Hosting The Perfect Football Watch Party
Football is back! Whether or not you follow a team or watch the games, a football watch party is an excellent excuse to gather with friends. Of course, there’s a huge American culture behind football, so I’ve rounded up some tips to help you throw the perfect Sunday Watch Party!
Don’t worry - it’s not hard! Really, you only need 4 things:
A Signature Dish (& snacks!)
Decor or Apparel
Drinks (don’t forget a themed cocktail!)
Halftime Game
See? Piece of (football shaped) cake. If you need some inspiration, here’s some of my ideas that are guaranteed to bring a good time:
Signature Dish
For me, nothing screams ‘it’s football & fall’ like chili! I love this recipe from Ambitious Kitchen (bonus: pair it with her honey pumpkin cornbread muffins)! But if you don’t feel like cooking (or maybe don’t have central air), you can never go wrong with ordering pizza and wings either.
Of course, you can’t forget the snacks. Make sure you’re stocked up on tortilla & potato chips, dips like salsa & onion dip, carrots and celery, and something sweet like oreos! These are all great finger foods for pre-game munching.
Decor or Apparel
An easy way to decorate is with colored banners! In our house, I’m a Bills fan and my husband is a Giants fan; so thankfully we have the same colors. You can easily create your own ‘flag’ banner by cutting triangles out of colored paper and stringing it in front of the tv or on the wall above the couch (or both!)
If you don’t feel like buying or making banners or hanging things around the home, you can still bring the party vibes by donning your team’s apparel! As a Bills fan, I have my Josh Allen jersey (thanks to my dear friend for getting it for me!), and my trusty comfy long sleeved tee.
Drinks
Arguably one of the most important parts of hosting a football party! Of course, make sure you’re stocked up on beer; but for those like me who aren’t beer drinkers - possibly have some hard cider (Downeast is my favorite brand), red wine (you can never go wrong with Josh’s Cabernet Sauvignon!), or even trusty spiked seltzers!
If you want to step your party up a notch, create a signature cocktail for your party! As a bills fan, my drink of choice would be what I’m calling the Billiever.
The Billiever
a couple of berries (my choice is raspberries! but blackberries would work, too)
splash of simple syrup
2 parts tequila
1 part lime
1/2 part blue curacao
ice
muddle the berries with the simple syrup & put in your glass
add crushed ice over top!
shake togethe rthe tequila, lime & blue curacao with ice
pour drink over the crushed ice & enjoy!!
Half Time Game
This one’s easy! Ideally if you have a yard and the weather is nice - head outside and play a quick game of touch football, or simply toss around the pigskin! We’re still in an apartment and without an outside space, so unfortunately that’s not an option for us. If you’re stuck indoors, there’s always the classic of Cards Against Humanity. My personal favorite is the board game Blockbuster - which is a nostalgic movie trivia game excellent for larger groups!
If you’re feeling crafty, you can create a ‘pin the football to the goal post’.
Using masking tape (or washi tape), make a goal post on a blank wall. Cut out footballs out of brown paper, and have double sided tape & a blindfold at the ready! Just like pin the tail on the donkey, put the blindfold on a player, hand them a football, and see how close you can get to the perfect “it’s good!” goalpost pin!
And there you have it! The perfect recipe for hosting a Football Watch Party.
What are your must-haves for a watch party? Let me know in the comments below, and if you follow any of these suggestions I would love for y’all to send me pictures via my instagram or by emailing me at sarah@thesalteddenim.com! And as always, feel free to follow along for all of the fun on instagram by following @sarah.kowalchuk.
xx, Sarah
