed up for it. Better yet, there was no fence and bottlenecked line. You just walked in and out as you pleased. And many people did just that, going to a Little Italy restaurants and coming back with slices of pizza and other food.
The small one-block area of Piazza della Famiglia where a big screen was setup did have food from the restaurants and smashburgers for sale, and there was also beers, wines, champagne and canned cocktails from vendors. Some had brought beach chairs and blankets to sit at the front of the screen. I am terrible at estimating crowd sizes but I would say there were somewhere around 1,000 people there (capacity at the Mission Beach World Cup venue is 1,500). It was not really crowded; while there were a lot of people, there was always elbow room. Not once did I feel that someone was invading my personal space.
As a result, the Little Italy World Cup watch was much more of a “San Diego” thing – casual and carefree – than Mission Bay. Tho to be fair to the latter, it may be that way there for matches other than USA or Mexico games.
I had really expected this to be a really huge happening throughout Little Italy. It wasn’t really. I had expected the apartment balconies above the plaza to be full of residents hosting house parties but only one balcony had people on it. Based on my early observations of World Cup watching in San Diego, the action is in the bars and not at the watch parties.
The bar scene in Little Italy before the game was pretty calm. There were USA and World Cup fans next door at Princess Pub (no surprise there) and a few blocks away at Waterfront.
And Waterfront was a better post-game bar than Princess. For one thing, I did not have to wait to go inside. At Princess, I was stopped by an old curmudgeon doorman who said “we’re at capacity.” Even after nearly a dozen people left he still made me wait. I did not wait long; that’s not PubClub’s style. Plus, I knew the singles scene was likely a lot better at Waterfront.
I was so excited for this event that I actually went twice. The first time was in the afternoon for Canada-Bosnia and Herzegovina. I wanted to check the scene to determine the best time to arrive for USA-Paraguay. The plaza only had a handful of people and it was apparent to me that I would not have to rush to get there for the other game. While there I was interviewed by San Diego Sports 760 which was doing a live remote. We talked soccer, sports and PubClub.com!
Overall, I really enjoyed the experience. It’s too bad it was a one-time event. Unless there’s a change in plans, this was the only time in which there will be a World Cup viewing party in Little Italy. If that changes, I will update this article with the information.
Was The Little Italy World Cup Watch Party Free?
Yes, but with an asterisk as pointed out in the article.
Could You Buy Food And Drinks?
Yes, inside the venue and at area bars and restaurants, all of which are showing World Cup games.
Is It More Of A Party Or Viewing Event?
More of a viewing event tho it had somewhat of a party element to it.
Would I Go Again?
I will, if it’s set up again.
Related Posts:
• San Diego World Cup Watch Parties & Bars (Updated Throughout The World Cup)
• Observations From The Mission Beach World Cup Official Watch Party
• Why Soccer Will Never Catch On In America
• Watch videos on PubClub’s Instagram account
Kevin Wilkerson is the founder of PubClub.com, an award-winning journalist and San Diego-based nightlife expert who has spent years exploring Mission Beach, Pacific Beach and other coastal communities. He has covered destinations, events and entertainment for more than two decades and received an Associated Press award for investigative journalism while working as a newspaper reporter. He played intramural soccer in college.
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